Molten salts database for energy applications

TL;DR

This paper reviews the basic thermo-hydrodynamic properties of common molten salt mixtures used in energy applications, highlighting data inconsistencies and the need for improved measurement techniques for accurate simulations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive compilation of key properties of molten salts and identifies gaps and inconsistencies in existing data for energy-related applications.

Findings

Significant scattering in thermal property data

Need for new measurement techniques

Existing data often inconsistent

Abstract

The growing interest in energy applications of molten salts is justified by several of their properties. Their possibilities of usage as a coolant, heat transfer fluid or heat storage substrate, require thermo-hydrodynamic refined calculations. Many researchers are using simulation techniques, such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for their projects or conceptual designs. The aim of this work is providing a review of basic properties (density, viscosity, thermal conductivity and heat capacity) of the most common and referred salt mixtures. After checking data, tabulated and graphical outputs are given in order to offer the most suitable available values to be used as input parameters for other calculations or simulations. The reviewed values show a general scattering in characterization, mainly in thermal properties. This disagreement suggests that, in several cases, new studies must be started (and even new measurement techniques should be developed) to obtain accurate values.