The project PIMAS “Portable Instant Mineral Analysis Systems” has built a Network of Infrastructure (NoI) involving the Italian National Council of Research (CNR), Spanish National Council of Research (CSIC), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FHG), University of Trento (UNITN), Foundation Bruno Kessler (FBK), French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Consortium for Innovation and Technology Transfer of Emilia-Romagna (ASTER), and Laboratory of Enabling Micro and Submicro Technologies of Emilia-Romagna(MIST E-R Scrl). This NoI aims at stimulating the exploitation of novel photonic technologies for mineral and metal compositional and structural characterizations based on laser induced plasma spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray tomography, fluorescence, and diffraction, multispectral/hyperspectral imaging, and other. These techniques make available real-time material data and some of them can be compacted in small portable devices for in situ applications (borehole logging, material sorting, mineral evaluation, and quality assessment in material processing) that can improve the sustainability and quality of raw materials production chains. Furthermore, PIMAS also offers customized developments and data integration services according to the most advanced analytical standards. Such an asset of know-how and smart sensors, along with the availability of PIMAS for collaboration with stakeholders in joint innovation projects can provide a relevant contribution to the competitiveness of the companies operating in the sectors of raw materials.
The project is has been structured in the following six Work Packages: WP1 “Management”, WP2 “Needs Assessment”, WP3 “X-ray based sensors”, WP4 “Laser and optoelectronic sensors”, WP5 “Sensors integration”, WP6 “Services setup and marketing”.
