The metal is first melted in contact with a carbon source, possibly a graphite crucible inside which the melt is carried out or graphite powder / chunks that are placed in the melt.
12.
The process incorporates either an igniter for use with standard graphite molds or a consumable sealed drop in weld metal cartridge, semi-permanent graphite crucible mold, and an ignition source that tethers to the cartridge with a cable that provides the safe remote ignition.
13.
When welding copper conductors, the process employs a semi-permanent graphite crucible mould, in which the molten copper, produced by the reaction, flows through the mould and over and around the conductors to be welded, forming an electrically conductive weld between them.
14.
The oxidation of solid carbon is so slow as to be imperceptable, as all of us who have done the iron smelting experiment in a graphite crucible ( using a mouth-powered air blast and making little dots of iron ) in high school science class will know.
