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Thermodynamic modeling and experimental verification of eutectic point in the LiNO3–KNO3–Ca(NO3)2 ternary system

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Abstract

For closing the gaps of the eutectic composition and temperature of the system LiNO3–KNO3–Ca(NO3)2 reported by various literatures, we chose an asymmetric Toop model to simulate and predict the phase diagram of the titled system, followed by differential scanning calorimeter and thermogravimetry experiments. The eutectic composition and temperatures reported in literatures are evaluated based on the results determined in this work. It was found that the eutectic composition and temperature reported by Lehrman et al. (J Am Chem Soc 59(1):179–181, 1937) is more reliable than reported by other literatures. It is indicted that wider working temperature window (lower condensation point) in concentrated solar power plant can be obtained when the thermal medium of the titled system is prepared with the eutectic composition determined in this work.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by Qinghai Science & Technology Department of China under the Contract Number 2012-H-804.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Juntao Wang, Mengze Lai, Haijun Han, Zhiying Ding, Shijun Liu & Dewen Zeng

  2. School of Nuclear Technology, Chemistry and Biology, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, 437100, People’s Republic of China

    Juntao Wang

  3. Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, People’s Republic of China

    Haijun Han & Dewen Zeng

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  1. Juntao Wang
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  2. Mengze Lai
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Correspondence to Dewen Zeng.

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Wang, J., Lai, M., Han, H. et al. Thermodynamic modeling and experimental verification of eutectic point in the LiNO3–KNO3–Ca(NO3)2 ternary system. J Therm Anal Calorim 119, 1259–1266 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-014-4218-0

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