Industrial Use of Molten Nitrate/Nitrite Salts

摘要

Nitrate salts have been used for years as a high-temperature heat transfer medium in the chemical and metal industries. This experience is often cited as an argument for the use of these salts in large-scale solar energy systems. However, this industrial experience has not been well documented and a study was carried out to provide such information to the solar community and to determine the applicability of this data base. Seven different industrial plants were visited and the plant operators were interviewed with regard to operating history and experience. In all cases the molten salt systems operate without problems. However, it is not possible to apply the base of industrial experience directly to solar thermal energy applications because of differences in operating temperature, salt composition, alloys used, and thermal/mechanical conditions. (ERA citation 07:044418)