Comprehensive thermal properties of ternary eutectic molten salt/nanoparticles composite phase change materials for high–temperature thermal energy storage

Abstract

Chlorine and fluorine salts are very promising thermal storage media for high–temperature thermal energy storage (TES) systems. In this study, NaCl–KCl–NaF/nanoparticles composite phase change materials (CPCMs) were employed by an advanced high–temperature and high–pressure reactor. NaCl–KCl–NaF was adopted as the BS, while CuO and Al2O3 nanoparticles have been uniformly dispersed in different ratios to generate CPCMs from the base salt (BS). Microscopic characterization, thermal properties characterization, and economic analysis of CPCMs and the BS were performed. The findings revealed that the best results were obtained when the BS was added with 0.5 wt percent Al2O3 and 0.5 wt percent CuO nanoparticles, CPCMs have improved solid/liquid thermal conductivity by a factor of 3.70 and 1.84, and TES density by a factor of 1.13, while reducing the cost per unit of TES density by approximately 26.8%. In addition, the CPCMs and BS possess excellent operating temperature range and thermal stability, whereby they are applicable in high–temperature TES systems.