Electromagnetic induction furnace and use of the furnace for melting a mixture of metal(s) and oxide(s), said mixture representing a corium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016113071-A1
Application number	US-201414787149-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 25, 2014
Priority date	Apr 26, 2013
Publication date	Apr 21, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An electromagnetic induction furnace which is intended to melt at least one electrically conductive material, such as an oxide and/or a metal, and which includes at least one inductor having at least one turn and at least one cooling circuit suitable for cooling at least the inductor. Said furnace is characterized in that the heat-transfer fluid of at least one cooling circuit is supercritical CO2. The invention also relates to a method for operating the furnace and to the use thereof for melting a mixture of metals (steel, zirconium, etc.) with oxides (uranium UO2, zirconium, etc.), as well as concrete components, the mixture representing a corium.

First claim

1 . An electromagnetic induction furnace intended to melt at least one electrically conductive material, comprising at least one inductor having at least one turn and at least one cooling circuit suitable for cooling at least the inductor, wherein the heat transfer fluid of at least one cooling circuit is supercritical CO 2 .

2 . The furnace as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one inductor having at least two consecutive turns, the winding directions of which are reversed by forming a loop in order to reverse the direction of the electric current that passes through them, so as to form a levitation furnace.

3 . The furnace as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a crucible for containing the material to be melted.

4 . The furnace as claimed in claim 3 , comprising a cooling circuit suitable for cooling the walls of the crucible.

5 . The furnace as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the walls of the crucible are made of an electrically conductive material so as to form a cold-crucible furnace.

6 . The furnace as claimed in claim 3 the walls of the crucible or self-crucible comprising a bottom, referred to as the floor.

7 . The furnace as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the floor is removable.

8 . The furnace as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the floor comprises one or more through-orifices for discharging at least the molten material.

9 . The furnace as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the floor is made of electrically conductive material, preferably made of copper.

10 . The furnace as claimed in claim 9 , comprising an inductor that operates simultaneously at least two different frequencies.

11 . The furnace as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least two separate inductors that operate simultaneously at different frequencies.

12 . The furnace as claimed in claim 10 , one of the operating frequencies being suitable for melting one or more metal(s) and another operating frequency being suitable for melting one or more oxide(s).

13 . The furnace as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the operating frequency or frequencies of at least one inductor is between 10 and 500 kHz.

14 . An operating process of a furnace as claimed in claim 1 , wherein supercritical CO 2 is circulated at a pressure between its critical pressure Pc, of the order of 73 bar, and 100 bar and temperatures between its critical temperature Tc, of the order of 31° C., at the inlet of said at least one cooling circuit and 50° C. at the outlet of said at least one cooling circuit so as to have a specific heat capacity Cp of the supercritical CO 2 at least equal to 4 kJ·kg −1 .

15 . An operating process of a furnace as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an alternating current is circulated in at least one inductor, simultaneously at at least two different frequencies.

16 . An operating process of a furnace as claimed in claim 1 , wherein it is melted a mixture of at least one or more metals with one or more oxides.

17 . An operating process of a furnace as claimed in claim 16 , the mixture being a mixture of metals comprising steel and zirconium with oxides comprising uranium UO 2 and zirconium, and also components of the concrete, the mixture being representative of a corium.

Assignees

• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Willermoz Guy
• Panaget Laura

Classifications

• C21C5/5241 Primary

  in an inductively heated furnace · CPC title

• H05B6/42 Primary

  Cooling of coils · CPC title

• F27B14/061

  Induction furnaces · CPC title

• H05B6/367

  for melting furnaces · CPC title

• H05B6/24

  Crucible furnaces (H05B6/30 takes precedence) · CPC title