MoltexFLEX announces rheometer capability
MoltexFLEX has announced the successful installation of a rheometer to measure the viscosity and density of molten salts at temperatures up to 1,000°C.
The nuclear power and energy storage company, alongside scientific instruments manufacturer Anton Paar, has installed the rheometer inside a climate-controlled inert gas glovebox at the MoltexFLEX laboratory in Warrington, Cheshire. The test rig is now operational and has started providing data.
Rheometers measure the viscosity and density of different materials at varying temperatures. MoltexFLEX is using the technology to test the fluoride salts the company is planning to use as the fuel and coolant for its novel FLEX reactor.
“The FLEX reactor relies on natural convection rather than pumps to circulate the molten salt coolant, and this is sensitive to viscosity and density, so accurate information of these parameters at different temperatures is vital,” said MoltexFLEX lead chemist Phil Quayle. “This one-of-a-kind installation will go a long way towards delivering a FLEX reactor this decade.”
There is little available information on how the kinds of fluoride salts used in the FLEX reactor behave at high temperatures.
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