Heat transfer characteristics of high temperature molten salt for storage of thermal energy

Abstract

The heat transfer characteristics of molten salt for the storage of thermal energy were investigated. The temperature profiles and heat transfer coefficients during the storage and discharge stages were obtained with steam as the heat transfer fluid. Two kinds of inorganic salt were employed as the storage medium and two types of heat exchanger were tested in order to find the effect of heat exchanger configuration on the heat storage. The effects of the steam flow rates, the flow direction of steam in the storage tank, the temperature of the heat transfer fluid and the initial temperature of the discharge tank on the heat transfer were obtained and analyzed.

Molten salts database for energy applications

“…Ferri et al proposed selected properties of Solar Salt in RELAP5-3D code for solar parabolic collectors [90], and Bauer et al reviewed thermo-physical correlations [91]. Both Solar Salt and Hitec ® mixtures have been used in other heat transfer investigations [71,79,[92][93][94].…”

Study on preparation and thermal properties of sodium nitrate/silica composite as shape-stabilized phase change material

“…Compared with other PCMs, inorganic salts usually exhibit high thermal stability and are advantageous for the application at high temperatures (>200 C) [17][18][19]. However, a major issue in using inorganic salts by itself for thermal energy storage is that inorganic salts needs encapsulation to prevent leakage of melted inorganic salts during the phase change process, which results in extra thermal resistance and increased cost.…”

Physicochemical Particular Qualities of the Crystallization Process of Inorganic Heat-Storage Materials’ Melts

“…It is known that the development of heat-storage materials on the basis of various chemical compounds involves the preservation of thermal energy through thermochemical reactions, the accumulation of open and latent heat [1] and their use in construction [2]. Widely distributed materials that convert incoming heat as a result of phase transition [3][4], are based on crystal hydrates [5][6][7], organic compounds [8][9][10]. However, efficient functioning and operation and selection of heat storage accumulations are possible only if there is information about physical and chemical processes occurring in phase-transition materials.…”

“…The references [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] analysis, moreover, devoted to crystallization problems has shown that nowadays the definite understanding of mechanisms of mass crystallization and growth of single crystals has been formulated. The scientific methods to control the structure and properties of the solid phase have been developed.…”