Thermal properties analysis and thermal cycling of HITEC molten salt with h-BN nanoparticles for CSP thermal energy storage applications

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 31; no. 38; pp. 50166 - 50178
• Main Authors: Suraparaju, Subbarama Kousik, Aljaerani, Hatem Ahmad, Samykano, Mahendran, Kadirgama, Kumaran, Noor, Muhamad Mat, Natarajan, Sendhil Kumar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-08-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Boron; Boron Compounds - chemistry; Boron nitride; Calorimetry; Differential scanning calorimetry; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Energy storage; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Field emission microscopy; Field emission spectroscopy; Fourier transforms; Heat; Infrared analysis; Infrared spectroscopy; Latent heat; Melt temperature; Molten salts; Nanofluids; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Research Article; Salts; Salts - chemistry; Scanning electron microscopy; Solar Energy; Solar power; Specific heat; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Spectrum analysis; Stability tests; Thermal cycling; Thermal energy; Thermal properties; Thermal stability; Thermodynamic properties; Thermogravimetric analysis; Thermogravimetry; Thermophysical properties; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; X-ray spectroscopy; HITEC; Specific heat; Latent heat; System advisor model; h-BN; Molten salt
• ISSN: 1614-7499; 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-33151-x

Molten salts are the operational fluid for most concentrated solar power (CSP) systems, which has attracted more attention among the scientific community due to the augmentation of their properties with the doping of nanoparticles. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanoparticles were dispersed in HITEC molten salt to create a novel nanofluid and evaluate the h-BN nanoparticles’ influence on HITEC thermophysical properties. The influence of nanoparticle concentration (0.1, 0.5, and 1wt.%) of h-BN and HITEC was studied in this research. HITEC and nano-enhanced HITEC molten salt (NEHMS) were characterized using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Specific heat capacity, latent heat, and melting temperature were assessed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The maximum working temperature was evaluated with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The ideal nanoparticle concentration is 0.1 wt.% h-BN, which results in a 27% increase in heat capacity, a 72% increase in latent heat, and a 7% enhancement in thermal stability. The thermal cycling stability test proved the stability of the enhanced thermophysical properties. The material characterization revealed that the samples with improved thermophysical properties have a homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles with minor nanoparticle agglomeration. The system advisor model (SAM) simulation comparison of the optimum sample with solar salt and HITEC salt revealed that using the optimum sample increases CSP plant efficiency by 0.4% and reduces power costs by 0.13¢/kWh.