Abstract
A method was developed for the elemental analysis of a reforming catalyst hy PIXE and RBS. A total of 13 elements were detected in such an analysis. The platinum and rhenium concentrations in the catalyst were unresolved by RBS and they were determined by PIXE using the concentration sum from RBS and the ratio of the experimentally measured peak areas to the theoretically calculated PIXE yields for the two elements. This method eliminates uncertainties included in the absolute method. The results revealed information on the platinum to rhenium ratio and platinum-rhenium concentration sum which ara important in relation to the rate of reforming of hydrocarbons in naphtha. In addition, contamination of the surface of the catalyst with iron was detected and analyzed by RBS.