Molten salts have better thermal properties than synthetic mineral oil, and hence they can be directly used as heat transfer fluids in solar power plants, but in practice their direct applications as heat transfer fluids are constrained due to their high freezing temperature points. In this paper, a class of ternary nitrate salt mixtures consisting of 50-80 wt% KNO3, 0-25 wt% LiNO3 and 10-45 wt% ca(NO3)(2) were processed and tested. Experimental results indicated that some mixtures within this range exhibited excellent thermal properties, such as a low melting point ( < 100 degrees C), robust reliability, high-temperature stability (upto 500 degrees C) and a low viscosity (e.g., < 5 cP at 190 degrees C). Apart from these desirable thermo-physical properties, the manufacturing cost of these novel inorganic salts HTFs (Heat Transfer Fluids) is considerably lower than those of the existing commercial heat transfer fluids (HTFs). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.