Experimental investigation into the thermos-physical properties by dispersing nanoparticles to the nitrates

Abstract

In order to improve the thermal properties of molten salts, 20 nm silica particles were dispersed into nitrates by ultrasonic stirring method to study the effects of different mass concentrations of nanoparticles on the thermal properties of nitrates. The specific heat, latent heat, and decomposition temperature of the molten salts are measured by a synchronous thermal analyzer. The results show that the thermal properties of molten salt varied with the concentration of silica. Compared with the base salts, the heat of fusion improvements of the solar salt, potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate with 20 nm SiO2 nanoparticles were found to be ~3.84%, ~9.16% and ~3.31%; and the specific heat increased by ~15.89%, ~33.52% and ~11.86 % in liquid, respectively.