Mathematical modeling of the melting process of silicate materials in plasma reactor
The paper presents the results of mathematical modeling of the melting process of silicate material in reactor. The source of heating in this technological process is an electric arc plasmatron operating on compressed air. Model material, we used quartz sand containing up to SiO<sub>2</sub> ~ 98 wt. %. It was found that at temperature ( T<sub>f</sub> = 2500 K) of the air-plasma medium in the initial period of time, the gas temperature near the interface is below the melting temperature. Result of the process heat exchange in the gas phase, heat energy is transferred first from the central and then from the upper layers to the interface. If the supply of thermal energy in the gas phase turns out to be sufficient for the implementation of phase transition, then after some time the melting process begins. With an increase in the initial temperature ( T<sub>f</sub> = 3000 K), the melting process begins almost instantly ( t<sub>m</sub> = 0.2 s). In this case, an almost constant temperature is established at the interface, slightly exceeding the melting temperature. It was found that the propagation velocity of the melting front is determined by the initial temperature of the gas phase and the thermo physical characteristics of the material, but weakly depends on the thickness of the layer of the filled material.