EU funds for the project “Infrastructure of Metrology System – Materials”
Ljubljana, 8 May 2012 – Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, as the Managing Authority for the EU structural fund and the Cohesion Fund, approved the project “Infrastructure of metrology system – Materials” which will receive EU funding, namely from the European Regional Development Fund in the amount of 260,466.00 Euros. This investment will bring Slovenia closer to some of the European institutions and, thus, increase its chances to cooperate with international institutions. This will bring further development of metrology in Slovenia.
The project involves purchasing modern metrology equipment for the field of amounts of substance – materials, namely WD XRF spectrometer and automatic electric furnace for non-destructive analysis of complex multi-element analysis of solid, powder, pastes, and/or liquid samples by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. This equipment will develop new reference materials for cements with mineral additives new to this field, new methods of measurement and traceability of measurement values to the reference standards; ensure maximum traceability of each chemical parameter in the chemical analysis of cements and enable continuous transfer of metrological knowledge producers of cement and building products.
This equipment will enable developing new reference materials for cements with mineral additives which are a novelty in this field, new measurement methods and traceability of the measurement values to the reference standards; the equipment will also ensure a maximum traceability of each chemical parameter in the chemical analysis of cements. Additionally, the equipment will enable a continuous transfer of metrological knowledge to the producers of cement and building products.
The specified equipment will enable rapid identification of all elements in powdered, solid or liquid state samples without prior sample preparation with the very burdensome chemicals for the environment (HF, HCl, H2SO4, etc.). Consequently, the equipment will also enable keeping up with the latest developments in the field of amounts of substance – materials, in the direction of developing national certified reference materials (hereinafter CRM) and the establishment of new calibration measurement capabilities (hereinafter CMC) and inclusion in the database of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (hereinafter the BIPM).
The purchase of the equipment will also enable – through the Laboratory for cements, mortars and ceramics, Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, which has been included since 2009 in the system of national standards as a national standard holder for the field of amounts of substance – materials, the preparation of national reference materials for cements with mineral binders, which are necessary to ensure production quality and the finished product in the cement industry. The realisation of the project will, thus, bring modernization and development of research infrastructure of the Republic of Slovenia to ensure a suitable environment for greater competitiveness in the global marketplace and to better implement their tasks (accurate and reliable measurements) within the national measurement system.
The needs of the Slovenian construction industry dictate a faster and more efficient implementation of the chemical analyzes for which additional metrology capacity should be provided. The purchase of XRF spectrometer and automatic electric furnaces for sample preparation will enable bringing analytical results quicker and enable the subscribers, mainly cement factories from Slovenia and neighbouring countries, a quick access to reference materials. The equipment will also bring progress in building materials, as it will enable developing a completely new method of measurement. Consequently, Slovenia will be able to compete with European institutions which already have such equipment. The investments will also bring the development of CMC for cement factories with mineral additives which represent a novelty in this field.
The investment realises the objective of the Operational Programme for Strengthening Regional Development Potentials for the period 2007–2013, priority axis “Economic-Development Infrastructure”. The authority responsible for the implementation of the project is the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Metrology Institute.
