Engineering Database of Liquid Salt Thermophysical and Thermochemical Properties

The purpose of this report is to provide a review of thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of candidate molten salt coolants, which may be used as a primary coolant within a nuclear reactor or heat transport medium from the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) to a processing plant, for example, a hydrogen-production plant. Thermodynamic properties of four types of molten salts, including LiF-BeF2 (67 and 33 mol%, respectively; also known as FLiBe), LiF-NaF-KF (46.5, 11.5, and 52 mol%, also known as FLiNaK), and KCl-MgCl2 (67 and 33 mol%), and sodium nitrate-sodium nitrite-potassium nitrate (NaNO3–NaNO2–KNO3, (7-49-44 or 7-40-53 mol%) have been investigated. Limitations of existing correlations to predict density, viscosity, specific heat capacity, surface tension, and thermal conductivity, were identified. The impact of thermodynamic properties on the heat transfer, especially Nusselt number was also discussed. Stability of the molten salts with structural alloys and their compatibility with the structural alloys was studied. Nickel and alloys with dense Ni coatings are effectively inert to corrosion in fluorides but not so in chlorides. Of the chromium containing alloys, Hastelloy N appears to have the best corrosion resistance in fluorides, while Haynes 230 was most resistant in chloride. In general, alloys with increasing carbon and chromium content are increasingly subject to corrosion by the fluoride salts FLiBe and FLiNaK, due to attack and dissolution of the intergranular chromium carbide. Future research to obtain needed information was identified.