Corrosive effect of lithium nitrate trihydrate on common heat exchanger materials
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2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Lithium nitrate trihydate (LNH) is a promising latent heat energy storage material with one of the largest specific and volumetric enthalpies of fusion of all near-room temperature melting phase change materials. However, the understanding of corrosion rates and mechanisms of common metals and polymers in LNH, which is an extremely high salt content solution (w H2O < 0.50), remains relatively limited. Here, we report corrosion rates and mechanisms resulting from 6 months immersion corrosion studies on 9 common polymeric materials and 12 metallic alloys in molten LNH along with likasite, a common nucleation agent. Copper alloys were observed to corrode in liquid LNH, experiencing both uniform surface corrosion and localized pitting corrosion. Aluminum alloys experienced localized corrosion in liquid LNH, which was more severe in cases with likasite present, in which cases Cu dissolved from likasite enhanced corrosion pitting rates. Thus, in the absence of effective corrosion inhibitors, aluminum, and copper are not viable as heat exchanger materials for LNH.