RWTH Aachen University (RWTH)

RWTH

RWTH Aachen University is a place where the future of our industrialized world is thought out. The University is proving to be a hotspot with increasing international recognition where innovative answers to global challenges are developed. Its success in Germany’s Excellence Initiative reflects its outstanding reputation for research and education in the science, technology, and engineering fields.

Edinburgh-Aachen Geoscience Microtomography group

The Edinburgh-Aachen Geoscience Microtomography group has, over the past decade, developed and used a wide range of X-ray transparent experimental setups in applications that cover most aspects of sustainable geo-energy research. The group is composed of specialists in operando X-ray tomography imaging, but many long-term experiments have also been done at the in-house imaging setup. UEDIN/RWTH has a track record in open-source developments and have contributed to community-building in that way; some designs have been replicated and developed further (e.g., Stanford Synchrotron Light Source and Advanced Photon Source). The UEDIN/RWTH group has also invested in data processing and analysis. They have contributed critical components to a novel experimental approach that holds huge potential for sustainable subsurface energy research.

The infrastructure is involved in a wide range of studies that benefit from X-ray imaging, covering geological, paleontological, biological, and engineering research, with typically several dozen external uses per year. The group covers mostly tectonics, rock physics, and geo-energy research, where they specialise in time-resolved (4D) microtomographic imaging allowing them to directly observe and quantify changes in materials. When paired with x-ray transparent experimental devices, operando imaging becomes a powerful tool to study processes on the microscale.

Over the past five years, the UEDIN/RWTH group has worked at the Swiss Light Source, the French Synchrotron SOLEIL, Diamond Light Source (UK), the Advanced Photon Source (USA), and the European Synchrotron Light Source. The group designs and builds their own X-ray transparent experimental environments and has a track record of making the designs publicly available. Currently, they support a range of external research projects through collaborations.