Time lag as a characteristic feature in the identification of a moving object by a two‐detector X‐ray sensor

The authors conduct an experimental study of the dynamics of secondary (diffusely scattered and fluorescent) X‐ray radiation originating from the moving grains of minerals and offer a semi‐quantitative explanation for it. They compare the secondary radiation's amplitudes for the free falling grains of natural diamond and for its accompanying minerals that are changing over time. The signals are simultaneously registered by two detectors placed in the upper and lower spatial half‐planes relative to the horizontal flux of primary X‐ray radiation. The authors show that the time difference between the occurrence of dynamic signals' maximums in the detectors allows to identify the type of irradiated mineral. This time lag is negligibly small for a diamond but for the accompanying mineral it is close to its flight time through the irradiation zone. The authors have constructed and tested the laboratory model of a separator that showed a high degree of diamond extraction from the mixture of different minerals. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.