Thermoreactions between molten salts and water at high cooling rates

New experimental results of the investigations of “steam explosion” in ionic melts are described. The existence of a long lived local area of increased optical density is established. Caused by initial perturbation (like water droplet, laser beam, etc.), the area moves through the melt and disappears simultaneously with the explosion. Also, characteristic electromagnetic radiation is for the first time registered in the ultraviolet and infrared spectra during the time before the explosion. The results described show that although the water can trigger the process (in accordance with the “steam explosion” concept), the phenomena related to the explosion are intrinsic to the phase transformations in the melt. These phenomena can hardly be understood in the framework of the standard theory of the first-order phase transitions.