Results from Boiling Temperature Measurements for Saturated Solutions in the Systems NaCl + KNO3 + H2O, NaNO3 + KNO3 + H20, and NaCl + NaNO3 + KNO3 + H20.
Boiling temperature measurements have been made for saturated ternary solutions of NaCl + KNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O and NaNO(sub 3) + KNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O over the full solute mole fraction range, along with the limiting binary solutions NaCl + H(sub 2)O, NaNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O, and KNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O. Boiling temperatures have also been measured for the quaternary NaCl + NaNO(sub 3) + KNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O mixtures with KNO(sub 3):NaNO(sub 3) mole ratios of 1.01 and 1.19, which corresponding to the eutectic ratio and a near-eutectic ratio for the NaNO(sub 3) + KNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O subsystem. The maximum boiling temperature found for the NaCl + KNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O system is 134 C and for the NaNO(sub 3) + KNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O system is 160 C, but boiling temperatures as high as 196 C were measured the NaCl + NaNO(sub 3) + KNO(sub 3) + H(sub 2)O system. These mixture compositions correspond to the major mineral assemblages that are predicted to control the deliquescence relative humidity of salts found by leaching dust samples from the proposed nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.