Refinery - 11-7-2020 at 00:39
I boiled down(or up, in this instance) a hydrated mixture of CaCl2 and water to create a prepared heating bath. I have noted this phenomenon before,
but I thought it'd be a worth of note that when left to cool (and solidify) the mixture keeps warm for very long time. The about 2kg mass I left in
the SS pot was still noticeably warm after almost 24 hours of sitting, and part of it was still liquid. When I use my CaCl2 heating bath, I usually
store it in the SS pot where I heat it was well, because when it cools down (depending on concentration, anywhere between 40C and 160C, usually on the
lower end for ordinary baths) it turns into an ice hard crystalline solid, which would be PITA to move around, but melting it directly into it's
vessel is very convenient.
Is this caused by heat of fusion? I thought it so as when ice is melted in water, it takes up energy (1kg of ice can heat down equal amount of about
80C water), but when solidifying, as CaCl2 crystallizes when it reaches its freezing point (varying from saturation, from near 0C to even up to +180C
at +70%), it releases energy?