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How to Determine the Appropriate Mobile or Handheld Metal Analyzer for On-the-Spot Metal Testing Tasks
For metal producers, processors, recyclers, contractors and others, continuous quality control plays a key role in establishing the identity and composition of various metals and alloys from initial melt to finished product or end use. Metals and alloys need to be accurately sorted, identified, and verified at each stage of the process to make certain they meet specific customer and/or industry requirements for physical and chemical composition.

For businesses that perform metal production, processing, recycling, or service contracting, an alloy mix-up at the shipping dock or on the factory floor risks an expensive, inconvenient batch rework or the possibility of a catastrophic loss of business. Fortunately, metal inspection has been made easy, accurate and affordable with the availability of portable, mobile optical emission spectroscopic (OES) metal analyzers and handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometers.

When it comes to metals specifications, the news is full of reports of mistakes, mismeasurements and other related scandals by a host of industries. It’s increasingly clear that quality-conscious organizations can’t afford to hand off responsibility for metals verification. The inspection of the metal makeup of incoming and outgoing components is a critical quality control (QC) task for companies worldwide.

While the focus of this article is on steels, non-ferrous alloy users are confronted with similar situations and are required to perform similar testing tasks. Some steel products are easy to analyze. For many suppliers and end users, testing with a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) or simple handheld optical emission spectrometry (OES) analyzer is adequate. Their size and relatively low initial costs have created great interest in these handheld analyzers, which produce fast results for on-the-spot alloy identification, grade sorting or verification.

In many cases, the presence or absence of an alloying element in a steel component is critical to its performance but impossible to detect by physically inspecting the item. Positive material identification (PMI) has become accepted practice for the process and equipment supply industries. The industry-standard approach for achieving efficient PMI is via elemental analysis of the materials.

Slag Analyzer presents a uniquely compact and reliable WDXRF platform configured with Thermo Scientific SmartGonio for analysis of slags and pig iron. This small but powerful instrument comes with factory installed calibration for slags using Jernkontoret standards. Its quick start-up, ease of use, and analytical flexibility provide unparalleled value for iron & steel laboratories.

? New: 500W equivalent analytical performance from 200W X-ray power
? 200W equivalent analytical performance from 50W X-ray power
? High precision, outstanding repeatability and stability to comply with slag analysis requirements
? Pre-calibrated turnkey solution for routine slag analysis
? Lowest cost of ownership thanks to low operating cost, highest reliability and minimal auxiliary equipment
? Optional Multichromators for faster analysis or better performance on selected elements
? Innovative UCCO technology combined with SmartGonio to achieve highest sensitivity

Oil Analysis Can Enhance Your Bottom Line
Oil analyzer offers many benefits. Through regular testing of lubricants, you can:

Enhance equipment life and reliability by ensuring proper lubrication and detecting issues such as excessive wear and contamination

Extend lubricant life by monitoring its condition and, when deemed necessary, treating or cleaning it, typically allowing for longer intervals between fluid changes

Reduce equipment downtime by spotting and correcting potential lubrication problems before they become serious issues

Seven Keys To Effective Oil Analysis
Follow these seven simple steps to help maximize the benefits of oil analysis:

Identify the equipment critical to your operational productivity. At the bare minimum, the lubricants in those components should be analyzed regularly. (Ideally, all lubricants in use at your facility should be tested regularly.)

Register the equipment with the lab. This will help the lab identify appropriate tests for your specific application. Registration also facilitates trending.

Use proper sampling procedures. Improper sampling may produce erroneous test results. Problems could be missed and go untreated, leading to costly problems later. Or conditions may be misdiagnosed, resulting in incorrect, unnecessary and money-wasting actions being taken to correct a nonexistent issue.

Provide complete and accurate information with each sample you submit to the lab. Missing or inaccurate information may lead to a misdiagnosis. Complete all fields on the submission form, including the specific lubricant in use, the component it services, the hours the oil has been in use, and more. Also ensure that the information is legible to help avoid misinterpretation.

Submit samples promptly to the laboratory for analysis. Although a delay inherently has virtually no effect on the sample itself, it does increase the potential for contamination. Also, the condition of the oil in use in the equipment will continue to change over time. The more time that passes between when the sample is taken and when it is analyzed, the less alike the sample will be to the fluid still flowing in the machine. Therefore, the results of the analysis will have less relevance.

Review and respond to test results appropriately. Promptly review the analysis documentation to determine what, if any, action is necessary.

Use oil analysis regularly, not just when you suspect a problem. As part of a preventive maintenance program, regular oil analysis establishes a baseline for monitoring the condition of your lubricants and the components in which they are used. Much like routine, periodic medical screenings, the regular collection of analysis data over time may help identify trends and spot potential complications in early stages, so that they can be corrected and not become big problems.

How do we measure static gel strength development?
Historically, the SGS of a cement slurry was determined by a method using a couette-type rotational viscometer. Today, more specialized instruments have been developed that allow the measurements to be done under conditions of high temperature and pressure.

API-10B6 was developed to establish the testing protocols to determine SGS by different mechanisms, including a rotating-type apparatus, an intermittent rotation-type apparatus and an ultrasonic-type apparatus (removed in the latest API adoption due to patents exclusivity).

Test method using rotating-type static gel strength apparatus
The apparatus contains a pressure chamber that can be heated and pressurized according to a simulated cement job schedule. The SGS is calculated from the torque required to rotate a paddle of known geometry at very low speed. The rotation speed of the paddle during the SGS measurement portion of the test is usually a continuous 0,2 r/min. The initial stirring to simulate placement in the well is typically conducted at 150 r/min.

Test method using intermittent rotation-type static gel strength apparatus
This apparatus works on the same principles/methods as the previous one with the sole difference that this it operates intermittently during the SGS testing phase at 0,01 r/min for 6s after a time interval adjustable between 1 min and 10 min. In general, an intermittent rotation every 3 min is used.

Test method using ultrasonic-type static gel strength apparatus
The instrument measures the static gel strength of API cement under high temperature and high-pressure conditions. The instrument is equipped with an internal processor board that sends and receives an ultrasonic pulse through the slurry, then performs post processing of the data to determine the static gel strength (SGS) versus time plot. Additionally, as an option, the instrument may be used to determine the compressive strength of the cement using the same algorithms and method found in a conventional Ultrasonic Cement Analyzer (UCA). This testing methodology was included in API10B6 original version but was later removed as it’s patent protected and exclusive to Chandler Ametek. The machine is known as Static Gel Strength Analyzer (SGSA).

Food security and why it matters
The global food security challenge is straightforward: by 2050, the world must feed 9 billion people. The demand for food will be 60% greater than it is today. The United Nations has set ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture as the second of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030.

To achieve these objectives requires addressing a host of issues, from gender parity and ageing demographics to skills development and global warming. Agriculture sectors have to become more productive by adopting efficient business models and forging public-private partnerships. And they need to become sustainable by addressing greenhouse gas emissions, water use and waste. The risks: malnutrition, hunger and even conflict.

Why is food security such a major global challenge?

The obvious reason is that everybody needs food. But the complexity of delivering sufficient food to a national population and to the whole world’s population shows why food security is such a priority for all countries, whether developing or developed.

In short, this is a global challenge because it’s not just about food and feeding people but also about practically all aspects of an economy and society.
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