An electric induction system and method is provided for induction heating and melting of basalt charge for the production of molten process basalt that can be used for molten basalt processes that produce basalt articles of manufacture including cast basalt articles and continuous basalt casting processes for producing basalt articles such as fibers and filaments.

Methods and systems include melting or augmenting a melt rate of material in a melter using electromagnetic radiation with a frequency between 0.9 GHz and 10 GHz. In some examples, a power and/or frequency of radiation used may be selected so as to control a temperature of a cold cap in the melter while maintaining emissions from the melter below a threshold level. In this manner, examples described herein may provide for efficient and safe melting and vitrification of radioactive wastes.

Provided is a glass production method with which oxidation can be suppressed and productivity can be increased. A glass production method according to the present invention includes the steps of: turning a raw material 6 placed in a container 1 into a melt 11; homogenizing the melt 11; removing a gas from the melt 11, wherein at least one of the step of turning the raw material 6 into the melt 11 and the step of homogenizing the melt 11 is performed in an atmosphere of an inert gas or a reducing gas, and in the step of the removing the gas from the melt 11, the inert gas or the reducing gas is removed by setting the temperature of the melt 11 to be lower than the temperature in the step of homogenizing the melt 11.

A glass fining system, multi-stage vacuum housing, and method are disclosed. The glass fining system includes a multi-stage vacuum housing comprising a first melt receipt tank configured to receive molten material, where the first melt receipt tank is disposed in a first vacuum chamber; a first refining channel configured to flow the molten material from the first melt receipt tank through a second vacuum chamber; a second melt receipt tank configured to receive the molten material from the first refining channel, where the second melt receipt tank is disposed in a third vacuum chamber; and a second refining channel configured to flow the molten material from the second melt receipt tank and through a fourth vacuum chamber; and a glass melter coupled to the multi-stage vacuum housing.

The present invention is directed to a vertical volcanic rock melting furnace having a reduced spatial footprint relative to prior art furnaces. The melting furnace includes a top melting section, which raises the temperature of a charge above the liquidus temperature, a middle cooling section configured to reduce the temperature of the melt, and a bottom conditioning section configured to maintain the melt above a crystallization temperature before the melt is distributed to one or more bushing plates to extrude into fibers. The top melting section and the bottom conditioning sections are surrounding by induction coils for inductively raising the temperature of the melt.