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Molten Salt
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 sodium chloride, table salt has a melting point (m.p.) of . A variety of eutectic mixtures have been developed with lower melting points: Chlorides *Lithium chloride and potassium chloride, m.p. . Nitrates Alkali metal nitrates are relatively low melting and thermally stable. The least stable, (m.p. ) decomposes only at . At the other extreme, cesium nitrate melts at and decomposes at 584 °C. *60:40 mixture of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate is a liquid between . It has a heat of fusion of 161 J/g, and a heat capacity of 1.53 J/(g·K). *1:1 mixture :, m.p. . *40:7:53 ::, m. p. , stable to . Uses Molten salts have a variety of uses. Production of magnes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermal Storage
Thermal energy storage (TES) is the storage of thermal energy for later reuse. Employing widely different technologies, it allows surplus thermal energy to be stored for hours, days, or months. Scale both of storage and use vary from small to large – from individual processes to district, town, or region. Usage examples are the balancing of energy demand between daytime and nighttime, storing summer heat for winter heating, or winter cold for summer cooling (Seasonal thermal energy storage). Storage media include water or ice-slush tanks, masses of native earth or bedrock accessed with heat exchangers by means of boreholes, deep aquifers contained between impermeable strata; shallow, lined pits filled with gravel and water and insulated at the top, as well as eutectic solutions and phase-change materials. Other sources of thermal energy for storage include heat or cold produced with heat pumps from off-peak, lower cost electric power, a practice called peak shaving; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FLiBe
FLiBe is a molten salt made from a mixture of lithium fluoride (LiF) and beryllium fluoride (). It is both a nuclear reactor coolant and solvent for fertile or fissile material. It served both purposes in the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The 2:1 molar mixture forms a stoichiometric compound, ( lithium tetrafluoroberyllate), which has a melting point of , a boiling point of , and a density of . Its volumetric heat capacity, 4540 kJ/(m3·K), is similar to that of water, more than four times that of sodium, and more than 200 times that of helium at typical reactor conditions. Its specific heat capacity is 2414.17 J/(kg·K), or about 60% that of water. Its appearance is white to transparent, with crystalline grains in a solid state, morphing into a completely clear liquid upon melting. However, soluble fluorides such as and , can dramatically change the salt's color in both solid and liquid state. This made spectrophotometry a vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnesium Oxide
Magnesium oxide (MgO), or magnesia, is a white hygroscopic solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium (see also oxide). It has an empirical formula of MgO and consists of a lattice of Mg2+ ions and O2− ions held together by ionic bonding. Magnesium hydroxide forms in the presence of water (MgO + H2O → Mg(OH)2), but it can be reversed by heating it to remove moisture. Magnesium oxide was historically known as magnesia alba (literally, the white mineral from Magnesia), to differentiate it from '' magnesia nigra'', a black mineral containing what is now known as manganese. Related oxides While "magnesium oxide" normally refers to MgO, the compound magnesium peroxide MgO2 is also known. According to evolutionary crystal structure prediction, MgO2 is thermodynamically stable at pressures above 116 GPa (gigapascals), and a semiconducting suboxide Mg3O2 is thermodynamically stable above 500 GPa. Because of its stability, MgO is used as a mod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heat Treatment
Heat treating (or heat treatment) is a group of industrial, thermal and metalworking processes used to alter the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is metallurgical. Heat treatments are also used in the manufacture of many other materials, such as glass. Heat treatment involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to extreme temperatures, to achieve the desired result such as hardening or softening of a material. Heat treatment techniques include annealing, case hardening, precipitation strengthening, tempering, carburizing, normalizing and quenching. Although the term ''heat treatment'' applies only to processes where the heating and cooling are done for the specific purpose of altering properties intentionally, heating and cooling often occur incidentally during other manufacturing processes such as hot forming or welding. Physical processes Photomicrographs of steel. Top: In annealed (slowly cooled) steel, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quenching
In materials science, quenching is the rapid cooling of a workpiece in water, gas, oil, polymer, air, or other fluids to obtain certain material properties. A type of heat treating, quenching prevents undesired low-temperature processes, such as phase transformations, from occurring. It does this by reducing the window of time during which these undesired reactions are both thermodynamically favorable and kinetically accessible; for instance, quenching can reduce the crystal grain size of both metallic and plastic materials, increasing their hardness. In metallurgy, quenching is most commonly used to harden steel by inducing a martensite transformation, where the steel must be rapidly cooled through its eutectoid point, the temperature at which austenite becomes unstable. Rapid cooling prevents the formation of cementite structure, instead forcibly dissolving carbon atoms in the ferrite lattice. In steel alloyed with metals such as nickel and manganese, the eutectoid t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chloride
The term chloride refers to a compound or molecule that contains either a chlorine anion (), which is a negatively charged chlorine atom, or a non-charged chlorine atom covalently bonded to the rest of the molecule by a single bond (). The pronunciation of the word "chloride" is . Chloride salts such as sodium chloride are often soluble in water.Green, John, and Sadru Damji. "Chapter 3." ''Chemistry''. Camberwell, Vic.: IBID, 2001. Print. It is an essential electrolyte located in all body fluids responsible for maintaining acid/base balance, transmitting nerve impulses and regulating liquid flow in and out of cells. Other examples of ionic chlorides include potassium chloride (), calcium chloride (), and ammonium chloride (). Examples of covalent chlorides include methyl chloride (), carbon tetrachloride (), sulfuryl chloride (), and monochloramine (). Electronic properties A chloride ion (diameter 167 pm) is much larger than a chlorine atom (diameter 99 pm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molten-salt Reactor
A molten-salt reactor (MSR) is a class of nuclear fission reactor in which the primary nuclear reactor coolant and/or the fuel is a mixture of molten salt with a fissile material. Two research MSRs operated in the United States in the mid-20th century. The 1950s Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE) was primarily motivated by the technology's compact size, while the 1960s Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) aimed to demonstrate a nuclear power plant using a thorium fuel cycle in a breeder reactor. Increased research into Generation IV reactor designs renewed interest in the 21st century with multiple nations starting projects. On October 11, 2023, China's TMSR-LF1 reached criticality, and subsequently achieved full power operation, as well as Thorium breeding. Properties MSRs eliminate the nuclear meltdown scenario present in water-cooled reactors because the fuel mixture is kept in a molten state. The fuel mixture is designed to drain without pumping from the core to a con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of Energy and operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a joint venture between MRIGlobal and Battelle. Located in Golden, Colorado, NREL is home to the National Center for Photovoltaics, the National Bioenergy Center, and the National Wind Technology Center. History Establishment During the 1973 oil crisis, soaring energy prices caused gasoline shortages and contributed significantly to inflation. US President Gerald Ford openly recognized the need for greater energy independence at the September 1974 World Energy Conference in Detroit. A month later, the Solar Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 1974 was signed. Section 10 of the bill explicitly outlined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concentrated Solar Power
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat (solar thermal energy), which drives a heat engine (usually a steam turbine) connected to an electrical power generator or powers a thermochemical reaction. As of 2021, global installed capacity of concentrated solar power stood at 6.8 GW. As of 2023, the total was 8.1 GW, with the inclusion of three new CSP projects in construction in China and in Dubai in the UAE. The U.S.-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which maintains a global database of CSP plants, counts 6.6 GW of operational capacity and another 1.5 GW under construction. Comparison between CSP and other electricity sources As a thermal energy generating power station, CSP has more in common with thermal power s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heat Transfer Fluid
In fluid thermodynamics, a heat transfer fluid (HTF) is a gas or liquid that takes part in heat transfer by serving as an intermediary in cooling on one side of a process, transporting and storing thermal energy, and heating on another side of a process. Heat transfer fluids are used in countless applications and industrial processes requiring heating or cooling, typically in a closed circuit and in continuous cycles. Cooling water, for instance, cools an engine, while heating water in a hydronic heating system heats the radiator in a room. Water is the most common heat transfer fluid because of its economy, high heat capacity and favorable transport properties. However, the useful temperature range is restricted by freezing below 0 °C and boiling at elevated temperatures depending on the system pressure. Antifreeze additives can alleviate the freezing problem to some extent. However, many other heat transfer fluids have been developed and used in a huge variety of applicat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nitrate
Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . salt (chemistry), Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are solubility, soluble in water. An example of an insoluble nitrate is bismuth oxynitrate. Chemical structure The nitrate anion is the conjugate acid, conjugate base of nitric acid, consisting of one central nitrogen atom surrounded by three identically bonded oxygen atoms in a trigonal planar arrangement. The nitrate ion carries a formal charge of −1. This charge results from a combination formal charge in which each of the three oxygens carries a − charge, whereas the nitrogen carries a +1 charge, all these adding up to formal charge of the polyatomic nitrate ion. This arrangement is commonly used as an example of Resonance (chemistry), resonance. Like the isoelectronic carbonate ion, the nitrate ion can be represented by three resonance structures: Che ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
