Chemical and engineering factors affecting solar central receiver applications of ternary molten salts

ABSTRACT:
We have investigated the feasibility of using molten salt mixtures that melt at relatively low temperatures (120OC to 18OoC), which consist of a sodium/potassium nitrate mixture with added lithium or calcium nitrate, as working fluids in solar thermal energy systems. The chemical stability

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of these ternary mixtures at high temperature, a key unknown property, was determined experimentally. Ternary salt mixtures are somewhat less stable than the binary mixture currently used, but appear to be usable at maximum temperatures of 46OoC to 550°C, depending on composition. The implications of the properties of ternary salt mixtures in the engineering design of solar central receivers, especially concerning operating temperature range, efficiency, and subsystem component costs, were determined for selected compositions.

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