
In the late 1990s, the introduction of the hand-held metals and alloys analyzer was met with great interest in the scrap recycling market. While benchtop analyzers and other forms of accurately identifying inbound metals and alloys have not gone away subsequently, the hand-held analyzer quickly gained widespread acceptance at scrap facilities.
The market for hand-held analyzers remains a vibrant and competitive one some 20 years later, with several suppliers introducing new models, new features and new capabilities to this equipment sector each year.
In a market segment with numerous types of alloyed metal, researchers and equipment designers have found an impressive number of niches to serve, with some analyzer makers focusing on certain alloys, others on durability, and most manufacturers seeking to keep their units lightweight enough to gain favor with operators.
Seeing more
Aluminum alloys and red metals may represent the greatest volume of materials flowing into scrap yards, but determining the composition of other metals also can be worthwhile for recyclers.
Seeing “through” the exterior coatings of metal components and scrap materials also can be beneficial. A March 2017 product introduction from United States-based Thermo Fisher Scientific, the Niton XL5 hand-held X- ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, takes aim at the challenge.
Thermo Scientific Niton describes the XL5 as the smallest and lightest hand-held XRF alloy analyzer available. The software introduced in early 2017 includes a new coatings mode designed to allow users to measure the thickness or weight of up to four coating layers on an object or sample, including alloys, compounds and pure metals.
Additionally, says the company, users of the analyzer can define substrate layers consisting of alloys, pure metals, plastics and wood. This doubles the number of coating layers that could be measured by previous models, according to Thermo Scientific Niton.
Another new-for-2017 analyzer product offering is not a hand-held unit but a smaller benchtop or desktop model catering to recyclers who have objects with precious metals content arriving at their facilities.
Germany-based Spectro Analytical Instruments introduced its Spectro Midex MID05 spectrometer in the summer of 2017. The company calls the unit “a fifth-generation, fast, accurate, small-spot energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) analyzer for precious metal testing.”
The new, compact spectrometer delivers improved sensitivity and speed, and represents a smart alternative to fire assay testing, according to Spectro. Incorporating the latest developments in ED-XRF detector technology the Midex spectrometer “is one of the most advanced laboratory benchtop XRF analyzers available for precious metals testing,” says the firm.
The Midex MID05 spectrometer can perform at “record-setting testing times” of as low as 15 seconds, says the company, for small jewelry items or drill cuttings from re-melted samples.
Spectro characterizes the device as easy to use for even minimally trained operators, and as providing reliable, cost-effective analysis for recyclers, precious metals testing offices, assay labs and refinery labs.
United States-based Bruker Corp. says its EOS 500 hand-held LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) model can provide grade identification and chemistry in light element alloys containing lithium, magnesium, aluminum or silicon.
The company says the EOS 500 LIBS spectrometer offers speed, accuracy and repeatability and that compared with hand-held XRF units, light element analysis with the model is approximately 10 times faster.
According to Bruker, the EOS 500 also is designed to be durable in the demanding conditions associated with the scrap recycling industry, including humid and dusty conditions, a characteristic that has become a point of emphasis for many manufacturers in the sector.
Lean, tough and fast
Potentially at odds with each other are hand-held analyzer trends toward durability—to endure harsh scrap environments—and lighter overall weight, to provide an ergonomics advantage to users. Manufacturers also are pursuing faster readouts on their devices.
The Japan-based Olympus Corp. says its line of Vanta portable, hand-held analyzers are “IP65 rated to withstand rain, dirt, and dust and are drop tested using U.S. Department of Defense methods (MIL-STD-810G) to help prevent breakages and maximize uptime.”
An IP (ingress protection) rating is designed to classify an electronic object’s degree of protection from a variety of objects and forces, including dust, water and accidental contact. According to the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), an item with a IP65 rating is completely protected from dust and is protected from “low-pressure water jets from any direction.”
Also marketing its analyzers on the ruggedness front is Japan based Rigaku Analytical Devices, which says its hand-held LIBS analyzer, the KT-100 Katana, has achieved MIL-STD-810G and IP54 certifications.
Rigaku says its KT-100 has undertaken rigorous durability tests that “prove its best-in-class capabilities for meeting the needs of those who require a rugged hand-held analyzer to rapidly and accurately identify alloy grades in the harshest environments.”
Announcing the KT-100’s rugged status in 2016, Rigaku said the device “underwent strict testing to the United States Military Standard MIL-STD-810G. The tests involved rigorous vibration [and] shock and drop testing, which focused on impact to every angle of the instrument to evaluate its durability and performance when exposed to environmental stress.”
Shifting to the lightweighting aspect, Thermo Scientific says its Niton XL5 weighs 2.8 pounds (1.3 kilograms) and features a compact, ergonomic design. The Niton XL5 is intended to reduce operator fatigue and enable users to easily access hard-to-reach spots and crevices, according to the company, which adds that the analyzer is designed to deliver fast and highly accurate results.
Identification speed is one of the characteristics touted by Oxford Instruments for its Vulcan hand-held metals analyzer. Oxford, which became part of Tokyo-based Hitachi High Technologies Corp. in July 2017, calls Vulcan “one of the fastest metals analyzers” that also has a “simple user interface [that] significantly reduces user error, delivering far more accurate and consistent results.”
Oxford says the Vulcan can obtain “reliable results in just one-second analysis” and can also allow users to manage their data, with the device allowing users to transfer and store results “securely in the OiConnect cloud.”
Los Angeles-based Tribogenics introduced its Watson XRF analyzer in 2016 by calling it the industry’s first sub-$10,000 hand-held XRF analyzer, yet one that could identify more than 420 metal alloys.
The company says Watson “requires only seconds” to complete positive material identification of some 423 metal alloys. The device also includes a cloud-based data reporting system, available on Android OS, and requires virtually no operator training, according to Tribogenics.
Tribogenics has been marketing the device as ideal for recyclers who sell scrap to metals producers who supply the aerospace, automotive and medical device industries.
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