Salts & brines

Potassium chloride · KCl

Name: Potassium chloride (KCl) aqueous solution properties
Creator: ProcessConvert
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Potassium chloride (KCl) is a salt; this page gives computed density, dynamic viscosity and specific heat capacity for aqueous solutions from 2–20 wt% and 5–80 °C.

Values are computed from the Laliberté (2009) aqueous-electrolyte correlation and tabulated over 2–20 wt% and 5–80 °C.

Also known as: Muriate of potash, Sylvite, Potassium muriate
CAS number: 7447-40-7
Tabulated range: 2–20 wt% · 5–80 °C
Properties: Density · Dynamic viscosity · Specific heat capacity · Specific gravity

At 20 wt% · 20 °C

reference snapshot

Density: 1132.9kg/m³
Density: 1.1329g/cm³
Specific gravity: 1.135
Viscosity: 1.011cP
Specific heat: 3237J/kg·K

Explore

Read a value at any point

Move the sliders to interpolate between the tabulated grid points. The readout and chart never go outside the validated 2–20 wt% and 5–80 °C range, and every number is interpolated from the committed table below — nothing is computed from a chemistry model in your browser.

Interactive explorer

Values are interpolated between the tabulated grid points below — sliders stay within the validated 2–20 wt% and 5–80 °C range.

Concentration11 wt%

Temperature20 °C

Density: 1070.0 kg/m³
Density: 1.0700 g/cm³
Specific gravity: 1.072
Dynamic viscosity: 0.988 cP
Specific heat: 3625 J/kg·K

Density (kg/m³) vs wt% KCl at 20 °C — Potassium chloride.

Why it matters

What the numbers tell you

At 20 wt% and 20 °C, aqueous potassium chloride has a density of about 1133 kg/m³ (1.133 g/cm³) — roughly 1.13× the density of water. It also has a dynamic viscosity of about 1.011 cP, against roughly 1 cP for water at the same temperature, and a specific heat of about 3.24 kJ/kg·K, about 77% of water’s 4.18 kJ/kg·K. Those differences carry straight into volume-to-mass conversions, pump and pipe sizing, and the heat needed to change its temperature.

Common grades

A few working strengths

Properties at 20 °C for a handful of concentrations in everyday use, read from the committed grid (interpolated between tabulated points where a grade falls between them). The full table follows below.

wt% KCl	°C	Density kg/m³	SG	Viscosity cP	Sp. heat J/kg·K
4	20	1023.7	1.026	0.993	3967
10	20	1063.2	1.065	0.987	3670
16	20	1104.5	1.106	0.995	3403
20	20	1132.9	1.135	1.011	3237

Sources

Where the numbers come from

Every value on this page is computed by a deterministic model — none is entered by hand. The generating method and the references it is checked against:

▸Laliberte, M. (2009). A Model for Calculating the Heat Capacity of Aqueous Solutions, with Updated Density and Viscosity Data. J. Chem. Eng. Data 54(6), 1725-1760. doi:10.1021/je8008123
▸Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, 7th ed. (Perry & Green) - Table 2-76 Potassium Chloride density, from International Critical Tables, Vol. III, p. 87
▸CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - Aqueous Solubility of Inorganic Compounds at Various Temperatures (solubility bounds for the tabulated range)

Model: thermo==0.4.0 (chemicals==1.3.0) - Laliberte 2009 electrolyte correlation · Generated 2026-06-07

The committed data file for this page is published as JSON on GitHub under CC BY 4.0.

Validation

Checked against a cited value

The model is cross-checked at one independently cited reference point. The page is published only because this check passes.

Property / point	Density · 20 wt% · 20 °C
Cited reference value	1132.8 kg/m3
Model computed	1132.89 kg/m3
Error vs reference	0.008% (tolerance 1%)

Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, 7th ed. (from International Critical Tables). Perry, R.H. & Green, D.W. (eds.), Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, 7th ed., Table 2-76 Potassium Chloride (KCl) (data from International Critical Tables, Vol. III, p. 87): 20 wt% KCl at 20 degC = 1.13280 g/cm3. The identical value (1.1328) appears in the CRC Concentrative Properties of Aqueous Solutions table at 20 degC.

Full tables

Every tabulated point

Rows are temperature (°C); columns are concentration (wt% KCl). Read the cell at the intersection. Specific gravity is density divided by the model water reference of 998.2 kg/m³ at 20 °C.

Density — kg/m³

°C \ wt%	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20
5	1012.9	1026.0	1039.4	1052.9	1066.6	1080.6	1094.7	1109.0	1123.5	1138.2
10	1012.5	1025.6	1038.8	1052.2	1065.8	1079.6	1093.5	1107.7	1122.0	1136.6
15	1011.8	1024.7	1037.8	1051.1	1064.6	1078.3	1092.1	1106.2	1120.4	1134.8
20	1010.8	1023.7	1036.7	1049.9	1063.2	1076.8	1090.5	1104.5	1118.6	1132.9
25	1009.6	1022.3	1035.2	1048.3	1061.6	1075.1	1088.8	1102.6	1116.6	1130.8
30	1008.1	1020.8	1033.6	1046.6	1059.9	1073.2	1086.8	1100.6	1114.5	1128.6
35	1006.4	1019.0	1031.8	1044.8	1057.9	1071.2	1084.7	1098.4	1112.3	1126.4
40	1004.6	1017.1	1029.8	1042.7	1055.8	1069.1	1082.5	1096.2	1110.0	1124.0
45	1002.5	1015.0	1027.7	1040.5	1053.6	1066.8	1080.2	1093.8	1107.6	1121.5
50	1000.3	1012.7	1025.4	1038.2	1051.2	1064.4	1077.8	1091.3	1105.1	1119.0
55	997.9	1010.3	1022.9	1035.7	1048.7	1061.9	1075.2	1088.8	1102.5	1116.4
60	995.4	1007.8	1020.4	1033.1	1046.1	1059.2	1072.6	1086.1	1099.8	1113.8
65	992.7	1005.1	1017.7	1030.4	1043.3	1056.5	1069.8	1083.4	1097.1	1111.0
70	989.9	1002.3	1014.8	1027.6	1040.5	1053.7	1067.0	1080.5	1094.3	1108.2
75	987.0	999.3	1011.9	1024.6	1037.6	1050.7	1064.1	1077.6	1091.4	1105.4
80	983.9	996.3	1008.8	1021.6	1034.5	1047.7	1061.1	1074.6	1088.4	1102.5

Dynamic viscosity — cP (mPa·s)

°C \ wt%	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20
5	1.492	1.467	1.445	1.427	1.413	1.403	1.398	1.397	1.401	1.411
10	1.290	1.275	1.262	1.252	1.244	1.239	1.237	1.238	1.243	1.251
15	1.129	1.120	1.113	1.107	1.103	1.102	1.103	1.106	1.111	1.120
20	0.997	0.993	0.989	0.987	0.987	0.988	0.991	0.995	1.002	1.011
25	0.888	0.887	0.887	0.887	0.889	0.892	0.896	0.902	0.910	0.920
30	0.798	0.799	0.800	0.803	0.806	0.811	0.817	0.824	0.832	0.842
35	0.721	0.724	0.727	0.731	0.736	0.741	0.748	0.756	0.765	0.775
40	0.656	0.660	0.664	0.669	0.675	0.682	0.689	0.697	0.707	0.717
45	0.600	0.605	0.610	0.616	0.622	0.630	0.638	0.646	0.656	0.667
50	0.552	0.557	0.563	0.570	0.577	0.584	0.592	0.602	0.612	0.623
55	0.510	0.516	0.522	0.529	0.536	0.544	0.553	0.562	0.572	0.583
60	0.473	0.479	0.486	0.493	0.501	0.509	0.518	0.527	0.537	0.549
65	0.440	0.447	0.454	0.461	0.469	0.477	0.486	0.496	0.506	0.517
70	0.411	0.418	0.425	0.433	0.440	0.449	0.458	0.468	0.478	0.489
75	0.385	0.392	0.399	0.407	0.415	0.424	0.433	0.442	0.453	0.464
80	0.362	0.369	0.376	0.384	0.392	0.401	0.410	0.419	0.430	0.441

Specific heat capacity — J/kg·K

°C \ wt%	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20
5	4092	3982	3877	3776	3680	3586	3496	3409	3324	3241
10	4083	3975	3870	3770	3674	3581	3492	3405	3320	3238
15	4078	3970	3866	3767	3672	3579	3490	3403	3319	3237
20	4074	3967	3864	3766	3670	3579	3490	3403	3319	3237
25	4072	3966	3864	3765	3670	3579	3490	3404	3320	3238
30	4071	3965	3863	3766	3671	3580	3492	3406	3322	3240
35	4071	3965	3864	3767	3672	3582	3493	3408	3324	3242
40	4071	3966	3865	3768	3674	3584	3496	3410	3327	3245
45	4072	3967	3867	3770	3676	3586	3498	3412	3329	3248
50	4073	3969	3868	3772	3679	3588	3501	3415	3332	3250
55	4074	3971	3871	3774	3681	3591	3503	3418	3335	3254
60	4077	3973	3873	3777	3684	3594	3507	3421	3338	3257
65	4079	3976	3876	3780	3687	3597	3510	3425	3342	3260
70	4082	3979	3880	3784	3691	3601	3513	3428	3345	3264
75	4086	3983	3883	3787	3695	3605	3517	3432	3349	3267
80	4090	3987	3887	3791	3699	3609	3521	3436	3353	3271

Typical values

Potassium chloride solution properties at 25 °C

At 25 °C, 4 wt% potassium chloride has a density of about 1022.3 kg/m³, a dynamic viscosity of about 0.887 cP and a specific heat capacity of about 3966 J/kg·K. At 25 °C, 16 wt% potassium chloride has a density of about 1102.6 kg/m³, a dynamic viscosity of about 0.902 cP and a specific heat capacity of about 3404 J/kg·K. At 25 °C, 20 wt% potassium chloride has a density of about 1130.8 kg/m³, a dynamic viscosity of about 0.920 cP and a specific heat capacity of about 3238 J/kg·K.

Limitations

Before you use these numbers

▸Laliberte (2009) aqueous-electrolyte correlation for KCl-water. Tabulated for 2-20 wt% over 5-80 degC. Saturation is about 22 wt% KCl near 5 degC, rising to about 25 wt% at 20 degC, so the 20 wt% ceiling keeps the cold end of the table below saturation. Concentrations are KCl by mass. Values are for preliminary design; verify against vendor data for critical service.
▸Values are tabulated only inside the 2–20 wt% and 5–80 °C ranges shown; the correlation is not extrapolated beyond them here.
▸Figures are for a pure potassium chloride–water system. Commercial grades contain impurities (for example chloride in some caustic grades) that shift density and viscosity; check the supplier's data sheet for a specific product.
▸Use for preliminary design; verify for critical service.

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