Facilities

EPOS-NL provides free of charge access and services to top research facilities in the Netherlands. Next call in Q3 2021.

Next facility access call in Q3 2021

The last call was open from 15 February to 26 March 2021, for proposals to get remote access (send-in sample analysis) to the Multi-scale Imaging and Tomography (MINT) facilities at Utrecht University and Delft University of Technology and the ESL High Pressure and Temperature (HPT) Lab at Utrecht University. Remote access implies that researchers can send samples to these facilities, where experienced staff will perform analyses based on remotely provided instructions. Successful applicants received the following services free of charge: lab/equipment use, technical support and scientific support for analyzing data for the duration of the access period. In addition, sample shipment costs up to 100 Euro were covered.

EPOS-NL provides facility access to researchers from other institutes (national and international) than the university hosting the facility. Financial support for facility access is provided through the research infrastructure EPOS-NL, which is financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

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Earth Simulation Lab (ESL)

The Earth Simulation Lab (ESL) at Utrecht University is a unique facility with unprecedented capabilities for multi-scale research into the physical behaviour of the Earth’s crust: fully coupled reservoir analogue scale models, new generation rock mechanics experiments under true crustal conditions, fluid flow experiments and petrophysical analyses, all linked in an advanced numerical modelling facility with a focus on upscaling from the laboratory to the reservoir and field scale. Two of the main labs within the ESL are incorporated in EPOS-NL:

The Tectonic modelling laboratory (TecLab) uses scaled analogue models to better understand kilometer-scale, tectonic deformation processes, such as the breakup of the Earth’s crust or the formation of mountain ranges. An analogue model is typically 50x50x20 cm in size and consists of a stack of layers of materials with different flow behavior. Together, these layers represent the various multi-km thick rock layers that form the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. Tectonic deformation is simulated by slowly pushing or pulling one of the walls bounding the analogue model. Tracking deformation through time is achieved in 2D by taking repeated snapshots of the model surface, or in 3D, using Laser Vibrometry and/or X-ray tomography.

The High Pressure and Temperature (HPT) laboratory conducts research on the mechanical behaviour and transport properties of Earth materials at conditions pertaining to the crust and upper mantle. It is equipped with apparatus for deformation at high stress, pressure and temperature, high temperature furnaces and apparatus for thermal, microstructural and IR analysis.

To get an impression of the HPT lab, check out this video made by NAM on research on induced earthquakes in the Groningen gas field:

At the European level, ESL contributes research data and facility access to the EPOS Thematic Core Service: Multi-scale labs

MINT (Multi-scale Imaging and Tomography Facility)

The MINT (Multi-scale Imaging and Tomography) facility is a distributed facility, hosted partly at TU Delft and partly at Utrecht University. It is a cluster of instruments, that together allow visualization and correlation of 2D and 3D rock structures, at an unprecedented range in imaging scales: from nanometers (e.g.nanopores) to decimeters (e.g. drill core). Capabilities include multi-scale 3D analysis down to atomic resolution, environmental observations under liquid conditions, automated digitization of thin sections (up to 50 in one session), automated mineralogy analysis, ultra-fast crystallographic (EBSD) mapping, valence state analysis down to atomic resolution, ultra-high resolution SEM-based EDX, even for light elements such as N, C, Li and much more. EPOS-NL has contributed the following scanners to this workflow, which have been operational since summer 2020:

·       A versa X-ray scanner for µm-resolution, 3D tomography
·       A Gemini SEM for imaging and crystallographic EBSD mapping under cryogenic conditions
·       An EVO environmental electron microscope with automated mineralogy analysis
·       An Axioscan for automated, optical scanning of up to 50 sections in one run

At the European level, MINT contributes research data and facility access to the EPOS Thematic Core Service: “Multi-scale labs”.

Geothermal well at TU Delft (DAPwell)

The Delft Aardwarmte Project (DAP)well is a geothermal well that will be installed on the TU Delft campus in 2021. DAPwell will serve as a national infrastructure for research on a natural geothermal system within an urban setting and, at the same time, as an operating geothermal facility that heats buildings on the TUD campus. The unique aspect of the facility will be the possibility to do research on an operating geothermal system, using state of the art monitoring equipment. The DAPwell research and monitoring infrastructure will be used to investigate the fundamental scientific challenges that are presently limiting the development of geothermal energy.

For more information on DAPwell and geothermal energy in Delft click here.

Delft Petrophysics Laboratory (DPL)

The Delft Petrophysics Laboratory (DPL) at TU Delft contains experimental equipment for the determination of petrophysical rock properties. Properties that can be measured include density, porosity and permeability, electrical and thermal conductivities, acoustic velocities and mechanical properties. DPL is part of the Geoscience and Engineering Laboratory at TU Delft. Highlighted instruments available for access through EPOS-NL include:

Unconfined compressive strength measurement devices
Triaxial apparatus
Ultrasonic and passive acoustics systems
He-pycnometer
TEMPOS thermal properties analyser

At the European level, DPL contributes research data and facility access to the EPOS Thematic Core Service: “Multi-scale labs”.

ORFEUS Seismological data center

The Observatories and Research Facilities for European Seismology (ORFEUS) data center, hosted at KNMI, is the European data center for broadband seismic waveform data. Nationally, ORFEUS is crucial in the monitoring and provision of data from a unique geophysical, seismic and satellite monitoring network, focusing on induced earthquakes in the Groningen gas field and natural earthquakes in the tectonically active regions of Europe.

ORFEUS (founded 1987) is one of the oldest, most mature infrastructures for seismology in Europe, together with the European-Mediterranean Seismological center (EMSC) (established in 1975) and the European facilities for Earthquake hazard and risk (EFEHR). No other community driven seismological infrastructures exists in Europe.

To access the ORFEUS data portal, click here.

Internationally, ORFEUS is one of the key infrastructures on which the larger European Integrated Data Archive (EIDA) and EPOS Thematic Core Service “Seismology” infrastructures are being built.

Top image: ORFEUS Data Centre seismic monitoring network in the Netherlands. Note the dense monitoring cluster in the Groningen gas field, NE Netherlands. Bottom image: The ORFEUS Data Centre is one of the main pillars in the global EIDA seismic monitoring network.