Study of High-Temperature Oxide–Metal Melts during Cold Crucible Induction Melting

Abstract—The high-temperature oxide–metal melts that form in cold crucible induction melting (CCIM) furnaces. The results of pilot tests in CCIM furnaces at melt temperatures above 2400°C in air, which are conducted to study the distribution of components between the oxide and metal phases of a two-phase melt with limited component miscibility, are presented. The results of physicochemical studies of the materials fabricated by quenching solidification of a high-temperature melt are presented, and they confirm the reduction of silicon and the oxidation of iron with the redistribution of these components between the oxide and metal phases. This experimental result contradicts the well-known Ellingham diagrams and thermodynamic calculations, but a similar effect is experimentally observed in the U–O–Fe system. Thus, the CCIM method allows the inversion of redox processes in a number of oxide–metal systems, which can be used to produce new materials and to create technologies for high-temperature extraction of target components.