Volume 31: Clean Energy Technologies towards Carbon Neutrality

MgO induced LiNO3/NaCl molten salt nanocomposite with synergetic enhancement in Cp and solidus thermal conductivity Qingyang Luo, Xianglei Liu

Abstract

Insight into the development of the next generation concentrated solar power plant (CSP), molten salts are the most promising candidate in storing the thermal energy, although it still suffers from low energy storage density and thermal conductivity. Recently, various nano-additives were verified to have the potential in promoting the thermal properties of molten salts. In this work, 50nm MgO nanoparticles with a mass fraction of 1% to 10% are dispersed into the LiNO3/NaCl eutectic, and the thermal properties consisting of thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity (Cp), phase change enthalpy, and viscosity are evaluated by experiments. Compared with many other ceramic nanoparticles, only the MgO dispersed nanomaterial obtains both enhancement in solidus thermal conductivity and Cp, which are improved up to 63.5% and 28% at 4wt.% MgO, respectively. On the contrary, the phase change enthalpy and viscosity are developed toward the negative direction, but within the acceptable limit. Combining the above results, molten salts with nanoparticles added are still desirable candidates to meet the demand of the next generation CSP.

Keywords concentrated solar power, molten salt, thermal properties, thermal energy storage