Investigation of the thermal conductivity of molten LiF-NaF-KF with experiments, theory, and equilibrium molecular dynamics

Gallagher, Ryan C.; Birri, Anthony; Russell, Nick G.; Phan, Anh-Thu; Gheribi, Aïmen E.

doi:10.1016/j.molliq.2022.119151

Investigation of the thermal conductivity of molten LiF-NaF-KF with experiments, theory, and equilibrium molecular dynamics

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Journal of Molecular Liquids

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2022.119151· OSTI ID:1875361

^[1]; ^[2]; Russell, Nick G. ^[2]; Phan, Anh-Thu ^[3]; ^[3]

The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Polytechnique Montréal, QC (Canada)

Molten salts are being proposed for numerous advanced energy applications, including advanced nuclear reactors, concentrating solar power plants, thermal energy storage, and fusion reactors. Accurate knowledge of the thermophysical properties of molten salts directly impact the performance of these energy systems and are essential for design and safety analyses. Thermal conductivity data for fluoride molten salts and mixtures are especially lacking. In this work, experimental measurements of thermal conductivity using the steady-state variable gap technique were performed on eutectic LiF-NaF-KF from 834 to 1195 K. The experiment accounts for radiative, convective, and conductive heat losses. In addition, theoretical and molecular dynamics models are used, from 750 K up to 1300 K, to estimate the thermal conductivity for comparison with the experimental results. The results of experiments show a weak negative deviation of thermal conductivity with temperature, unlike previous experimental results in the literature. The measured thermal conductivity magnitudes agree with the theoretical and molecular dynamics predictions, aside from the data above 1100 K, where heat losses and radiative errors are the most significant, having a 16% maximum deviation from theory. These experimental results provide new thermal conductivity data for the LiF-NaF-KF system and further validation of the predictive models. The theoretical model was used to map the composition and temperature dependent thermal conductivity of LiF-NaF-KF and the mapping’s deviation from a linear additivity estimation of thermal conductivity. Additionally, this mapping showed the highest deviations from linearity for KF-LiF rich mixtures and increasing deviation with temperature. Notably, the deviation from linearity near the LiF-NaF-KF eutectic composition was around 25%.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1875361

Journal Information:: Journal of Molecular Liquids, Journal Name: Journal of Molecular Liquids Journal Issue: n/a Vol. 361; ISSN 0167-7322

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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