Density, surface tension, and electrical conductivity of ternary molten carbonate system Li(2)CO(3)-Na(2)CO(3)-K(2)CO(3) and methods for their estimation

The density, surface tension, and electrical conductivity of the ternary molten salt mixtures of Li(2)CO(3)-Na(2)CO(3)-K(2)CO(3) system have been measured. The molar volumes of the ternary mixtures agreed well with those estimated by additivity arguments within 0.7%. It was found that the surface tension of a ternary carbonate mixture can be predicted from known surface tension of binary carbonates, and the mixing of two molten carbonate mixtures of the same surface tension makes a mixture of almost equal surface tension before mixing in this ternary system. We have succeeded in predicting the equivalent conductivity of the ternary carbonate mixtures using the cationic radii and the equivalent conductivities of the pure carbonates. (c) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.