Industrial analysis on-line

This microsymposium dealt with a wide range of industrial applications of X-ray analysis including on-line production control and process optimization. C. Small (Rolls Royce) described the development of an inspection technique of single-crystal turbine blade orientation based on back-reflection Laue geometry. M. Halliwell, (Philips Analytical) talked about routine measurements of hetero-epitaxial layers, and the most recent advances in automatic fitting procedures. B. Rebours (Inst. Français du Pétrole) introduced the use of XRD for process optimization in the petro-chemical industry and heterogeneous catalysis. Applications of online XRD for process control in the cement and mining industries were described by M. Bellotto (CTG Italcementi Group). Finally, the importance of high-resolution XRD to IUCr Congress Reports improved device performance, process control and product yield of InP-based fiberoptic communication lasers was discussed by J. Vandenberg (Lucent Technologies), who brilliantly showed the interplay between the analytical techniques and the priorities dictated by production.