Radioisotope Probe System for On-Stream Process Analysis and Control

Abstract

A radioisotope x-ray fluorescence probe system has been developed for the automatic analysis of medium and heavy elements in mineral slurries and solutions. In this system the probes are located at separate positions in the process. A minicomputer controls and commands the probes via a communication loop. There are two probe types, one equipped with a high resolution sealed proportional counter and the other with an intrinsic germanium detector. Each probe can simultaneously analyze up to five elements and slurry density. An automatic sampling and sample cell system has been developed for the probes. The stabilizing control of a flotation process based on assays has proved profitable in many installations. The small digital distributed controllers and on-stream analyzers make more productive operation of small plants possible. The digital controller can handle from 8 to 32 control loops and the most common control algorithms, and it can be expanded by simply adding similar controllers and/or more complex second stage control devices.