Whilst the capabilities of performing Positive Material Identification can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer in terms of reliability under rugged environmental conditions and accuracy, there are 2 fundamental principles involved;
The analytical spark produced between an electrode (usually silver) and the material being tested is examined and the various element intensities vary according to the amount of that element present. Thus the % concentration of each element present is calculated through the stored instrument calibrations and the chemical analysis specification determined.
A mini x-ray tube is used to bombard the material being tested and from the resultant peaks the chemical analysis and specification of the material is determined. The miniature x-ray tube means that no radiation is exposed except during the analytical cycle, and even then the levels are sufficiently low so that no further safety procedures need to be followed when transporting or using the equipment on-site.
The above are the 2 fundamental techniques used for mobile
analysis and both have their use dependant on the specific requirements
of the client.
Equipment used by our company; Spark Emission Spectroscopy
(Quantity 1), X-Ray Fluorescence Analyser (Quantity 2).
