Potassium formate is a colorless transparent liquid or white solid, which is easy to absorb moisture, has reducibility, can react with strong oxidants, has a density of 1.9100g/cm3, is easily soluble in water, and the specific gravity of saturated Chemicalbook and solution is 1.58g/cm3, so it is nontoxic and non-corrosive. Potassium formate can be synthesized by heating carbon monoxide with potassium hydroxide, and formic acid can be obtained by further acidification and distillation.

It is mainly used to prepare water-bearing oil well injection fluid. At the end of 1990s, potassium formate was applied to drilling and completion fluid abroad, especially in high-density drilling and completion fluid system, and achieved good results in Chemicalbook. The drilling fluid system prepared with potassium formate has the outstanding advantages of strong inhibition, good compatibility, environmental protection and reservoir protection. The field application results show that potassium formate inhibits the hydration of clay.