Reference Correlations for the Thermal Conductivity of 13 Inorganic Molten Salts

Abstract

The available experimental data for the thermal conductivity of 13 inorganic molten salts have been critically examined with the intention of establishing thermal conductivity reference correlations. All experimental data have been categorized into primary and secondary data according to the quality of measurement specified by a series of criteria. Standard reference correlations are proposed for the following molten salts (with estimated uncertainties at the 95 % confidence level given in parentheses): LiNO3 (7 %), NaNO3 (7 %), KNO3 (15 %), NaBr (15 %), KBr (15 %), RbBr (15 %), LiCl (17 %), NaCl (20 %), KCl (17 %), RbCl (17%), CsCl (10 %), NaI (17 %), and RbI (20 %).

Development of a Polarizable Interatomic Potential for Molten Lithium, Sodium, and Potassium Nitrate

“…The computed thermal conductivities of NaNO 3 and KNO 3 are in good agreement with the experimentally determined trends of Zhao et al and Chilatzou et al., while the computed values for LiNO 3 are larger than the reported experimental trends. The LiNO 3 data is of the same magnitude as those reported in McDonald and Davis, although the downward trend is not present.…”

“…The LiNO 3 data is of the same magnitude as those reported in McDonald and Davis, 45 although the downward trend is not present. The computed thermal conductivity of all salts here decreases with increased temperature, in agreement with Zhao et al 2 and Chilatzou et al 44 and in disagreement with the older data determined by McDonald and Davis, 45 although the latter data is not considered reliable. A similar result was found by Ohtori et al, 7 wherein the thermal conductivity of LiCl was overestimated, while those of NaCl and KCl were more accurate.…”

“…Error bars for the present data represent the standard error in calculated λ arising from the 30 individual determinations, with thermal conductivities determined at correlation limits, τ, that are chosen on a case-by-case basis based on inspection of the resulting correlation plots. Using standard error to represent uncertainty in Green−Kubo calculations is determined to be acceptable by Wang et al 38 The computed thermal conductivities of NaNO 3 and KNO 3 are in good agreement with the experimentally determined trends of Zhao et al 2 and Chilatzou et al, 44 while the computed values for LiNO 3 are larger than the reported experimental trends. The LiNO 3 data is of the same magnitude as those reported in McDonald and Davis, 45 although the downward trend is not present.…”

“…Error bars indicate the standard error of calculated thermal conductivity values of the 30 individual 0.5 ns simulations. Experimental values are included from Chliatzou et al,44 Zhao et al,2 and McDonald and Davis 45.…”

Thermal Property Characterization of Molten Salt Reactor–Relevant Salts

“…It is possible that a radiation correction would eliminate this positive dependence. have been excluded from critically reviewed reference data sets (9). The comparison with literature and the examination of data suggest that optical properties will be necessary for development of reliable heat transfer models of molten salt systems and for accurate measurement of thermal conductivity or diffusivity.…”