Quantitative analysis of cement powder by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

Determination of elemental composition of cement powder plays an important role in the cement and construction industries. In the present paper, Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is used for measuring the concentration of cement ingredient. Cement powder samples are pressed into pellets. Laser pulses are focused on the surface of pellets. A microplasma is formed in the front of samples. The plasma emission contains information about the elemental composition of the samples. By assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and using several standard cement samples, a calibration curve is prepared for each element. The major and minor elements of cement such as Ca, Si, K, Mg, Al, Na, Ti, Mn and Sr are qualitatively and quantitatively determined. For verification of LTE conditions, plasma parameters such as plasma electron temperature and electron density are computed. According to the obtained results, the LIBS technique could be a suitable method for determination of elemental composition in the cement production industries. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.