The evaluation of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for process monitoring of slag from the plasma hearth process

Slag material produced by the Plasma Hearth Process (PHP) varies in chemical composition due to the heterogeneous nature of the input sample feed. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a spectroscopic technique which has been evaluated to perform elemental analyses on surrogate slag material for process control. The intensity of Si, Al and Fe in the slag samples was utilized to determine the appropriate matrix standard set for the determination of Ce. The precision of the XRF technique was better than 5% RSD. The limit of detection for Ce varied with sample matrix and was typically below 0.01 % by weight. The linear dynamic range for the technique was evaluated over 2 orders of magnitude. The Ce determinations performed directly on slag material by the XRF technique were similar to ICP-AES analyses. No addition waste streams were created from the analyses by the XRF technique