How X-ray fluorescence can support consumer prices stability - Aluminum fluoride all-in-one analysis with EDX-8000P

Moreover, this element is extremely popular in the production of cookware or foils used for packaging in the food industry. Aluminum is produced by electrolysis of alumina dissolved in a molten cryolite bath. The process of electrolysis requires a huge amount of electricity. Some industrial processes using aluminum fluoride AlF3 (approximately 5 - 15 %) and other additives have been developed to decrease the melting point to 930 - 950 °C and to increase conductivity of the electrolyte solution. This reduces energy consumption and greatly decreases the cost of the aluminum. Before being used as an additive, aluminum fluoride has to be analyzed in order to check the content of the main component. At the same time, the main impurity (aluminum oxide) as well as harmful elements such as silicon, phosphorus and iron are examined in order to prevent main product contamination (metallic aluminum).

Traditional methods require a lot of reagents, chemicals and time for analysis to produce component results, reducing productivity as well as consuming time and money. After years of research and development, Shimadzu engineers have come up with a more economical solution by using the EDX-8000P for quick analysis before production.

All EDX results shown in tables 1 and 2 showed excellent correlation with official regulation analysis methods results. This demonstrates that the EDX-8000P analysis procedure is a valuable alternative to traditional time-consuming methods. By decreasing analysis time and chemical product consumption, this new strategy can contribute to reduced aluminum material prices and in the end to price stability of consumer prices for food packaging, convenience foods and freshly prepared meals on wheels.

The EDX has features such as high-perfomance SSD Detector therefore its lower limit of detection improved 1.5 to 5 times, high speed−throughput increased by up to a factor of 10, high resolution, designed with interlocking door system to prevent radioactive leakage… EDX is increasingly trusted in industrial production also on laboratory purpose.

Source: ETA