Application of XRF in the Aluminum Industry

Abstract

X-ray fluorescence analysis has been used in the aluminum industry since the beginning of the 1950's. Initial applications involved predominantly raw materials such as bauxite. During the last decades its use expanded to every stage of aluminum production and today, XRF analysis is a recognized analyticaI technique, applied routinely in exploration, reduction and fabrication processes. Typical XRF applications in the aluminum industry at present are listed in Table 1. The number of determinations given represents usual industrial requirements, and may vary between laboratories. The sample preparation techniques are again the most commonly used for the applications.

Selected applications of Rietveld-XRD analysis for raw materials of the aluminum industry

“…In order to characterize all bauxite samples involved in the project, wet chemistry (WCh), BQuant [Kimmerle and Feret, 1997], XDB Hungalu [Sajó, 1994], XRF [Feret, 1993] and TGA determinations were carried out, in addition to Rietveld-XRD investigations.…”