17-05-2011

Spectro Xepos HE XRF instrument sets a new standard for the quantification of heavy elements

Optimized excitation and detection guarantee outstanding sensitivity and accuracy for the analysis of metals and heavy metals in a wide range of material. SPECTRO Analytical Instruments will be showing the SPECTRO XEPOS HE X-ray fluorescence analytical instrument for the first time. The new model in the SPECTRO XEPOS series is optimized for the analysis of medium and heavy elements. In this area, it achieves detection limits that are a factor of 5 to 10 times better than conventional ED-XRF instruments. The SPECTRO XEPOS HE – “HE” stands for “Heavy Elements” – has been developed mainly for laboratories in the environmental analysis, geology and waste disposal areas.

“Commonly used XRF instruments are setup for rapid screening analyses and for the quantification of many elements; they often determine the concentrations of heavy elements only in screening quality,” explains Dirk Wissmann, Product Manager for XRF at SPECTRO. “But especially heavy elements like cadmium or antimony are of great interest for many applications. This is why we’ve added the XEPOS HE to our range of products – an instrument that offers all the advantages of modern XRF, but, with its innovative design, is able to reliably quantify even heavy elements in ppm ranges.”

The highlight in the SPECTRO XEPOS HE is its flexible excitation source: The instrument uses an extremely stable end-window tube with a power of only 50 Watt. The target changer with up to eight polarization and secondary targets enables users to achieve excellent sensitivity and accuracy for an ED-XRF instrument during the analysis of medium and heavy elements.

Choice between Two Detector Sizes
The SPECTRO XEPOS HE is available in two detector models to ensure seamless integration into laboratory operation: The standard instrument utilizes the newest type of silicon drift detector with a 10 mm² surface. Using internal collimation, it achieves a very good signal to noise ratio and delivers, with its high resolution and high count rate, extremely accurate measurements in the shortest of times. For especially demanding environments, the XEPOS HE can be equipped with an optional, three times larger 30 mm² detector. With the larger surface area it provides much higher sensitivities – and gives laboratories the ability to decide: measure a great deal faster or achieve lower detection limits.

Suited to Many Applications
As a specialist for the heavy metals, the SPECTRO XEPOS HE is suited to a number of application areas that were not, until now, accessible for ED-XRF instruments. This includes:
* Geological examinations: When analyzing rock samples, geological laboratories are dependent on the reliable quantification of heavy elements – documentation of the arsenic or cadmium contamination in soil, for example. Even in this area, the SPECTRO XEPOS HE provides an exact determination of the concentration.
* Compliance Analyses for Environmental Applications: For a long time, the only internationally binding criterion for consumer goods was the maximum content of 100 ppm cadmium as defined in the RoHS. Meanwhile, many government and commercial organizations are defining stricter limiting values, often in the range of 5 ppm. Conformance with these new limiting values cannot be reliably ensured using conventional XRF instruments – the SPECTRO XEPOS HE, however, provides extremely reliable results in this area.
* Analysis of Waste Oil and Alternative Fuel: When burning alternative fuels, cement works must fulfill increasingly strict legal restrictions and they must document conformance with incoming and outgoing samples. Here too, highest values in ppm ranges are frequently valid for heavy elements. In this application area, which is inaccessible to conventional EDXRF, the XEPOS HE delivers outstanding results.

For more information, please visit www.spectro.com