Concept design of an X-ray probe tube for deep-sea mineral exploration

Краткое изложение: Promoting the development of deep-sea mineral exploration instrumentation can help alleviate the global resource shortage faced by mankind. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry has been widely used in the in situanalysis of deep-sea minerals owing to its fast analytical speed, nondestructive nature, and wide analytical range. This study focused on the structural safety and detection efficiency of X-ray fluorescence in situmeasurement equipment under high pressure for deep-sea XRF analysis. This study first combined finite element analysis and experiments to design and optimize the structure of an X-ray probe tube required for deep-sea mineral exploration and to determine the Be window thickness to ensure stress safety. Subsequently, the Monte Carlo method was used to analyze and optimize the Be window thickness on the X-ray probe tube to improve the accuracy of the elemental analyses. Finally, the effect of seawater thickness between the transmitter outer tube and rock wall was also considered. The results show that based on ocean depth in different detection environments, Be windows with a thickness of 1.5 mm or 2.0 mm can be selected to improve the detection efficiency of the device while ensuring the structural safety of the instrument. According to the design features and detection requirements of the device, in deep-sea exploration of minerals with characteristic peak energies below 10 keV, the transmitter outer tube should be as close as possible to the rock wall inside the logging. When the characteristic peak energy of the minerals is more than 10 keV, the distance between the transmitter outer tube and rock wall inside the logging should be controlled to approximately 2 mm. This study provides feasible solutions for future deep-sea mineral resource development and a useful reference for elemental analysis of minerals in the deep sea or other extreme working environments.