Calibration curve and support vector regression methods applied for quantification of cement raw meal using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS) is a qualitative and quantitative analytical technique with great potential in the cement industrial analysis. Calibration curve(CC) and support vector regression(SVR) methods coupled with LIBS technology were applied for the quantification of three types of cement raw meal samples to compare their analytical concentration range and the ability to reduce matrix effects, respectively. To reduce the effects of fluctuations of the pulse-to-pulse, the unstable ablation and improve the reproducibility, all of the analysis line intensities were normalized on a per-detector basis. The prediction results of the elements of interest in the three types of samples, Ca, Si, Fe, Al, Mg, Na, K and Ti, were compared with the results of the wet chemical analysis. The average relative error(ARE),relative standard deviation(RSD) and root mean squared error of prediction(RMSEP) were employed to investigate and evaluate the prediction accuracy and stability of the two prediction methods. The maximum average ARE of the CC and SVR methods is 34.62% instead of 6.13%,RSD is 40.89% instead of 7.60% and RMSEP is 1.34% instead of 0.43%. The results show that SVR method can accurately analyze samples within a wider concentration range and reduce the matrix effects, and LIBS coupled with it for a rapid, stable and accurate quantification of different types of cement raw meal samples is promising.

Accuracy improvement of calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy can overcome the matrix effect and the huge application prospects of in situ and on-line measurement, so it has been studied and applied to many analytical samples by numerous researchers since it was first proposed in 1999.However, its accuracy is always lower than other analytical techniques and traditional quantitative analysis methods of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. The goal of this paper is to review the improvement of accuracy in the experimental setup and spectral analysis,especially after 2010, but not limited to it. The main contents include the accurate measurement of spectral intensity, the spatial and temporal window of local thermodynamic equilibrium and the accurate calculation of temperature and electron density. Due to the requirement of one or more standard samples, the combination of standard samples and CF-LIBS is discussed as a separate section. Finally, a simple conclusion is offered to relevant researchers who want to use CF-LIBS for quantitative analysis.

Research on Measurement Technology of Flue Gas Velocity Based on Optical Scintillation Induced by Fluctuation of Particulate Concentration

Based on the theory of optical scintillation induced by fluctuation of particulate concentration, a Gas Flow Velocity Measurement System (GFVMS) is proposed to measure the gas flow velocity in stack. Verification experiments on simulation flue indicate that, for the smoothing effect of transmitting and receiving apertures, optical scintillation induced by refractive index fluctuation is very weak. When particles are added into gas flow, the standard deviation of optical scintillation increased obviously. And when the particulate number concentration exceeds 4000/m3, the GFVMS can work normally, and the variation range of measured velocities is almost the same with that of Pitot tube. Sensitivity testing results show that, GFVMS is very sensitive to velocity change. Results of outfield experiment prove that, velocities measured by GFVMS are more stable and the average velocity (7.62/s) is very close to the statistical average (7.61 m/s) of velocities measured by Pitot tube at different points along optical path.