A practical simulation method to estimate fusion enthalpy of phase change materials eutectic mixtures for CSP plant applications

The determination of fusion enthalpy of ternary eutectic mixtures of molten salt was crucial for the development of feasible PCM material. A simulation method was presented as a suitable and fast way to estimate a first rough value of latent heat. The approach was validated by calorimetric measurements using five eutectic mixtures composed by alkaline nitrates and nitrites. At this aim, the binary fitting parameters determined in previous works were collected and then employed to estimate the latent enthalpy of the corresponding ternary mixtures, according to a thermodynamic model based on the regular solution assumptions. The obtained values were confronted with the experimental measurements, resulting in a discrepancy of about 15%.