Compatibility of 3D-Printed Oxide Ceramics with Molten Chloride Salts for High-Temperature Thermal Energy Storage in Next-Generation CSP Plants

Oxide ceramics could be attractive high-temperature construction materials for critical structural parts in high-temperature molten salt thermal energy storage systems due to their excellent corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties. The 3D-printing technology allows the production of cera...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Energies (Basel) 2021-05, Vol.14 (9), p.2599
Hauptverfasser: Ding, Wenjin, Shi, Yuan, Braun, Markus, Kessel, Fiona, Frieß, Martin, Bonk, Alexander, Bauer, Thomas
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Oxide ceramics could be attractive high-temperature construction materials for critical structural parts in high-temperature molten salt thermal energy storage systems due to their excellent corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties. The 3D-printing technology allows the production of ceramic components with highly complex geometries, and therefore extends their applications. In this work, 3D-printed ZrO2 and Al2O3 ceramics were immersed in molten MgCl2/KCl/NaCl under argon or exposed in argon without molten chlorides at 700 °C for 600 h. Their material properties and microstructure were investigated through three-point-bend (3PB) testing and material analysis with SEM-EDX and XRD. The results show that the 3D-printed Al2O3 maintained its mechanical property after exposure in the strongly corrosive molten chloride salt. The 3D-printed ZrO2 had an enhanced 3PB strength after molten salt exposure, whereas no change was observed after exposure in argon at 700 °C. The material analysis shows that some of the ZrO2 on the sample surface changed its crystal structure and shape (T→M phase transformation) after molten salt exposure, which could be the reason for the enhanced 3PB strength. The thermodynamic calculation shows that the T→M transformation could be caused by the reaction of the Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 with MgCl2 (mainly Y2O3 and ZrO2 with gaseous MgCl2). In conclusion, the 3D-printed ZrO2 and Al2O3 ceramics have excellent compatibility with corrosive molten chlorides at high temperatures and thus show a sound application potential as construction materials for molten chlorides.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en14092599