Description

The recent re-emerging interest in MSRs following the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment at ORNL over 50 years ago, has generated DOE efforts focused on supporting the several commercial MSR ventures. This includes the development of the Molten Salt Thermal Properties Database-Thermochemical (MSTDB-TC) and a companion thermophysical database, MSTDB-TP.  MSTDB-TC is a publicly available compendium of internally consistent thermodynamic models and values for fluoride and chloride molten salts components and related systems of interest to MSR technology.

  • MSTDB-TC thermodynamic information resides in “Chemsage” .dat (ASC II) format files for use with the FactSage® commercial thermodynamic codes and with the open-source equilibrium code Thermochimica.
  • Separate files are provided for chloride- and for fluoride-based systems.
  • Documentation includes
    • Detailed description of the current database format and current version
    • Spreadsheet tracing all data sources
    • Library of published phase diagrams together with companion MSTDB-TC-computed phase diagrams for direct comparison

 

Caution

  • It is possible to perform thermodynamic equilibrium calculations with FactSage, Thermochimica, or other software using MSTDB-TC for salt melts that contain multiple cations/anions where major components of the salt mixture may not have been included in the system assessment. While calculations may be possible, the results may not be fully accurate as all possible interactions will not have been considered. Low concentration components in a mixture will be less affected, although caution is still urged.  The user is advised to check the listing of MSTDB-TC systems to be assured that their system of interest has been included.
  • While accurate heat capacity values are used for components in system assessments, heat capacity values obtained from an equilibrium calculation for a mixture may not be accurate as extended temperature-dependent terms for the component heat capacities may not have been utilized in the system optimization. When looking to use heat capacity values for higher order systems caution should be exercised and references for the MSTDB-TC system assessment should be reviewed. In general, heat capacity values for melt solutions are best obtained from MSTDB-TP.