Characterization and Thermal Properties of Nitrate Based Molten Salt for Heat Recovery System

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Molten salt can acts like a storage medium or heat transfer fluid in heat recovery system. Heat transfer fluid is a fluid that has the capability to deliver heat this one side to another while heat recovery system is a system that transfers heat to produce energy. This studies shows about determining the new formulation of different molten nitrate/nitrite salts consisting of LiNO3, KNO2, KNO3 and NaNO2 that give a low temperature of melting point and high average specific heat capacity. Mixed alkaline molten nitrate/nitrite salt can act as a heat transfer fluid due to their advantageous in terms of its properties that feasible in heat recovery system such as high specific heat capacity, low vapour pressure, low cost and wide range of temperature in its application. The mixing of these primary substances will form a new line of quaternary nitrate salt (LiNO3 - KNO2 - KNO3 - NaNO2). The quaternary mixture was heated inside the box furnace at 150°C for four hours and rose up the temperature to 400°C for eight hours to homogenize the mixture. Through heating process, the elements of nitrate/nitrite base were mixed completely. The temperature was then reduced to 115°C for several hours before removing the mixture from the furnace. The melting point of each sample were testified by using thermal gravimetric analysis, TGA/DTA and experiment of determining the specific heat capacity were conducted by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter, DSC. From the result, it is found that the melting point Sample 1 with percentage of weightage (25.4wt% of LiNO3, 33.8wt% of KNO2, 20.7wt% of KNO3 and 20.1wt% of NaNO2) is 94.4°C whereas the average specific heat capacity was 1.0484/g°C while for Sample 3 with percentages of weightage (30.0wt% of LiNO3, 50.2wt% of KNO2, 3.1wt% of KNO3 and 16.7wt% of NaNO2), the melting point is 86.1°C with average specific heat capacity of 0.7274 J/g°C. In the nut shell, the quaternary mixture salts had been a good mixture with good thermal properties that low in melting point and have high specific heat capacity which could be a potential heat transfer fluid in heat recovery application.