A thermodynamic investigation into reactive-metal melting-furnace explosions

Abstract

Western Zirconium, a plant in the Nuclear Fuels Business Unit of Westinghouse Electric Company, recently embarked on a significant safety-centered improvement to its vacuum-arc remelting (VAR) process. The improvement involved the relocation of the control room and installation of a programmable logic controller control strategy for the VAR furnaces. A critical consideration for the control strategy involved the implementation of the correct response to a breach in the water containment system that would allow water to contact the molten reactive metal in the furnace. Western Zirconium performed a random sampling of reactive metal melters in the United States to ascertain and evaluate the range of industry responses. Two distinct, and differing, approaches were discovered. In order to develop a better understanding and evaluate the responses, Western Zirconium, in conjunction with the Westinghouse Science and Technology Department, evaluated the thermodynamics involved in the reactions of molten reactive metals with water.