Cement raw material quality analysis using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Online/fast measurement of the elemental composition of raw materials in industrial cement production is very much in demand and is beneficial for quality control. In this study, we investigated the capability of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the analysis of three elemental ratios of the cement raw materials that are generally applied as the key parameters in quality control. A new spectrum standardization method was proposed and very good results were obtained. The absolute measurement errors of the three key oxide ratios (lime saturation factor, silica modulus, and iron modulus) are about 0.01 to 0.015, with relative standard deviations of 0.28% to 1.64%. The results using conventional partial least squares (PLS) method are 0.05 to 0.14 for the absolute measurement errors and 2.30% to 9.24% for relative standard deviations. The present study proved the feasibility of using LIBS for raw material quality monitoring in industrial cement production. The capability of LIBS analysis of the cement raw material is improved by using a new spectrum standardization method.