Liquid salt corrosion of grain boundaries of steels and superalloys

Solar thermal power plants transform the sun light collected by large mirrors into thermal energy. The high amount of energy concentrated in the mirror focus is transferred, in an absorber block, to liquid salt circulating through pipes of steel or superalloys. Liquid salt corrodes, in particular, the grain boundaries of these material. Understanding and controlling grain boundary corrosion in molten salt is, therefore, crucial.