Rammlmair, et al., reported in Methodological Developments and Applications Chapter 7.6 of Geology, Mining, Metallurgy. in: Handbook of Practical X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis. B. Beckhoff, B. Kanngießer, N. Langhoff, R. Wedell and H. Wolff (eds.): Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006, pp. 640-831.
For a variety of applications in geology, hydrogeology, geochemistry, metallurgy, and associated fields, the speed of sample analysis is of major importance. In situ online data acquisition is the optimal solution for decision making processes. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was (2006) and still is (2020) the most popular method applied to solve these most basic problems of geologists, mining engineers, and metallurgists, although there a variety new variations available today (2020).
Several scales of chemical information are useful for the geoscientist:
• The macroscale involving direct field measurements, laboratory investigation of homogeneous bulk samples, and product online control.
• The mesoscale refers to the hand specimen size, down to a spatial resolution of 30–100 μm. Element 1D scans and 2D distribution maps provide zones of interest for further microanalytical research.
• The microscale focuses on single minerals , mineral zoning, single particles, fluid and melt inclusions, and compositions within experimental apparatus, e.g., diamond anvil cells (DAC).
The principles and advantages of wavelength-dispersive-(WDXRF), energydispersive-(EDXRF), nondispersive-(NDXRF), total reflection-(TXRF), and grazing emission X-ray fluorescence(GEXRF) have been described in detail and are the subject in some of the chapters (Chaps. 2–5) of this book. Hahn-Weinheimer et al. and Weber and Diefenbach (and references) refer in detail to the applicability to geosciences, comparing WDXRF and EDXRF systems. Kramar [406] discussed the progress in EDXRF technology. Several manufacturers of XRF instruments provide basic information on instrumentation and applications via the internet. Depending on the field of application, the individual systems are designed to fulfill certain conditions. Spectral resolution, excitation conditions, and spatial resolution are thereby the most relevant aspects. A number of XRF instruments on the market meet the requirements of application in the field or outcrop, in the laboratory, and for online monitoring of technical
processes.
Robust and highly accurate laboratory systems facilitate bulk analyses, fast online systems help to control production quality, handheld systems enable analysis in the field and help to reduce the number of samples by selective sampling, and high spatially resolving systems support meso- and microanalytical approaches. However, for each scientific application an adequate method should be chosen based on the need of qualitative, semiquantitative, or quantitative information and the required spatial resolution.
This chapter include more than 900 references at the end of the chapter.
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
