Patent ID: 8424342

Claim:
A method for melting inorganic materials at a melt temperature, comprising: introducing the inorganic materials into a melting unit with cooled walls and a base, the melting unit being a skull crucible, the inorganic materials in the melting unit forming a melt, determining a temperature T eff at which a sum of energy loss per unit weight of the melt through the cooled walls and the base, and a useful heat per unit weight to heat the melt passes through a minimum, wherein the sum is a function of the melt temperature and is determined on the condition that a throughput is adapted to a required residence time, and wherein the sum decreases as the melt temperature increases toward T eff , passes through the minimum at T eff , and increases at temperatures higher than T eff , melting the inorganic materials at an operating melt temperature in a range from T eff −20% to T eff +20%, and selecting the throughput to be adapted to the required residence time at the operating melt temperature.