Niton’s XLt 800 SY alloy analyser

Archiv – Niton, the US producer of portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology, has hailed its new XLt 800 SY alloy analyser as ’a breakthrough in trace element analysis in alloys’.Niton, the US producer of portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology, has hailed its new XLt 800 SY alloy analyser as ’a breakthrough in trace element analysis in alloys’.
The device features improved, targeted X-ray tube excitation combined with a newly-developed Super PiN detector – considerably improving minimum detectable limits for chromium, copper, nickel, molybdenum and other trace elements in alloy materials.
These new capabilities now enable portable XRF to be used as part of the FAC (Flow Accelerated Corrosion) inspection protocol. A well-known source of problems in nuclear and fossil-fuel power plants, FAC is the process by which carbon steel piping and components degrade in the presence of flowing water or steam water with low dissolved oxygen: as the water flows against the carbon steel, the stable surface oxide layer (typically Fe3O4) is dissolved into the flowing stream, thereby thinning the pipe walls over time and leading to catastrophic failure due to rupturing. Research has shown that trace amounts of alloying elements – particularly chromium – greatly reduce the rate of FAC. As a result, it has become industry convention when inspecting for FAC to monitor closely the trace alloy content; by identifying components and piping containing sufficient chromium levels, a more efficient FAC inspection protocol can be developed as these components require less frequent inspection. The composition data are also entered into the CHECKWORKS software program to improve the facility’s FAC data model.
According to Niton, the new XLt 800 SY features exceptional repeatability and accuracy for chromium in carbon steels in the range of 0.02% to 0.1%, making it an ideal complement to the standard FAC inspection protocol, according to Niton. Requiring no technical expertise to operate, the device weighs approximately 3.0 lb (1.4 kg) and operates on battery power for more than eight hours. Little or no sample preparation is needed while data provision is instantaneous.