Investigation of a “Plasmatron” as a tool for spectrochemical analysis of powdered samples of complex composition

A plasma jet produced by a plasmatron with non-consumed electrodes has been developed into a promising analytical tool. The temperature of the plasma does not depend on the chemical composition of the sample. The presence of an excess of an easily ionized element in the plasma results in the intensification of the lines of analyte elements. The main cause of the effect of sample composition on the intensity of spectral lines is a change in the electron pressure.The evaporation conditions were optimized. Analysis of samples of widely varying composition may be performed using a single set of reference samples with an accuracy meeting the requirements of quantitative analysis. The errors caused by the grain size of the samples are eliminated by grinding the samples to a particle size of 0·01 mm.Under optimum conditions of excitation the detection limits of elements are in a range between 10^?5 and 10^?7%. Many elements may be determined simultaneously.