Density and Thermal Expansivity of Molten 2LiF-BeF<sub>2</sub> (FLiBe): Measurements and Uncertainty Quantification
Ricardo Vidrio, Sara Mastromarino, Evan K. Still, Louis Chapdelaine, Raluca O. Scarlat
Abstract
. We collect new data on the density of liquid FLiBe using the hydrostatic method and 170 g of hydrofluorinated FLiBe with less than 0.13 mol % impurities (dominantly Al, K, Na, Mg, Ca), as determined by ICP-MS. We obtain the following: The dominant sources of uncertainty are the bobber volume uncertainty (0.15%), the mass measurement uncertainty (0.2%), and possibly the wetting angle of the salt on the wire (<0.3%). Occasional noise and <0.2% deviation from linearity may be due to the formation of gas bubbles on the bobber surface from the temperature-dependence of gas solubility; repeatable results for heating and cooling runs provide confidence that bubble effects are well managed in this experimental setup. These are the first measurements of the liquid density of FLiBe that report error analysis and that measure the liquid composition before and after density measurements.