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At least 667 records · Page 37

High Temperature Ternary Chloride Molten Salt Pump

A ternary chloride (MgCl2-NaCl-KCl) molten salt pump has been developed to operate up to 720°C. The design is the result of a thermal, structural and material study of critical components. The vertical overhung pump incorporates first of a kind salt-wetted hydrodynamic bearings. Several bearing material pairings were tested which include: colmonoy grades, stellite grades, and a novel NiWC-based alloy (i.e. HybrimetTM NiWC3b) used as a High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) coating. The coating withstands the corrosion effects of the molten salt, and is also used to protect a 316L stainless steel pump reservoir. The pump bowl assembly components are made of Inconel 625. A Nitrogen flushed carbon ring seal is used to keep salt vapors from interacting with external ambient air. Preliminary testing shows a promising pump design for use in the Concentrating Solar Power Gen 3 systems and sets the ground for further development of the HybrimetTM NiWC3b as a competitive alternative to available superalloys.

Handy-Cardenas, Lewis (ORCID:0009000744006972)↗

Hot-salt stress-corrosion of titanium alloys as related to turbine operation

In an effort to simulate typical compressor operating conditions of current turbine engines, special test facilities were designed. Air velocity, air pressure, air dewpoint, salt deposition temperature, salt concentration, and specimen surface condition were systematically controlled and their influence on hot-salt stress-corrosion evaluated. The influence of both continuous and cyclic stress-temperature exposures was determined. The relative susceptibility of a variety of titanium alloys in commonly used heat-treated conditions was determined. The effects of both environmental and material variables were used to interpret the behavior of titanium alloys under hot-salt stress-corrosion conditions found in jet engines and to appraise their future potential under such conditions.

Gray, H. R.↗

Salt weathering on Mars

Mariner 9 photographs of Mars indicate that significant erosion has occurred on that planet. Although several possible erosion mechanisms have been proposed, most terrestrial weathering mechanisms cannot function in the present Martian environment. Salt weathering, believed to be active in the Antarctic dry valleys, is especially suited to Mars, given the presence of salts and small amounts of water. Volcanic salts are probably available, and the association of salts and water is likely from both thermodynamic and geologic considerations.

Malin, M. C.↗

A stop-restart solid propellant study with salt quench

Experiments were conducted to gain insight into the unsatisfactory performance of the salt quench system of solid propellants in earlier studies. Nine open-air salt spray tests were conducted and high-speed cinematographic coverage was obtained of the events. It is shown that the salt spray by the detonator is generally a two-step process yielding two different fractions. The first fraction consists of finely powdered salt and moves practically unidirectionally at a high velocity (thousand of feet per second) while the second fraction consists of coarse particles and moves randomly at a low velocity (a few feet per second). Further investigation is required to verify the speculation that a lower quench charge ratio (weight of salt/propellant burning area) than previously employed may lead to an efficient quench

Kumar, R. N.↗

Burner rig alkali salt corrosion of several high temperature alloys

The hot corrosion of five alloys was studied in cyclic tests in a Mach 0.3 burner rig into whose combustion chamber various aqueous salt solutions were injected. Three nickel-based alloys, a cobalt-base alloy, and an iron-base alloy were studied at temperatures of 700, 800, 900, and 1000 C with various salt concentrations and compositions. The relative resistance of the alloys to hot corrosion attack was found to vary with temperature and both concentration and composition of the injected salt solution. Results indicate that the corrosion of these alloys is a function of both the presence of salt condensed as a liquid on the surface and of the composition of the gas phases present.

Deadmore, D. L.↗

Burner rig alkali salt corrosion of several high temperature alloys

The hot corrosion of five alloys was studied in cyclic tests in a Mach 0.3 burner rig into whose combustion chamber various aqueous salt solutions were injected. Three nickel-base alloys (IN-792, IN-738, and IN-100), a cobalt-base alloy (MM-509), and an iron-base alloy (304 stainless steel) were studied at temperatures of 700, 800, 900, and 1000 C with various salt concentrations and compositions. The relative resistance of the alloys to hot corrosion attack was found to vary with temperature and with both the concentration and composition of the injected salt solution. Results indicate that the corrosion of these alloys is a function of both the presence of salt condensed as a liquid on the surface and of the composition of the gas phases present.

Deadmore, D.↗

Development of media for dynamic latent heat storage for the low-temperature range. Part 1: Thermal analyses of selected salt hydrate systems

Phase change temperatures and phase change enthalpies of seventeen salt hydrates, three double salts, and four eutectics were measured thermodynamically and the results reported herein. Good results were obtained, especially for congruently melting salt hydrates. Incongruently melting salt hydrates appear less suitable for heat storage applications. The influence of the second phase - water, acid and hydroxide - to the latent heat is described. From these results, basic values of the working temperatures and storage capabilities of various storage media compositions may be derived.

Kanwischer, H.↗

Salt-finger convection under reduced gravity

Salt-finger convection in a double-diffusive system is a motion driven by the release of gravitational potential due to differential diffusion rates. Because of the fact that the destabilizing effect of the concentration gradient is amplified by the Lewis number (the ratio of thermal diffusivity to solute diffusivity) salt-finger convection can be generated at very much reduced gravity levels. This effect may be of importance in the directional solidification of binary alloys carried out in space. The transport of solute and heat by salt-finger convection at microgravity conditions is considered; instability arising from surface tension gradients, the Marangoni instability, is discussed, and the possible consequences of combined salt-finger and Marangoni instability are considered.

Chen, C. F.↗

Salt Filler For Making Covered Channels

In simple fabrication technique, metal salts used to create such subsurface channels as those for coolant in metallic heat exchanger. Layer of metal deposited on structure by vacuum plasma spraying, sealing channels. Metal salt or salt mixture has melting temperature higher than those of waxes and aluminum and withstands high temperature of plasma spraying. After plasma spraying, salt filler dissolved quickly and easily and flushed away with water or other appropriate solvent, leaving behind covered channels.

Mckechnie, Timothy N.↗

Grain orientation in high Tc superconductors by molten salt powder synthesis

The molten salt or the flux method is used to fabricate a grain oriented YBa2Cu3O(7-x) (123) superconductor. Here we suggest a two-stage approach in using the 'green phase', Y2BaCuO5 (211), as seed crystals in the formation of YBa2Cu3O(7-x). The process uses Y2BaCuO5 formed by molten salt synthesis. The Y2BaCuO5 phase was observed to be stable in water and in most of the salt systems. Salt processing can form a small quantity of anisotropic particles of Y2BaCuO5. This material can form the 123 phase when tape cast and sintered in the presence of the required levels of Ba and Cu.

Gopalakrishnan, Sudhakar↗

A preliminary study of the variability and magnitude of the flux of biogenic sulfur gases from a New Hampshire salt marsh

Salt marshes have highly variable spatial and temporal fluxes of hydrogen sulfide, carbonyl sulfide, methane thiol, dimethyl sulfide, and carbon disulfide (H2S, COS, MeSH, DMS, and CS2, respectively). This variability was tested at nine emission sites in a New Hampshire, USA salt marsh: three replicates in each of three vegetation zones, Spartina alterniflora, S. patens, and a transition zone. Three sites were sampled simultaneously, either within or across vegetation zones, using a dynamic flux chamber technique. Difficulties with calibration and field equipment resulted in fluxes with maximum absolute uncertainties of greater than plus or minus 200 percent. However, the relative uncertainty between subsequent samples was closer to plus or minus 20 percent. Chambers are expected to affect the natural flux of gases by altering the humidity, temperature, and composition of the gas inside the chamber. Summertime fluxes are highest for all gases except COS which demonstrated evidence of a springtime peak. A summertime background flux of 5 to 100 x 10(exp -9) g S/m(sup -2) min was observed for all gases, while S alternifora fluxes of MeSH and DMS were approximately 8 fold and approximately 100 fold higher than S. patens, respectively. DMS and MeSH fluxes were higher during the day than at night. Evidence of COS uptake by plants was observed. CS2 appeared to be the quantitatively least important sulfur gas emitted. Improved laboratory and sample collection techniques and further data collection in the field will yield information on the details of salt marsh variability, will improve estimates of the error associated with single flux measurements, and will allow a more accurate estimation of sulfur fluxes from salt marshes based on vegetation and area coverage data. Inability to control the temperature and humidity inside of the chamber remain significant problems with the chamber design.

Morrison, Michael Cope↗

Effect of excess dietary salt on calcium metabolism and bone mineral in a spaceflight rat model

High levels of salt promote urinary calcium (UCa) loss and have the potential to cause bone mineral deficits if intestinal Ca absorption does not compensate for these losses. To determine the effect of excess dietary salt on the osteopenia that follows skeletal unloading, we used a spaceflight model that unloads the hindlimbs of 200-g rats by tail suspension (S). Rats were studied for 2 wk on diets containing high salt (4 and 8%) and normal calcium (0.45%) and for 4 wk on diets containing 8% salt (HiNa) and 0.2% Ca (LoCa). Final body weights were 9-11% lower in S than in control rats (C) in both experiments, reflecting lower growth rates in S than in C during pair feeding. UCa represented 12% of dietary Ca on HiNA diets and was twofold higher in S than in C transiently during unloading. Net intestinal Ca absorption was consistently 11-18% lower in S than in C. Serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D was unaffected by either LoCa or HiNa diets in S but was increased by LoCa and HiNa diets in C. Despite depressed intestinal Ca absoption in S and a sluggish response of the Ca endocrine system to HiNa diets, UCa loss did not appear to affect the osteopenia induced by unloading. Although any deficit in bone mineral content from HiNa diets may have been too small to detect or the duration of the study too short to manifest, there were clear differences in Ca metabolism from control levels in the response of the spaceflight model to HiNa diets, indicated by depression of intestinal Ca absorption and its regulatory hormone.

Navidi, Meena↗

Corrosion of Mullite by Molten Salts

The interaction of molten salts of different Na2O activities and mullite is examined with furnace and burner tests. The more-acidic molten salts form small amounts of Al2O3; the more-basic molten salts form various Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2 compounds. The results are interpreted using the Na2O-Al203-SiO2 ternary phase diagram, and some possible diffusion paths are discussed. The generally higher melting points of Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2 compounds lead to better behavior of mullite in molten salts, as compared to SiO2-protected ceramics such as SiC. Mullite-coated SiC is discussed, and the corrosion behavior is evaluated.

Jacobson, Nathan S.↗

Halococcus salifodinae sp. nov., an Archaeal Isolate from an Austrian Salt Mine

A novel extremely halophilic archaeon (archaebacterium) was isolated from rock salt obtained from an Austrian salt mine. The deposition of the salt is thought to have occurred during the Permian period (225 x 106 to 280 x 10(exp 6) years ago). This organism grew over a pH range of 6.8 to 9.5. Electron microscopy revealed cocci in tetrads or larger clusters. The partial 16S rRNA sequences, polar lipid composition, and menaquinone content suggested that this organism was related to members of the genus Halococcus, while the whole-cell protein patterns, the presence of several unknown lipids, and the presence of pink pigmentation indicated that it was different from previously described coccoid halophiles. We propose that this isolate should be recognized as a new species and should be named Halococcus salifodinae. The type strain is Bl(sub p) (= ATCC 51437 = DSM 8989). A chemotaxonomically similar microorganism was isolated from a British salt mine.

Denner, Ewald B. M.↗

Is It Possible to Distinguish Between Dust and Salt Aerosol Over Waters with Unknown Chlorophyll Concentrations Using Spectral Remote Sensing?

Atmospheric aerosol has uncertain impacts on the global climate system, as well as on atmospheric and bio-geo-chemical processes of regional and local scales. EOS-MODIS is one example of a satellite sensor designed to improve understanding of the aerosols' type, size and distribution at all temporal and spatial scales. Ocean scientists also plan to use data from EOS-MODIS to assess the temporal and spatial coverage of in-water chlorophyll. MODIS is the first sensor planned to observe the combined ocean-atmosphere system with a wide spectral range (from 410 to 2200 nm). Dust aerosol and salt aerosol have similar spectral signals for wavelengths longer than 550 nm, but because dust selectively absorbs blue light, they have divergent signals in the blue wavelength regions (412 to 490 nm). Chlorophyll also selectively absorbs blue radiation, so that varying chlorophyll concentrations produces a highly varying signal in the blue regions, but less variability in the green, and almost no signal in the red to mid-infrared regions. Thus, theoretically, it may be difficult to differentiate dust and salt in the presence of unknown chlorophyll in the ocean. This study attempts to address the cases in which aerosol and chlorophyll signals can and cannot be separated. For the aerosol spectra, we use the aerosol lookup table from the operational MODIS aerosol-over-ocean algorithm, and for chlorophyll spectra, we use the SeaBAM data set (created for SeaWiFS). We compare the signals using Principal Component Analysis and attempt to retrieve both chlorophyll and aerosol properties using a variant of the operational MODIS aerosol-over-ocean algorithm. Results show that for small optical depths, less than 0.5, it is not possible to differentiate between dust and salt and to determine the chlorophyll concentration at the same time. For larger aerosol optical depths, the chlorophyll signals are comparatively insignificant, and we can hope to distinguish between dust and salt.

Levy, R. C.↗

Salt Kinematics and InSAR

As part of a long-term attempt to learn how the climatic and tectonic signal interact to shape a steady state mountain monitored displacement of a markers in SE termination and also near the summit of a small viscous salt fountain extruding onto the Central plateau of Iran. The marker displacements relate to the first InSAR interferograms of salt extrusion (980913 to 990620) calculated Earth tides, winds, air pressures and temperatures. In the first documented staking exercise, hammered wooden stakes vertically through the surgical marl (c. 1 Ocm deep) onto the top of crystalline salt. These stakes installed in an irregular array elongate E-W along the c.50 m high cliff marking the effective SE terminus of the glacier at Qum Kuh(Centra1 Iran) ,just to the E of a NE trending river cliff about 40 m high. We merely measured the distances between pairs of stakes with known azimuth about 2 m apart to calculate sub horizontal strain in a small part of Qum Kuh. Stakes moved and micro strains for up to 46 pairs of stakes (p strain= ((lengthl-length2)/1engthl) x 10-1) was calculated for each seven stake epochs and plotted against their azimuth on simplified array maps. The data fit well the sine curves cxpected of the maximum and minimum strain ellipses. The first documented stakes located on the SE where the InSAR image show -1 1 to 0 mm pink to purple, 0 to lOmm purple to blue, and show high activity of salt in low activity area of the InSAR image (980913 to 990620).Short term micro strains of stake tie lines record anisotropic expansions due to heating and contraction due to cooling. All epochs changed between 7 to 1 17 days (990928 to000 1 16), showed 200 to 400 micro strain lengthening and shortening. The contraction and extension existed in each epoch, but the final strain was extension in E-W in Epoch land 6, contraction in E-W direction during epochs 2-3-4-5 and 7. The second pair of stakes hammered about 20 cm deep into the deep soils(more than 1 m) , near summit, where the colors change between 19 to 29mm in InSAR image(9809 13 to 990620). Additional information is included in the original abstract.

Aftabi, Pedarm↗

Low-Thermal Conductivity Suspensions Used in the Isolation of the Salt Pills Aboard the Astro-H Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator

An adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) utilizes the magnetocholoric effect in a paramagnetic salt to produce sub-Kelvin temperatures. It is a solid-state device that has no moving parts and does not rely upon a density gradient in a working fluid. This makes it ideal for cooling space-based instruments. ·Typically the salt is enclosed in a cylindrical pill that is suspended within the bore of a magnet. The suspension between the salt pill and magnet must be robust enough to survive a launch yet have a thermal conductance that minimizes heat from the magnet that is mechanically, and thermally, anchored to a stage at a higher temperature. Here we detail such a design that uses Kevlar(Trade Mark) as the supporting media in a system that limits motion of the salt pill axial as well as laterally with respect to the magnet bore.

Kimball, Mark O.↗

Computational Design of Eutectic Molten Salt Mixtures: What Can Thermodynamic Models Do?

In the search for efficient energy storage battery technologies, designing stable electrolytes has been a long-standing challenge. Electrolytes based on molten salt eutectics are known for their stability with minimum parasitic reactions when compared to their widely used organic counterparts. However, the operating temperatures of these molten salt electrolyte-based batteries are dictated by the melting point of the eutectic mixtures. Design and high throughput screening of low melting temperature eutectic molten salt mixtures have been hindered by the lack of computational models. In this work, we develop thermodynamic models to predict the eutectic points of several molten salt mixtures. The framework of the COSMO-SAC model is used for the predictions and is compared with experimental data and other thermodynamic approaches. Rapid thermodynamics-based approaches, as shown in this study, can accelerate the discovery of new materials, complementing experimental techniques.

Ashwin Ravichandran↗