Mining Publication: A Portable Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Instrument for Rapid Sampling and Analysis of Silicon-Containing Aerosols
Original creation date: May 2016
Authors: RP McLaughlin, GS Mason, AL Miller, CB Stipe, JD Kearns, MW Prier, JD Rarick
A portable instrument has been developed for measuring silicon-containing aerosols in near real-time using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The instrument uses a vacuum system to collect and deposit airborne particulate matter onto a translatable reel of filter tape. LIBS is used to analyze the deposited material, determining the amount of silicon-containing compounds present. In laboratory testing with pure silica (SiO2), the correlation between LIBS intensity for a characteristic silicon emission and the concentration of silica in a model aerosol was determined for a range of concentrations, demonstrating the instrument’s plausibility for identifying hazardous levels of silicon-containing compounds.
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