Molten salts database for energy applications

•A review of properties for the most common molten salts is provided.•Representative values among the scattered data found in the review are suggested.•Properties are exposed in a comprehensive and cohesive way for reference.

The growing interest in energy applications of molten salts is justified by several of their properties. Their possibilities of usage as a coolant, heat transfer fluid or heat storage substrate, require thermo-hydrodynamic refined calculations. Many researchers are using simulation techniques, such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for their projects or conceptual designs. The aim of this work is providing a review of basic properties (density, viscosity, thermal conductivity and heat capacity) of the most common and referred salt mixtures. After checking data, tabulated and graphical outputs are given in order to offer the most suitable available values to be used as input parameters for other calculations or simulations. The reviewed values show a general scattering in characterization, mainly in thermal properties. This disagreement suggests that, in several cases, new studies must be started (and even new measurement techniques should be developed) to obtain accurate values.