KLEVE, Germany, Nov. 17, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new application brief explains how a new generation of portable energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) instruments can provide performance comparable to laboratory-based systems and offer the flexibility to be easily moved to various process points to provide high-accuracy Quality Assurance (QA)/Quality Control (QC) for producers of steel or aluminum sheets. The brief, “At-Line Analysis of Coat Weight on Steel and Aluminum Sheets using ED-XRF Spectroscopy at the Process Line,” is available to download at http://goo.gl/CwVs4S from SPECTRO Analytical Instruments, a leading manufacturer of advanced instruments.
Steel and aluminum sheet producers often coat their products to protect them from rust or corrosion or to achieve a variety of objectives. The sheets go through a number of chemical processes to convert the steel or aluminum into the coating material. The consistency of coating thickness — commonly referred to as “coat weight” — is vital to successful production quality and requires advanced analytical techniques. Depending on substrate and customer requirements, analytical instruments might be needed to detect and measure the thickness of a wide variety of coating materials.
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy is an excellent technology for coat-weight analysis and can be performed with a variety of instruments, ranging from handheld systems to laboratory-based wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WD-XRF) instruments. Laboratory instruments are expensive and can delay process schedules, as samples must be taken from the line to the lab. Handheld XRF systems are popular but have many practical and analytical drawbacks.
Now, new portable ED-XRF instruments such as the SPECTROSCOUT portable analyzer have excellent analytical range and precision exhibiting very low limits of detection. Using this instrument at-line has been shown to provide reliable coat-weight measurement for a wide range of coating materials, including iron, zinc, manganese phosphate, zirconium, chromium and titanium. The new application brief, “At-Line Analysis of Coat Weight on Steel and Aluminum Sheets using ED-XRF Spectroscopy at the Process Line,” provides the details. Download the brief at http://goo.gl/CwVs4S.
About SPECTRO:
SPECTRO, a unit of the Materials Analysis Division of AMETEK, Inc., manufactures advanced instruments, develops the best solutions for elemental analysis for a broad range of applications, and provides exemplary customer service.
SPECTRO’s products are known for their superior technical capabilities that deliver measurable benefits to the customer. From its foundation in 1979 until today, more than 40,000 analytical instruments have been delivered to customers around the world.
AMETEK, Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical products with more than 15,000 colleagues at nearly 150 operating locations and sales and service operations in the United States and 30 other countries around the world.
For more information, visit www.spectro.com.