Determination of Trace Elements in Liquid Fuels by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis

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Abstract
An instrumental neutron activation analysis with Ge(Li) γ -spectrometry and computer-assisted data reduction, has been developed for the determination of more than 20 elements in different liquid fuels. Organo-metallic standard solutions were mixed to obtain suitable standards. Two neutron irradiations and 4 γ-spectrometric measurements are required for each sample. Corrections were taken into account for a few spectrometric and nuclear interferences. The overall standard deviation for nearly all elements is mainly determined by counting statistics. The following elements can be determined : Na, Al, S, Cl, K, Sc, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br and La whereas the concentration of the following elements are mostly near the limit of detection: Mg, Mo, Sb, Ba, Th and Hg.