The cold-crucible induction melter (CCIM) design eliminates many materials and operating constraints inherent in joule-heated melter (JHM) technology, which is the standard for vitrification of high-activity wastes worldwide. The cold-crucible design is smaller, less expensive, and generates much less waste for ultimate disposal. It should also allow a much more flexible operating envelope, which will be crucial if the heterogeneous wastes at the DOE reprocessing sites are to be vitrified. A joule-heated melter operates by passing current between water-cooled electrodes through a molten pool in a refractory-lined chamber. This design is inherently limited by susceptibility of materials to corrosion and melting. In addition, redox conditions and free metal content have exacerbated materials problems or lead to electrical short-circuiting causing failures in DOE melters. In contrast, the CCIM design is based on inductive coupling of a water-cooled high-frequency electrical coil with the glass, causing eddy currents that produce heat and mixing. A critical difference is that inductance coupling transfers energy through a nonconductive solid layer of slag coating the metal container inside the coil, whereas the jouleheated design relies on passing current through conductive molten glass in direct contact with the metal electrodes and ceramic refractories. The frozen slag in the CCIM design protects the containment and eliminates the need for refractory, while the corrosive molten glass can be the limiting factor in the JH melter design.
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