Element analysis of limestone based on inelastic neutron scattering system

In this work, an inelastic neutron scattering system was developed for element analysis in limestone with a D–T neutron generator and a 3*3 inch LaBr3 detector. Six sets of simulated limestone samples were prepared by proportionally mixing high-purity CaCO3, SiO2, and MgO powders and measured in situ with Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS) facility. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) technique is used for noise reduction and filtering of the original gamma energy spectrum. The energy window method was used for quantitative analysis. The minimum detection limits for Ca, Si, and Mg in the samples were determined to be 0.019%, 0.021%, and 0.026%, respectively. The linear relationship between elemental content and the gamma-ray counts has been studied.