Use of an energy-dispersive spectrometer in cement and clinker analysis

This article presents information about the Clever A-17 energy-dispersive spectrometer from Thermo Techno Group. This benchtop instrument, which provides rapid and accurate identification of sodium and elements with higher atomic numbers, enables monitoring of the chemical composition of cement and clinker. An experiment staged to evaluate the spectrometer's capabilities for rapid analysis of these materials demonstrated the following: the Clever A-17 reliably achieves the required sodium identification accuracy standards as specified by regulatory documents and consistently determines the chemical composition of cement and clinker over long periods of time without recalibration, or ad-justments to the calibration chart.