Round robin experiments for comparison and evaluation of analytical methods for the determination of emissions from high-power laser material processing

Abstract

The characterization of gaseous and aerosol emissions and also workplace immissions generated during high-power laser processing is one of the main work areas of the International Working Group (IWG) 1 ‘Fumes’ in the Eurolaser project EU 643 ‘Safety in the Industrial Applications of Lasers.’ To investigate the emissions and workplace immissions, suitable experimental set-ups, sampling devices and analytical techniques must be available, and the techniques must be well mastered. Various experimental set-ups, sampling and analysis methods have been used by the institutes and laboratories participating in the project. In order to compare the results of emission and immission measurements carried out by different institutes, the quality of the sampling and analysis methods has to be ascertained. To meet these demands, IWG 1 decided, as a first step, to carry out a series of round robin exercises. This is an ongoing programme and the results of the round robin experiments on the chemical analysis of inorganic and organic compounds, expected to be formed during high-power laser processing of various materials, are presented in this paper. For many of the compounds analysed, the results showed significant variations between the participants and better agreement of the analytical methods used by the different participants is required for adequate comparisons of analytical results. The round robin experiments proved to be a valuable tool for self-evaluation among the participants and may in the future facilitate comparisons of the results obtained.