The Benefits of Raman Spectroscopy for Process Analysis

What is Raman Spectroscopy? Contrary to what you might initially think, it is not related to the popular noodle dish that you may have eaten in college – rather, it takes its name from C.V. Raman who is the physicist that pioneered it. And what it is, more specifically, is a non-invasive technique for determining the chemical composition of material samples by exposing them to electromagnetic radiation. Now, I am not a physicist, nor a chemist, but I can give our viewers a high-level overview of how this works. In essence, what occurs when Raman spectroscopy is used is that photons – or electromagnetic radiation – basically just light of some sort – is fired at a substance. And depending on the molecular make-up of that substance, and the way its molecules are vibrating, the light that is reflected back will undergo certain minute variations in its wavelength, which a raman spectrometer can detect and analyze. From there, the device can make assessments of all kinds of variables such as temperature, level, flow, or pressure.