Evaluating physical properties of molten salt reactor fluoride mixtures

In the last years, interest in the use of high-temperature molten fluoride salts as fluid fuels and coolants in nuclear power systems has been increasing. The comprehensive information on the properties of molten fuel and coolant salts is necessary for development of new designs. Experimental data on physical properties of some prospective molten salt mixtures of Li, Na, Be, Zr fluorides containing fertile and fissile materials as well as soluble fission products are unknown. At the first stage of the conceptual development estimation of the required properties from the known experimental data can be useful for selection of suitable molten salt compositions. In this paper the approaches for estimation of the physicochemical properties such as density (rho), dynamic viscosity (eta), isobaric heat capacity (c(p)), and thermal conductivity (lambda) for molten salt fluoride mixtures are proposed. The calculation algorithm was based on the additivity principle for the properties (P(x)) of multi-component molten salt mixtures, which can be found from the relationship P(x) = Sigma N(i)P(i). Here N(i) and P(i) denote mote fraction and corresponding property of individual molten salts or their binary mixtures as constituents of the more complex systems. The empirical expressions connecting the property with molar volume and molecular mass of selected fluoride compositions are also derived and tested. Estimated values are compared with each other and available experimental data. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.