PROCESS MONITORING AND CONTROL WITH CHEMIN, A MINIATURIZED CCD-BASED INSTRUMENT FOR SIMULTANEOUS XRD/XRF ANALYSIS

Technical Report · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/772939· OSTI ID:772939

VANIMAN, D; BISH, D

There is a large variety of mining and manufacturing operations where process monitoring and control can benefit from on-site analysis of both chemical and mineralogic constituents. CHEMIN is a CCD-based instrument capable of both X-ray fluorescence (XRF; chemical) and X-ray diffraction (XRD; mineralogic) analysis. Monitoring and control with an instrument like CHEMIN can be applied to feedstocks, intermediate materials, and final products to optimize production. Examples include control of cement feedstock, of ore for smelting, and of minerals that pose inhalation hazards in the workplace. The combined XRD/XRF capability of CHEMIN can be used wherever a desired commodity is associated with unwanted constituents that may be similar in chemistry or structure but not both (e.g., Ca in both gypsum and feldspar, where only the gypsum is desired to make wallboard). In the mining industry, CHEMIN can determine mineral abundances on the spot and enable more economical mining by providing the means to quickly and frequently assay the material being mined, at minimal cost. In manufacturing, CHEMIN could be used to spot-check the chemical composition and crystalline makeup of a product at any stage of production. Analysis by CHEMIN can be used as feedback in manufacturing processes where rates of heating, process temperature, mixture of feedstocks, and other variables must be adjusted in real time to correct structure and/or chemistry of the product (e.g., prevention of periclase and alkali sulfate coproduction in cement manufacture).

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 772939
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-99-3467
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
MINERAL INDUSTRY
MONITORING
ON-LINE MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS