Almelo, the Netherlands: PANalytical, world market leader for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) equipment, announces a new dedicated solution for the analysis of very low chlorine concentrations in crude oils. Epsilon 3XLE, an XRF benchtop system, has now been equipped to meet the analytical challenges of the petrochemical industry.

Chlorine and sulfur are unwanted elements in crude oil and other petrochemical products. They can cause corrosion in the oil-processing and refinement installations and are harmful for the environment. XRF is widely used for the analysis of sulfur in oil; however, the simultaneous determination of very low chlorine concentrations poses an analytical challenge due to the proximity of both elements in the periodic table of elements. PANalytical’s Epsilon 3XLE energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer is perfectly able to meet this challenge. The combination of a proprietary chromium-anode tube, excellent resolution and sensitivity of the silicon drift detector and the powerful software enables the system to process high sulfur count rates and at the same time resolve possible line overlaps between chlorine and sulfur. Crude oil samples are simply poured into disposable cups for liquid samples before being measured by the compact benchtop spectrometer.

“The lower limit of quantification for chlorine in the presence of percentage levels of sulfur is below 2 mg/kg (ppm), which makes the Epsilon 3XLE the perfect solution for this challenging task,” says Taco van der Maten, petro segment marketing manager. “Furthermore, the system caters for variable characteristics of crude oil composition thereby enabling a more robust and accurate determination of chlorine. The possibility to analyze all other relevant elements from Na to Am with similar outstanding accuracy and repeatability, makes it a valuable asset for a wide range of petrochemical applications”.

About PANalytical

PANalytical’s mission is to enable people to get valuable insight into their materials and processes. Our customers can be found in virtually every industry segment, from building materials to pharmaceuticals and from metals and mining to nanomaterials. The combination of our software and instrumentation, based on X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as well as pulsed fast thermal neutron activation (PFTNA), provides our customers with highly reliable and robust elemental and structural information on their materials and is applied in scientific research and industrial process and quality control.

PANalytical employs over 1,000 people worldwide. The company’s headquarters are in Almelo, the Netherlands. Fully equipped application laboratories are established in Japan, China, the US, Brazil, and the Netherlands. PANalytical’s research activities are based in Almelo (NL) and on the campus of the University of Sussex in Brighton (UK). Supply and competence centers are located on two sites in the Netherlands: Almelo (X-ray instruments) and Eindhoven (X-ray tubes), in Nottingham, UK (XRF applications and standards), in Quebec, Canada (fusion sample preparation) and in Boulder CO, US (near-infrared instruments).

PANalytical is active in all but a few countries of the world. This worldwide sales and service network ensures unrivalled levels of customer support.

The company is certified in accordance with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

Visit www.panalytical.com for more information about our activities.

PANalytical is part of Spectris plc, the productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls company.