National Academies Press: OpenBook

Waste Forms Technology and Performance: Interim Report (2010)

Chapter: Attachment F: Joule Heated Melters

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Suggested Citation:"Attachment F: Joule Heated Melters." National Research Council. 2010. Waste Forms Technology and Performance: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12937.
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Attachment F:
Joule Heated Melters

The DOE-EM program for immobilizing high-level waste currently utilizes Joule-heated melters (JHMs) to produce high-level waste waste glass. In Joule heating an electric current is passed through a material, in this case glass. The internal resistance of the material causes the electric currents to be dissipated as heat. A JHM is usually lined with refractory, and the glass is Joule heated by electricity transferred through the melt between nickel-chromium alloy electrodes, usually Inconel. The nominal melt temperature in JHMs is 1150ºC, which is only 200ºC lower than the melting point of the Inconel electrodes. These melters can be calcine fed or slurry fed and vitrification is a continuous or semi-continuous process.


JHM’s have been used for waste glass production in the United States, France, and Japan because of the high production rate and high glass quality. The size of these systems is limited only by the replacement crane capacity since all the structural support is provided by a stainless steel shell which contains the refractory. The Defense Waste Process Facility at Savannah River Site is the largest production melter of this type ever built. A larger one is under construction for use at the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site and replacement of this system (due to its size) is by rail instead of by crane.

Suggested Citation:"Attachment F: Joule Heated Melters." National Research Council. 2010. Waste Forms Technology and Performance: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12937.
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The Waste Forms Technology and Performance study examines requirements for waste form technology and performance in the context of the disposal system in which the waste will be emplaced. The Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management requested this interim report to provide timely information for fiscal year 2011 technology development planning. The authoring committee has focused this interim report on opportunities associated with selected aspects of three components of its statement of task. These tasks are:

  • The state-of-the-art tests and models of waste forms used to predict their performance for time periods appropriate to their disposal system.
  • Potential modifications of waste form production methods that may lead to more efficient production of waste forms that meet their performance requirements.
  • Potential new waste forms that may offer enhanced performance or lead to more efficient production.

The committee judges that the opportunities identified in this report are sufficiently mature to justify consideration by DOE-EM as it plans its fiscal year 2011 technology development program.

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