Spinel crystal distribution and settling in a high-level waste melter working as a perfect mixer. Part 2. Results of calculations

The developed models of crystal distribution and settling in a vitrification space working either as the perfect mixer or space with the piston flow were applied to compare their results with the numerical mathematical model of the real vitrification space. In this study, the influence of temperature, initial spinel crystal size and concentration in the batch, glass liquidus temperature and melter pull rate on the thickness of the crystal layer were examined. The results demonstrated the decisive role of the initial crystal size and character of the melt flow on the crystal settling rate and crystal layer growth. The comparison of results of both models has shown that the real vitrification space behaves similarly as the combination of the short-term piston flow and the subsequent perfect mixer.