Anywhere that materials have to be identified and cleanly separated, their use is possible. This method is not limited to the detection of diamonds. It links them with the data from both X-ray images, separates the diamonds from the kimberlite, and displays the results on two separate images. Depending on the excavation area and mine, the atomic numbers vary between 12 and 14. Kimberlite typically holds a conglomerate of silicates and aluminates. Diamond is pure carbon, a relatively light-weight element with the atomic number 6. Both X-ray images produced provide data about the chemical atomic number of the materials - the number of protons in the respective nucleus. With the EZRT demo model, the crushed rocks pass through an X-ray machine at a speed of three meters per second.

'Moreover, there is also the risk of damaging the larger - and therefore more valuable - diamonds,' says Mühlbauer. That consumes large quantities of water and energy. In order to find the gems nonetheless, it has so far been necessary to break up the igneous rock into very small pieces. 'With particularly pure specimens, this technology does not work because it is precisely these that do not radiate under X-ray light,' explains physicist Jörg Mühlbauer of EZRT. The diamonds irradiated and activated by X-rays emit light in the optical spectrum. The conventional process, however, can detect the diamonds only at the surface of the ore. The objective is to achieve a prototype that can inspect the ore on a fully-automated basis.Ĭurrently, the diamond industry is already using X-rays in order to find the coveted gems. Together with colleagues from the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB in Karlsruhe, the researchers are working on the advanced engineering of the demo model. The new technology is capable of detecting diamonds of just a few millimeters in size in kimberlite ore - of grain sizes up to 50 millimeters. Different substances can be identified with very high reliability.

An algorithm developed at EZRT filters out the data about the material from both images. In the process, two images of the same object are produced using two different X-ray spectra. The process is based on dual-energy X-rays.

The department focuses on the subjects of X-ray sensor technology, computed tomography, image processing and optical 3D inspection systems as well as applications. EZRT is a division of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS cooperating closely with the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing IZFP in Saarbrücken. The Development Center for X-ray Technology EZRT in Fürth has developed a demonstrator that detects diamonds hiding inside rocks of volcanic origin.

X ray diamonds minecraft