Rigaku NEX DE for analysis of S, V and Ni in crude oil by EDXRF

Sulfur, vanadium and nickel occur naturally in crude oil, and their concentrations vary depending on the geographical region of the oil deposits. High levels of vanadium and nickel can adversely affect the refining process during cracking, making crude oil with low levels of vanadium and nickel more desirable. Excess levels must therefore be removed before refining.

At the refinery, midstream in pipelines and at gathering points, a quick and easy means of screening and monitoring vanadium and nickel levels is essential for characterising the quality of the crude.

The Rigaku NEX DE direct excitation energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) elemental analyser is designed to meet this industry analytical need. New excitation and detection technology in the instrument achieves up to 500,000 cps throughput and very low background levels, yielding a 2X improvement in detection limits over previous models. This makes NEX DE an ideal multi-element tool for monitoring the concentrations of not only sulfur but also metals in crude, resid and other heavy hydrocarbons.

The instrument is equipped with a 60 kV, 12 W X-ray tube to deliver significant improvements in elemental peak resolution and counting statistics, resulting in superior calibrations and precision for the most challenging measurements. The high voltage, along with multiple automated X-ray tube filters, provides multi-element analysis capability for unmatched performance with low limits of detection (LOD). Next generation silicon drift detector (SDD) technology provides extremely high count rate capability with excellent spectral resolution. This enables the NEX DE to deliver the highest precision analytical results in the shortest possible measurement times.

The system operates on the latest Rigaku QuantEZ, Microsoft Windows-based analytical software, specifically designed for the Rigaku family of benchtop EDXRF analysers. Based on the famous Rigaku easy-to-use flow bar interface, QuantEZ™ software walks the user through steps required to set up either an empirical or fundamental parameters application.

The Rigaku NEX DE gives technical and non-technical operators alike a simple yet powerful and versatile system for quantifying multi-elemental composition. Study results indicate that given stable samples, proper sample handling and calibration technique, the NEX DE analyser achieves excellent performance for monitoring sulfur and metals in oil.