Investigation of high-temperature oxide-metal melts during induction melting in a cold crucible

The object of the study is high-temperature oxide-metal melts obtained in furnaces of induction melting in a cold crucible (IMCC). The results of pilot tests in IMCC furnaces at melt temperatures of more than 2200 оC in air, conducted to study the distribution of components between the oxide and metal phases of a two-phase melt with limited miscibility of components, are presented. The results of physicochemical studies of materials obtained by quenching crystallization of a high-temperature melt are presented, confirming 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 observed experimentally in the U–O–Fe system. Thus, the IMCC method allows for the inversion of redox processes in a number of oxide-metal systems, which can be used to obtain new materials and create technologies for high-temperature extraction of target components.