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X-rays without X-rays: Can muon tomography provide pictures from within concrete and other objects?
(2024)
Until the 1980s radiography was used to inspect civil structures in case of special demands and showed a much better resolution than other NDT techniques. However, due to safety concerns and cost issues, this method is almost never used anymore. Meanwhile, non-destructive techniques such as ultrasound or
radar have found regular, successful practical application but sometimes suffer from limited resolution and accuracy, imaging artefacts or restrictions in detecting certain features when applied to reinforced or prestressed concrete inspection.
Muon tomography has received much attention recently. Muons are particles generated naturally by cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere and pose no risk to humans. Novel detectors and tomographic imaging algorithms have opened new fields of application, mainly in the nuclear sector, but also in spectacular cases such as the Egyptian pyramids.
As a first step towards practical application in civil engineering and as a proof of concept we used an existing system to image the interior of a reference reinforced 600 kg concrete block. Even with a yet not optimized setup for this kind of investigation, the muon imaging results have been at least of similar quality compared to ultrasonic and radar imaging, potentially even better. Recently, the research was expanded to more realistic testing problems such as the detection of voids in certain structural elements. However, before practical implementation, more robust, mobile, and affordable detectors would be required as well as user-Friendly imaging and simulation software.
The talk also discusses other applications , such as volcanology, mining and geothermal exploration.
Many organizations in Europe collect data and perform research on municipal solid waste and the secondary raw materials that can be produced from them through recycling, urban mining, or landfill mining.However, the information generated and presented thereby is often highly aggregated, while research activities are many a time isolated. Both reduce the usability of the data and information generated. In order to better structure the knowledge generation on secondary raw materials production from municipal solid waste, we suggest to learn from the traditional raw materials mining Industry how to perform an integrated assessment and reporting of anthropogenic resources. This is exemplarily shown for the case of the anthropogenic resource municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash and airpollution control residues. A network of expert institutions from countries throughout Europe was build up to compile the information on legal and technological aspects for the recovery of different secondary raw materials from these residues, including construction minerals, metals, and salts. We highlight in our article the strength of the combined knowledge of an expert network not only on legal and technological, but also local and site-specific aspects of the recovery of secondary raw materials. By doing so, we hope to kick-off a discussion for how to organize and implement a structure for a better management of knowledge on anthropogenic resources, in order to provide a sustainable supply of secondary raw materials for a greener and more circular economy.