An electromagnetic and thermal analysis of a cold crucible melting

Abstract

To investigate the performance of a cold crucible employed for the melting of corium, which is a mixture of UO2 and ZrO2, a computational analysis of the coupled electro-magnetic field, heat transfer, and fluid flow is carried out. Governing differential equations, basic numerical methods, computational model, and the results of the simulation of cold crucible melting are discussed. By comparing the analysis results with the experimental data, it is shown that the proposed computational model reasonably predicts the fundamental characteristics of a cold crucible melting. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.