The Simulation of the Steady-state Concentric Cylinder Method for Determining Thermal Conductivity of Sodium Nitrate

Abstract

As molten salts are becoming more and more popular with electricity generation and other industries which need molten salts as thermal energy storages, our attentions on molten salts’ thermophysics properties are increasing every year. Thermal conductivity is a key parameter when designing apparatus applied in related industries. Although there are some researchers studying the thermal conductivity of molten salts for years, few can measure it accurately. Most of them measure the thermal conductivity of molten salts by steady-state concentric cylinder method because the method is simpler and easier to design and carry out. In this paper, the steady-state concentric cylinder method for determining thermal conductivity of sodium nitrate is simulated with pure conduction condition and natural convection is considered later. The influence of natural convection on molten salt heat transfer is discussed at last.