Molten nitrate salt technology development status report
Recognizing thermal energy storage as potentially critical to the successful commercialization of solar thermal power systems, the Department of Energy (DOE) has established a comprehensive and aggressive thermal energy storage technology development program. Of the fluids proposed for heat transfer and energy storage molten nitrate salts offer significant economic advantages. The nitrate salt of most interest is a binary mixture of NaNO/sub 3/ and KNO/sub 3/. Although nitrate/nitrite mixtures have been used for decades as heat transfer and heat treatment fluids the use has been at temperatures of about 450/sup 0/C and lower. In solar thermal power systems the salts will experience a temperature range of 350 to 600/sup 0/C. Because central receiver applications place more rigorous demands and higher temperatures on nitrate salts a comprehensive experimental program has been developed to examine what effects, if any, the new demands and temperatures have on the salts. The experiments include corrosion testing, environmental cracking of containment materials, and determinations of physical properties and decomposition mechanisms. This report details the work done at Sandia National Laboratories in each area listed. In addition, summaries of the experimental programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of New York, EIC Laboratories, Inc., and the Norwegian Institute of Technology on molten nitrate salts are given. Also discussed is how the experimental programs will influence the near-term central receiver programs such as utility repowering/industrial retrofit and cogeneration. The report is designed to provide easy access to the latest information and data on molten NaNO/sub 3//KNO/sub 3/ for the designers and engineers of future central receiver projects.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP0079
- OSTI ID:
- 6853207
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-80-8052
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS
CORROSIVE EFFECTS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
MOLTEN SALTS
SODIUM NITRATES
SODIUM NITRIDES
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
ACTIVATION ENERGY
ALLOYS
CORROSION
CREEP
DECOMPOSITION
DEFORMATION
DENSITY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GRAPHS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
INCOLOY 800
MATERIALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
MIXTURES
PHASE DIAGRAMS
POTASSIUM CARBONATES
POTASSIUM NITRATES
PYROLYSIS
SCALING
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SENSIBLE HEAT STORAGE
SODIUM CARBONATES
SPECIFIC HEAT
STAINLESS STEELS
STEELS
STRAINS
STRESS CORROSION
SURFACE TENSION
TABLES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THEORETICAL DATA
THERMAL GRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
VISCOSITY
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CORROSION RESISTANT ALLOYS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DATA
DIAGRAMS
DISPERSIONS
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ENERGY
ENERGY STORAGE
FLUIDS
GRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS
HEAT RESISTANT MATERIALS
HEAT RESISTING ALLOYS
HEAT STORAGE
INCOLOY ALLOYS
INFORMATION
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MICROSCOPY
NICKEL ALLOYS
NITRATES
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PNICTIDES
POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS
POWER PLANTS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SALTS
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
STORAGE
SURFACE PROPERTIES
THERMAL ANALYSIS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
CSP
Concentrating Solar Power
140700* - Solar Thermal Power Systems
360602 - Other Materials- Structure & Phase Studies
360603 - Materials- Properties
360604 - Materials- Corrosion
Erosion
& Degradation