Why use a benchtop system in the woods?

Remote locations have always been an issue when it comes to maintaining an XRF system. A ready supply of gas cylinders, stable power supply, and service in general have plagued XRF systems in these situations. With the advent of the Rigaku Mini series of benchtop WDXRF systems these problems have been eliminated or significantly reduced. The Rigaku WDXRF Mini units operate using a very low gas flow; they function well with low-cost UPS units as the power supply is standard house current; they are air-cooled, eliminating the need for a chiller, and maintenance is simple.

Another major issue is the operating environment. Facilities such as limestone quarries often require a unit located directly at the quarry site. Most of the time the systems cannot be housed in a stable laboratory environment. Rigaku's Mini systems are exceptionally high performers in these situations. For example, remote quarries in the mountains of West Virginia (Figure 1) successfully utilize the quantitative capabilities of a Rigaku Mini benchtop to assure that their product is of consistent quality. 

Also, in order to meet assurance specifications, most quarry business have to comply with preset limits in ASTM method C1271, to certify their limestone material specs or the product cannot be shipped. The data in Figure 2 shows the calculation of a certified reference material ECISS 701 using the formulas of ASTM C1271 collected on the benchtop spectrometer.

The Rigaku Mini benchtop spectrometer can deliver data quality consistent with that of a much larger floor-model system in a small footprint ideal for remote analytical facilities.

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