Temperature Instrumentation System for the Phase Change Experiment of NaNO3, KNO3, and their Mixtures
Duwi Hariyanto(1)(3)(a), Sidik Permana(1)(2)(b), Abdul Waris(1)(2), and Asril Pramutadi Andi Mustari(1)(2)

(1)Nuclear Physics and Biophysics Research Division, Physics Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung, Indonesia
(2)Nuclear Science and Engineering Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung, Indonesia
(3)Instrumentation and Automation Engineering Department, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Jl. Terusan Ryacudu, Lampung Selatan, Indonesia

(a)duwi.hariyanto[at]ia.itera.ac.id
(b)Corresponding author: psidik[at]fi.itb.ac.id

Abstract

Measurement instrumentation is crucial in carrying out experiments to obtain data in explaining phenomena that occur quantitatively. Recently, the phase transition study of materials has attracted researchers because phase change materials can be used as a medium for both cooling and heat storage in several types of energy generation. This study aimed to find out experimentally the characteristics of the phase change material using a temperature instrumentation system. The temperature instrumentation system was designed using a microcontroller and a K-type thermocouple sensor integrated with the Wiznet W5100 module as a converter protocol. XAMPP software was used as a server that handles temperature data recording in the experiment. The temperature of the salt including NaNO3, KNO3, and its mixture placed in the apparatus in the form of a stainless steel pipe wrapped with nichrome wire was measured using the temperature instrumentation system. In this case, a 6 meter long nichrome wire connected to an adjustable AC voltage regulator used as a heat source in the experiment. The experimental results showed that the temperature measured by the thermocouple could describe the melting temperature characteristics of each material according to the existing reference. The material with the highest melting temperature was KNO3 while the lowest was a eutectic mixture of NaNO3 and KNO3.

Keywords: molten salt, K-type thermocouple, microcontroller, nichrome wire, database server

Topic: System and Applications