Determination of Potassium, Sodium, and Total Alkalies in Portland Cement, Fly Ash, Admixtures, and Water of Concrete by a Simple Flow Injection Flame Photometric System

A simple flow injection with flame photometric detection has been developed for determination of sodium, potassium, and total alkalies in portland cement, fly ash, admixtures, and water of concrete. A liquid sample or a digest of solid sample was injected into a water carrier stream which flowed to a flame photometer. A change in emission intensity at a selected wavelength was recorded as a peak. An amplifier circuit was fabricated, which helped improve sensitivity of the flame photometer. Calibration graphs in the range of 0.05-1.0 mg L(-1) and 1.0-20.0 mg L(-1) were obtained with a detection limit of 0.02 mg L(-1), for both potassium and sodium determination. Relative standard deviations for 11 replicates of injecting of 10 mg L(-1) potassium and sodium solutions were 1.69 and 1.79%, respectively. Sample throughput of 120 h(-1) was achieved. The proposed method was successfully applied to portland cement, fly ash, admixtures, and water samples validated by the ASTM standard method and certified reference materials of portland cement.