Powder briquette/x‐ray fluorescence analysis of major and minor elements in alkali‐washed fly ash of municipal solid waste

X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses of 13 major and 5 minor components in alkali‐washed fly ash of municipal solid waste were developed using powder briquette method. Fly ash samples were ground for 80 min using a ball mill to prepare reproducible powder briquette. The resultant particles had 12‐µm modal diameter and gave good reproducibility (3.2%). Calibration curves for analyses of 13 major and 5 minor elements required 16 reagents containing 18 analytes. They were ground for 20 min by ball milling after 80‐min mixing with a V‐type mixing machine or 2‐h manual mixing using an alumina mortar. Lower limits of detection corresponding to 3 times the standard deviation ( n = 6) for blank measurements were: Na 2 O, 23 ppm; MgO, 22 ppm; Al 2 O 3 , 24 ppm; SiO 2 , 21 ppm; P 2 O 5 , 3.0 ppm; SO 4 , 3.1 ppm; Cl, 232 ppm; K 2 O, 51 ppm; CaO, 26 ppm; TiO 2 , 32 ppm; Cr, 6.3 ppm; MnO, 7.2 ppm; Fe 2 O 3 , 18 ppm; Ni, 5.3 ppm; Cu, 4.7 ppm; Zn, 5.4 ppm; Br, 4.7 ppm; and Pb, 4.6 ppm. This method was applied to analyses of 13 major and 5 minor elements in fly ash samples, which mainly consisted of Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , Cl, and CaO. Several thousand parts per million of Zn and Pb were included in most fly ash samples; Cl and Br were analyzed though their volatile characteristics. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.