Olympus Delta Professional and Delta Premium Plus XRF analysers

Geochemical analysis of minerals and non-destructive testing (NDT) of manufactured materials by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a crucial tool in many industries. XRF can be used for applications ranging from measuring the concentrations of elements in soil or rock samples, or identifying the grade of stainless steel in a section of pipeline, to authenticating the composition of paint in an artwork or detecting the presence of toxic chemicals in children’s toys.

An XRF analyser uses a controlled beam of radiation to excite the electrons in a sample causing the elements to fluoresce. Each element fluoresces at a specific energy level, which can be identified as a characteristic peak. A higher peak indicates a greater concentration of an element.

The Olympus Delta Premium Plus model is aimed at the mineral exploration and mining sector, and is most commonly used by field geologists to determine elemental concentrations in a particular soil, rock or ore sample. The device has been developed for the alloy and NDT sectors, especially companies conducting analysis of manufactured and scrap materials such as stainless steel and a wide range of other alloy types.

When the device is calibrated with ‘Geochem’ mode, it looks for specific elements and can accurately measure concentrations from parts per million up to percentages. It can detect elements in the periodic table ranging from magnesium to uranium.