Wettability Control for Correct Thermophysical Properties Determination of Molten Salts and Their Nanofluids

Yaroslav Grosu, Luis González-Fernández, Udayashankar Nithiyanantham and Abdessamad Faik
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Yaroslav Grosu: CIC Energigune, Albert Einstein, 4801510 Miñano, Spain
Luis González-Fernández: CIC Energigune, Albert Einstein, 4801510 Miñano, Spain
Udayashankar Nithiyanantham: CIC Energigune, Albert Einstein, 4801510 Miñano, Spain
Abdessamad Faik: CIC Energigune, Albert Einstein, 4801510 Miñano, Spain

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Proper recording of thermophysical properties for molten salts (MSs) and molten salts based nanofluids (MSBNs) is of paramount importance for the thermal energy storage (TES) technology at concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. However, it is recognized by scientific and industrial communities to be non-trivial, because of molten salts creeping (scaling) inside a measuring crucible or a sample container. Here two strategies are proposed to solve the creeping problem of MSs and MSBNs for the benefit of such techniques as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and laser flash apparatus (LFA). The first strategy is the use of crucibles with rough inner surface. It was found that only nanoscale roughness solves the creeping problem, while micron-scale roughness does not affect the wetting phenomena considerably. The second strategy is the use of crucible made of or coated with a low-surface energy material. Both strategies resulted in contact angle of molten salt higher than 90° and as a result, repeatable measurements in correspondence to the literature data. The proposed methods can be used for other characterization techniques where the creeping of molten salts brings the uncertainty or/and unrepeatability of the measurements.

Keywords: molten salt; thermophysical properties determination; wetting; differential scanning calorimetry; laser flash apparatus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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