Light element analysis has always been a compromise. That changes now

Light element-focused analysis has traditionally faced trade-offs between speed and precision.

Elements like silicon, aluminum, and sulfur are essential to monitor in high-throughput environments such as cement manufacturing. However, the low-energy X-rays they produce during X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis are highly susceptible to absorption along the optical path, meaning that most near-line benchtop analyzers cannot accurately quantify them at speed.

At the same time, testing samples on high-precision floor-standing units incurs greater infrastructure costs, as well as delays to process decisions due to waiting for samples to return from the lab.

Operators need a benchtop solution with near-floor-standing analytical performance that can measure light elements with the speed and flexibility of a smaller unit.

Rapid light element QC and production control, right on your bench

Revontium has built a reputation as a heavy-elements heavyweight. Its configuration covers the Na–Am elemental range, while its compact design fits on any benchtop, making it ideal for high-throughput labs in building materials, mining, pharma, and polymers.

The new Light Elements Boost for Revontium extends this coverage to F–Am. The result is a dedicated configuration for those who need high-performance light element analysis in a compact package.

Light Elements Boost adds up to 6× greater light element sensitivity versus conventional benchtop XRF, 3x faster throughput for light element workflows. And it does this while sharing all the physical and performance characteristics that make Revontium so popular:

• No external cooling requirements
• No dedicated power supply requirement
• No need for specialist training or operation

Instead, you get 10× lower power consumption and a footprint of only 0.4m², allowing Revontium to be placed close to the heart of your processes.

Closer to the line, faster results

Take the example of a cement plant. A typical workflow involves solving several distinct analytical challenges:

• Raw material and product QC: Plants must continuously monitor light elements from incoming limestone and clay through to finished cement, where composition directly affects strength and setting time.
• Alternative fuels screening: For plants exploring alternative fuels, operators must conduct elemental screening of refuse- and tire-derived fuels before incineration.
• Dirty samples
• Cement analysts must frequently analyze sludges, slurries, and materials of variable or unknown composition that floor-standing instruments aren’t suited for. Both Revontium configurations handle these with minimal sample preparation.

Revontium Light Elements handles all three at-line, without the infrastructure or distance-from-process constraints of a floor-standing system. For example, adding a Revontium Light Elements Boost to the alternative fuels screening process provides dual-use capability for plants co-firing alternative fuels that need both heavy and light elemental analysis.

Beyond cement: ideal for mineral, petrochemical, and battery production

Similar efficiencies can be unlocked in other industries, too.

In minerals processing, for example, silicon, aluminum, magnesium, and phosphorus determine the ore grade and processing route. Getting that data quickly, without needing to take samples far from your process line, can help to improve recovery rates and operational decision making.

Traditionally, the difficulty has been finding an instrument accurate enough to analyze light elements while also being robust enough to withstand harsh environments and small enough to run in a container lab at a remote site that lacks dedicated infrastructure.

The benchtop format and low-power needs of Revontium Light Elements Boost make it a practical fit for exactly this kind of scenario, and with 5x lower drift, it maintains its accuracy across shifts without needing to be recalibrated.

Similarly, in petrochemicals, monitoring sulfur, silicon, and chlorine in fuels, crude oils, and refined products is routine work that comes with strict compliance requirements. Floor-standing instruments frequently sit in a central lab, away from the process, with the sample transport and turnaround time that entails. Revontium Light Elements Boost brings this analysis closer to the process line, managing liquids and variable sample types without needing the kind of infrastructure a floor-standing system demands.

In battery manufacturing, XRF technology is already used in the elemental control of cathode precursors, electrode materials, and anode compositions. The challenge is achieving the required throughput when production volumes are high and samples back up quickly while awaiting the results of off-site analysis. The Light Elements Boost configuration enables line-side analysis of phosphorus, sulfur, and silicon in line with production.

What’s your most critical element? Learn more about Revontium Light Elements Boost

With Revontium Light Elements Boost, production QC and process control can now access rapid, reliable near-line analysis, even for light elements.

What’s the most important element for your workflow? Join us at the launch webinar on June 18 to find out which Revontium configuration is best for you.