Development of a Handheld Field-Deployable Mineral Analyser

手持式现场部署矿物分析仪的开发

• 批准号: ST/L000148/1
• 负责人: Graeme Hansford
• 金额: $ 28.38万
• 依托单位: University of Leicester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FL000148%2F1
• 关键词: Development; Handheld; Field; Deployable; Mineral

X-ray powder diffractometry is a well-established materials analysis technique which produces results directly linked to the microcrystalline structure of the sample material. It is the definitive method for the identification and quantification of the mineral content of rocks. Many materials are crystalline in nature at the micron-scale (one micron equals a thousandth of a millimetre) - rocks, soils, many raw materials and building materials, metals - and so the technique has very wide applicability both in research and industrial contexts. Standard methods generally require careful preparation of the sample. For example, rocks must be ground to a fine powder and loaded into a sample well. The sample surface must be flat, and positioned accurately within the x-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument. A novel XRD technique which exhibits almost complete insensitivity to the shape and form of the sample is being developed at the University of Leicester. This unique characteristic enables the analysis of, for example, rock samples with no requirement for any preparation of the rock. Furthermore, the principles underlying this technique favour an especially compact and lightweight instrument design. The method is also inherently fast, aided by the lack of any sample preparation requirement. The characteristics of this technique enable, for the first time, the development of a handheld XRD device for the rapid identification and quantification of minerals in the field. The key commercial application is in mining and quarrying, and this application will serve as the focus of the project. The project objectives are two-fold. Firstly, the technique and methodology will be developed using samples which are fully representative of problems encountered in mining. For example, in iron ore mining it is important to know the relative amounts of the iron oxide minerals hematite, magnetite and goethite. A handheld device would bring numerous advantages in mining operations, such as the rapid delineation of ore boundaries and assessment of ore grades for the efficient management of blasting, excavation and haulage operations. Secondly, a prototype handheld device will be developed for field testing. This device will be adapted from an existing handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument. XRF is a related technique to XRD, but yields the elemental composition of the sample only, not the mineralogical composition. The new prototype will combine both XRD and XRF information about the sample. This project is a partnership between the University of Leicester and Bruker Elemental, a division of Bruker which manufactures scientific instruments for elemental analysis, including handheld XRF instruments, and has global presence in the relevant markets.

X射线粉末衍射法是一种成熟的材料分析技术，其产生的结果与样品材料的微晶结构直接相关。它是鉴定和定量岩石矿物含量的权威方法。许多材料在微米级（一微米等于千分之一毫米）上都是晶体-岩石，土壤，许多原材料和建筑材料，金属-因此该技术在研究和工业环境中具有非常广泛的适用性。标准方法通常需要仔细制备样品。例如，岩石必须研磨成细粉，然后装入样品井中。样品表面必须平整，并准确定位在X射线衍射（XRD）仪器内。莱斯特大学正在开发一种新的XRD技术，该技术对样品的形状和形式几乎完全不敏感。这种独特的特性使得例如岩石样品的分析不需要对岩石进行任何准备。此外，该技术的基本原理有利于特别紧凑和轻质的仪器设计。该方法本身也是快速的，由于没有任何样品制备要求。这项技术的特点使我们能够首次开发出一种手持式XRD设备，用于现场快速识别和定量矿物。主要的商业应用是采矿和采石，这一应用将成为该项目的重点。该项目有两个目标。首先，将使用充分代表采矿中遇到的问题的样本来开发技术和方法。例如，在铁矿石开采中，重要的是要知道氧化铁矿物赤铁矿、磁铁矿和针铁矿的相对量。手持设备将为采矿作业带来许多好处，例如快速划定矿石边界和评估矿石品位，以便有效管理爆破、挖掘和运输作业。第二，将开发一个原型手持设备进行现场测试。该设备将由现有的手持式X射线荧光（XRF）仪器改造而成。XRF是一种与XRD相关的技术，但仅产生样品的元素组成，而不是矿物组成。新的原型将结合联合收割机的XRD和XRF信息的样品。该项目是莱斯特大学与布鲁克元素公司（Bruker Elemental）之间的合作项目，布鲁克元素公司是布鲁克的一个部门，生产用于元素分析的科学仪器，包括手持式XRF仪器，并在相关市场拥有全球业务。

项目成果

Magnetite in Comet Wild 2: Evidence for parent body aqueous alteration

狂野彗星 2 号中的磁铁矿：母体水体改变的证据

• DOI: 10.1111/maps.12909
• 发表时间: 2017
• 期刊: Meteoritics & Planetary Science
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Hicks L

A prototype handheld X-ray diffraction instrument.

原型手持式 X 射线衍射仪。

• DOI: 10.1107/s1600576718012943
• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: Journal of applied crystallography
• 影响因子: 6.1
• 作者: Hansford G

High-resolution X-ray diffraction with no sample preparation.

高分辨率X射线衍射，没有样品制备。

• DOI: 10.1107/s2053273317008592
• 发表时间: 2017-07-01
• 期刊: Acta crystallographica. Section A, Foundations and advances
• 作者: Hansford GM;Turner SMR;Degryse P;Shortland AJ
• 通讯作者: Shortland AJ

Mineralogical constraints on the thermal history of martian regolith breccia Northwest Africa 8114

西北非洲 8114 火星风化角砾岩热史的矿物学限制

• DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2018.11.026
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: MacArthur J

Planetary science and exploration in the deep subsurface: results from the MINAR Program, Boulby Mine, UK

• DOI: 10.1017/s1473550416000045
• 发表时间: 2016-04
• 期刊: International Journal of Astrobiology
• 影响因子: 1.7
• 作者: S. Payler;J. Biddle;A. Coates;C. Cousins;Rachel E. Cross;D. Cullen;M. Downs;S. Direito;Tom Edwards;Amber L. Gray;Jac Genis;M. Gunn;G. Hansford;P. Harkness;J. Holt;J. Josset;Xuan Li;D. Lees;D. Lim;M. Mchugh;David Mcluckie;E. Meehan;S. Paling;A. Souchon;L. Yeoman;C. Cockell