Molten salt

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Molten FLiBe (2LiF·BeF2)

Molten salt is salt which is solid at standard temperature and pressure but liquified due to elevated temperature. A salt that is liquid even at standard temperature and pressure is usually called a room-temperature ionic liquid, and molten salts are technically a class of ionic liquids.

Examples

As a reference, molten

eutectic mixtures
have been developed with lower melting points:

Chlorides

Nitrates

cesium nitrate melts at 414 °C and decomposes at 584 °C.[2]

Uses

Molten salts have a variety of uses.

Production of magnesium and aluminium

One industrial application is the production of magnesium, which begins with production of magnesium chloride by chlorination of magnesium oxide:

MgO + C + Cl2 → MgCl2 + CO

Electrolysis of the resulting molten magnesium chloride is conducted at 700 °C:[6]

MgCl2 → Mg + Cl2

Hall-Haroult process.[7]

Heat transfer

Molten salts (fluoride, chloride, and

thermal storage. This thermal storage is used in concentrated solar power plants.[8][9]

Molten-salt reactors are a type of nuclear reactor that uses molten salt(s) as a coolant or as a solvent in which the fissile material is dissolved. Experimental salts using lithium can be formed that have a melting point of 116 °C while still having a heat capacity of 1.54 J/(g·K).[4]

Other uses

Molten

nitrocarburizing
of steel.

Hall-Héroult process
.

Fluoride, chloride, and hydroxide salts can be used as solvents in pyroprocessing of nuclear fuel.

Ambient-temperature molten salts

Ambient-temperature molten salts (also known as

imidazolium ions, and large, branched anions like the bistriflimide
ion.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9780471484943
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-08-037941-8
    .
  3. ^ "Molten salts properties"
  4. ^ a b Reddy, Ramana G. "Novel Molten Salts Thermal Energy Storage for Concentrating Solar Power Generation" page 9 University of Alabama College of Engineering. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  5. ISBN 978-0-08-037941-8
    .
  6. ISBN 9780471484943
    .
  7. ISBN 9780471484943
    .
  8. ^ "Molten Salts systems other applications link to Solar Power Plants" (PDF). National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-19. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  9. S2CID 233913583
    .
  10. doi:10.1149/1.2778132
    .

External links

Bibliography

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