Spectral emissivity measurements of liquid refractory metals by spectrometers combined with an electrostatic levitator

A spectral emissivity measurement system combined with an electrostatic levitator was developed for high-temperature melts. The radiation intensity from a high-temperature sample was measured with a multichannel photospectrometer (MCPD) over the 700-1000 nm spectral range, while a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) measured the radiation over the 1.1-6 µm interval. These spectrometers were calibrated with a blackbody radiation furnace, and the spectral hemispherical emissivity was calculated. The system's capability was evaluated with molten zirconium samples. The spectral hemispherical emissivity of molten zirconium showed a negative wavelength dependence and an almost constant variation over the 1850-2210 K temperature range. The total hemispherical emissivity of zirconium calculated by integrating the spectral hemispherical emissivity was found to be around 0.32, which showed good agreement with the literature values. The constant pressure heat capacity of molten zirconium at melting temperature was calculated to be 40.9 J mol−1 K−1.