Natural convection heat transfer of molten salt in a single energy storage tank

Abstract

Heat transfer in molten salt in a cylinder tank is studied via simulation and experiment to obtain its natural convection heat transfer in a single energy storage tank. Simulation and experimental results show that the natural convection heat transfer of water in a cylinder tank fits well with Garon’s correlation. However, significant deviations occur when Garon’s correlation is used to predict the natural convection heat transfer of molten salt because of its high viscosity and low thermal conductivity. However, the simulated data of the natural convection heat transfer of molten salt fit well with those of the experimental results. Thus, a correlation that considers the effect of variable physical properties is proposed in this study to predict the natural convection heat transfer of molten salt. The deviation of the present data from the proposed correlation is less than ±20%. The results of this study can serve as a basis for the design of single energy storage tanks.