Issue 5, 2018

The effects of pressure on X-ray fluorescence analyses: pXRF under high altitude conditions

Abstract

In Latin America many mine sites are located more than 2000 m above sea level, and some over 4000 m above sea level. Portable X-ray ray fluorescence (pXRF) is becoming a routine method for collecting chemical data at different altitudes during mineral exploration campaigns. As altitude increases, air density decreases, and the physics of X-rays being transmitted through air mean that the transmission of low-energy X-rays increases and accordingly the transmission effectiveness of low-atomic weight elements (e.g. Mg, Al, and Si) also increases. Here we assess the performance of pXRF units across a range of pressures that equate to 0–5000 m above sea level by conducting well-documented tests with changing pressure to assess the use of a pXRF unit in high-altitude environments. Utilising both field test work, and test work using a hypobaric chamber in a laboratory where external conditions could be better controlled we examine how changing altitude can affect the performance of pXRF units. Units that have in-built pressure corrections perform reasonably consistently as altitude increases, whereas those that do not perform exactly as X-ray transmission modelling suggests. That is to say, the increased count rates of low-atomic weight elements (e.g. Mg, Al, and Si) means that these elements are over-reported and as a result the unit may under-report heavy elements.

Graphical abstract: The effects of pressure on X-ray fluorescence analyses: pXRF under high altitude conditions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Feb 2018
Accepted
15 Mar 2018
First published
17 Apr 2018

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2018,33, 792-798

The effects of pressure on X-ray fluorescence analyses: pXRF under high altitude conditions

J. Merrill, V. Montenegro, M. F. Gazley and L. Voisin, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2018, 33, 792 DOI: 10.1039/C8JA00029H

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