LIBS for Melt Diagnostics

Energy Research Company (ERCo), with funding from DOE's Industrial Technologies Program, has installed a full-scale system to measure in-situ and in real time the elemental concentrations of Commonwealth's (a secondary aluminum plant) aluminum melt. Termed LIBS for Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, the concept employs a laser and spectrometer as shown in Figure 1. A probe is placed inside the melt and a laser is repetitively fired through a fiber optic cable and through the probe. A small amount of melt, at the probe tip, absorbs the laser light producing temperatures sufficiently high to heat and vaporize it into a gaseous plasma state.

 

 

The resulting plasma emits a radiative signal that is picked up by the fiber optic cable and transferred to the spectrometer. This characteristic line radiation is spectrally resolved which uniquely identifies the elements in the melt. In addition, the signal amplitude provides the concentration of each element present.

The LIBS System is designed to be a single push button operation with no training required. The operator presses the on-button and, if all the interlocks are satisfied, the probe automatically extends into the melt and begins collecting data. Similarly, a single button ends the measurements and retracts the probe. Further, the LIBS System is self-calibrating so that the operator does not need to be trained to calibrate it. 

In addition, the LIBS System has been certified as being eye safe, so neither specialized safety training nor safety equipment are required. Our licensee, Altek, offers this as a product.