3 ms·

I haven't run the numbers but if I had to guess molten salt likely has an energy density a 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than CNG.

• cinquemb 5y ago
  22 MJ/liter for LNG, ~9.1 for CNG MJ/liter [0] Molten salt will vary depending on its heat capacity and delta_k above freezing point. 0.338048298841 MJ/liter for the typical NaNO3 KNO3 NaNO2 mixture (assuming a delta_k of ~300) 53.356955169699994 MJ/liter for something like CaCl2 45.5682%, MgCl2 54.4318% (Ionic halide, assuming a delta_k of ~1568) In the future I expect even higher delta_k for molten salts. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefied_natural_gas#Specific_energy_content_and_energy_density https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefied_natural_gas#Specific...
  • VBprogrammer 5y ago
    > assuming a delta_k of ~1568 I think we can go ahead and rule that out as impractical given we're talking about temperatures which are high enough to melt steel.
    • cinquemb 5y ago
      > I think we can go ahead and rule that out as impractical given we're talking about temperatures which are high enough to melt steel. I don't think steel will be used as the only form of confinement (certain kinds of ceramics come to mind can handle it now[0]), so agree to dissagree. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-temperature_ceramics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-temperature_ceramic...