Aluminum trace elements analysis by Epsilon 1 for small spot analysis
Authored by Hussain Al Halwachi. Hussain has published a lot of researches in XRD and XRF filed related to aluminum smelting technology. He has a wide experience in industrial laboratories. He is specialized in X-ray fields and Carbon analyses. He developed many alternative methods in the X-ray filed to replace wet chemical procedures. He is holding B.sc in Chemistry from the University of Bahrain, and MBA from Arabian Gulf University in collaboration with ESSEC University – France.
The amount of alloying materials and trace elements in aluminum metal are usually measured by Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) technique, which is an accurate and reliable method applied in most aluminum smelters and downstream industries. In the absence of an OES machine, it is extremely difficult to decide the amount of alloying materials required for each aluminum alloy, and certification of final aluminum product cannot be carried out.
Recently, a new analytical application was developed by Hussain Al Halwachi, a researcher from Aluminum Bahrain Alba, using the Epsilon 1 EDXRF machine for small spot analysis. The application was successfully capable to generate a backup for OES to measure the trace elements in aluminum metal with very high accuracy. In spite of known factors and difficulties in measuring a few of the light elements in Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) in the lower range, Epsilon 1 for small spot analysis was able to measure the low ranges of Silicon and Manganese, which are crucial elements in aluminum alloys.
Omnian calibration was modified by adding six reference materials certified by Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA). Further an aluminum in-type standard was generated as TAG to measure aluminum samples. Repeatability and reproducibility tests performed, revealed the reliability of the application. The beauty in the new application is that it can assist in measuring even irregular shapes of aluminum pieces and analyze them without sample facing, which help heavily in metal recycling.
The research was recently published in Light Metals 2020, which is the annual book gathering the technical papers for the annual international conference conducted by the minerals, metals & materials society (TMMS) and attended by 4000 worldwide researchers.
Epsilon 1 for small spot analysis is able to measure most of trace elements in aluminum metal samples with very high accuracy, repeatability and precision. Tests showed confidently that the machine is able to produce accurate results
Hussain Al Halwachi
Useful links:
References:
Al Halwachi H. (2020) Aluminum Trace Elements Analyses Using Epsilon 1 Meso EDXRF Technique. In: Tomsett A. (eds) Light Metals 2020. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36408-3_27