Numerical Simulation of Joule-Heated Glass Melters (Numerical Simulation of Platinum Group Metal Particles Behavior in the Molten Glass)

摘要

We have developed a numerical simulation scheme which couples electric field, heat transfer, fluid dynamics and metal particles behavior in a joule-heated glass melter. The particles behavior is treated as the continuous transport of the particle concentration by the Eulerian method. It is able to evaluate the unsteady operational melter status and performance, which are strongly affected by the settling and deposition of the platinum group metals included in high level waste. Numerical simulation showed that high current density bypasses along the inclined bottom wall due to the increase of the electrical conductivity in the deposited layer of the metals. As for remaining mass of the metals in the melter, numerical results agreed reasonably well with the experimental data.