Commercial glass melts are extremely large and generally built in place, e.g. where they are operated. HLW glass melts are generally smaller and constructed as integrated systems and moved to the operating facilities. At the facilities they are installed and removed using remotely operated cranes. Once installed, the maintenance of the HLW melt is limited to changing out of auxiliary devices and/or complete melt replacement.
The rate of cooling from the molten or fused state is an important factor in controlling the glass formation. Rapid cooling restricts the time for ordering and glass formation. Glassy materials do, however, cool in a different way to crystalline materials. The glass becomes more and more viscous with decreasing temperature in a continuous manner and there is no definite temperature.
Continuous pot melt made of nickel-chrome alloy were tested in the US, Germany, and France. The diameter of the pot was larger than in batch melt and the pot was directly heated by radio frequency induction heating which increased the melt rate over batch melt. Continuous feeding of the raw materials was employed and gas bubblers were used to agitate the melt.