Abstract：On the basis of the current status of the determination of nitrogen in stainless steel by spark source atomic emission spectrometry (short for SS-AES), the main factors that influenced the determination precision of nitrogen by spectrometry and the solutions were discussed with correlation rules between the results of spectrometry and thermo-conductivity. It was found that the determination accuracy of nitrogen in stainless steel by SS-AES could be effectively enhanced by the methods, e.g., to grind the sample with new grinding wheel, to keep the sample surface temperature at room temperature, to cool the sample by air cooling or to flush the electrode at rotary mode. The optimal excitation parameters were tested and determined. The calibration curve was established by segmentation fitting method. The determination precision of nitrogen in stainless steel by SS-AES could be greatly enhanced when the flushing time increased from 8 s to 10 s and the preburn time increased from 9 s to 10 s.
