Analysis of Pulverized Coal by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been used to detect atomic species in various environments. The quantitative analysis (C, H, O, N and S) of representative coal samples are being carried out with LIBS, and the effects of particle size are analyzed. A powerful pulse Nd:YAG laser is focused on the coal sample at atmosphere pressure, and the emission spectra from laser-induced plasmas are measured by time-resolved spectroscopy, and the intensity of analyzed spectral lines is obtained through observing the laser plasma with a delay time of 0.4 μs. The experimental results show that the slope of calibration curve is nearly 1 when the concentration of the analyzed element is relatively low, and the slope of curve is nearly 0.5 when the concentration of C is higher than other elements. In addition, using the calibration-free model without self-absorption effect, the results show that the decreasing of particle size leads to an increase of the plasma temperature.