Hi Andrew, the work we completed on this subject was a year or two back and the 8 mins was for some elements others were quicker, we usually use the SEM for identification so until the XRF can analyse in a min or two we would most likely continue as we are, the more powerful machines are quicker but the price increases accordingly but we note the present prices are reducing, we considered the XRF as once we have a Ferrogram slide we could analyse the dry slide but heat treatment of the Ferrogram slide also identifies fairly accurately if we have info on the metals in the system the sample was from.
The interesting part of the XRF is almost any solid sample that fits the chamber can be analysed,
Regards
Rob S,