Thermophysical Properties of Molten Fluoride and Molten Chloride Salt Systems

Abstract

Thermophysical properties of molten salts such as the melting point, heat capacity, density, viscosity, and thermal diffusivity are important criteria for selecting coolant and fuel salts for Small Modular Reactor (SMR) applications [1]. These properties are crucial because they are responsible for the thermal behavior and transport properties of the salt in the reactor, as well as safety and operational reliability. Thus, the thermophysical properties of the coolant salts must be well understood. Chloride and fluoride molten salt mixtures have been proposed as promising candidates for SMR coolant salts [2]. Studies are underway to obtain accurate data for the thermophysical properties of these molten salt mixtures. This paper discusses the development of experimental methods at the Centre for Nuclear Energy Research (CNER) at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) for preparation and analysis of molten salt mixtures including LiF-NaF, and LiF-NaF-KF (FLiNaK), and preliminary modeling of the phase behavior of the NaCl-MgCl₂ system [3].