Search

The authors present and discuss a method for simultaneous quantitative analysis of total loss on ignition (LOI) (CO2 + H2O) and CO2 content separate from the LOI, in an industrial environment of quicklime production. Total LOI is determined by the Compton scattered RhKα tube radiation which is used directly in the calibration equation. The resulting calibration curve for LOI, including matrix correction shows an accuracy of 0.15 mass%. The carbon content (CO2) is distinguished from total LOI by measuring CKα radiation, which is possible with the required accuracy by employing a new multilayer analyzer with greatly improved background characteristics. The method aims at high reliability and sample throughput and at becoming a less time-consuming alternative to the conventional method of LOI determination by weighing sequences before and after “ignition” at 1050 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper summarizes an oral presentation of the same title presented at the occasion of recognizing the “The 100th Anniversary of X-ray Spectroscopy” at DXC 2013. It gives an overview of the development in electronics with focus on (mainly) energy-dispersive X-ray detectors and related data processing. Naturally this has its origin in the early transistors and the first semiconductor junction detectors of the late 1940s. It was followed by refinement of semiconductor detector technology in general and particularly by the invention of Li-drifting and employment of low-noise field effect transistors until such devices matured sufficiently to be marketed by the late 1960s. Further improvement followed in resolution, speed, operability at room temperature, and development of junction arrays with imaging capabilities. An important aspect is the development of related software requiring affordable laboratory computers, programming languages, and databases of fundamental parameters. Today x-ray fluorescence analysis (and not only the energy-dispersive variant) is widely employed as an analytical tool for the traditional technical and industrial applications but notably also, at an expanding rate as well as variety, in other fields including environmental, medical, archaeological, space, arts, and many more. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]