Experimental study of natural convection in a glass pool inside a cold crucible induction melter

Cold crucible induction melting is evolving as a promising technology for vitrification of high level radioactive waste because of high temperature availability and long melter life. Natural convection in the inductively heated glass pool plays a significant role in the performance of such melters. Experimental investigations were carried out to study the nature of flow patterns and temperature profiles in a sodium borosilicate glass pool inside an engineering scale cold crucible induction melter. Flow patterns were obtained for power levels in the range of 50 to 110 kW. The average surface velocity was found to vary from 5 mm s−1 at 50 kW to 22.5 mm s−1 at 110 kW. Experimentally measured temperature profiles in the glass pool indicated a well-mixed zone above a thermally stratified layer.