Description of equipment

The laboratory is designed for fine sieving of various materials down to a size of <10 µm and for heavy liquid separation of the mineral fraction. It is equipped with a Sonic Sifter Separator, a chemical fume hood that allows work with hazardous chemicals used for heavy liquid separation of the mineral fraction, and other laboratory equipment (a performance oven Kambič, an exhaust arm, and a precision balance).

The Sonic Sifter Separator is intended for dry sieving of various geological materials (e.g., soils, dust) below a size of 10 µm. Manufacturer.

Equipment rental

Equipment rental for external clients is not possible.

Description of equipment

The laboratory is designed for the preparation of samples of various materials (soil, sediment, dust, etc.). It is used for drying, sieving down to a size < 0.063 mm and grinding. The laboratory contains a fume cupboard, 2 drying cabinets, plastic drying containers, field bins, sieving sieves, agate ball mill, shaker, balance, ultrasonic bath for cleaning sieves and a vacuum cleaner.

Equipment rental

Equipment cannot be rented.

Description of equipment

The hydrogeological laboratory of the Geological Survey of Slovenia has equipment for field measurements of water parameters and instruments for laboratory analyses. 

Equipment for field measurements of water parameters and their scope:

• Manual water level meters (only water level or with additional measurements of water temperature and electrical conductivity of water) are used to determine the depth of the groundwater level below the surface in wells - administrator Jan Udovč
• Portable multimeters (manufacturer WTW and Hanna) for measuring pH values, temperature, electrical conductivity, redox potential and oxygen content in water are used when sampling groundwater, springs, surface water or precipitation, in pumping experiments (monitoring changes in parameters at the beginning and end of the pumping experiment), etc. - administrator Katja Koren Pepelnik
• Portable field water turbidity meter (manufacturer Hanna) - administrator Katja Koren Pepelnik
• Portable spectrophotometer DR1900 (manufacturer Hach) for determining the content of individual substances in water (e.g. iron, manganese) - administrator Katja Koren Pepelnik
• Fluorimeter CYCLOPS - 7 (The automatic Cyclops-7 probe is used to perform tracer experiments with the fluorescent tracer uranine, which operates on the principle of registering fluorescence that occurs when water is irradiated on particles of the fluorescent tracer) - administrator Luka Serianz

Equipment and instruments for performing laboratory tests analysis:

• Spectro::lyserTM) is used to determine the nitrogen content (N-NO₃) or nitrates in water - administrator:Katja Koren Pepelnik
• SPECTROQUANT ® Pharo 300 for various parameters in water (spectrophotometer: determines the concentration of a certain parameter in water - depending on which reagent is purchased (e.g. Cr, Cd, As, Ag, SiO₂, Fe) - administrator.
• Laser isotope analyser Picarro L2130-i - for analysing the isotopic composition of stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in clean water samples (precipitation, groundwater, surface water).

Description of equipment

The laboratory serves as a place for the Logitech IU30 vacuum resin impregnator and as an archive for geochemical samples. It contains a fume cupboard (Kambič) with water, a Logitech IU-30 apparatus, a refrigerator, a freezer and cupboards with drawers.

The Logitech IU-30 vacuum impregnator is designed for the vacuum impregnation of brittle and non-bondable porous geological materials (sandstones, feldspars, mudstones, sediments, soils, coals, etc.) and other materials (concretes and cements) with synthetic resins. It is particularly suitable for the preparation of samples where structures and textures must also be preserved.
We also carry out sample impregnation for external customers. The price of sample impregnation depends on the type of material and the complexity of the samples.

Description of equipment

The laboratory consists of two parts: the Anteroom and the Cleanroom. 

The Anteroom is intended for fine final preparation of samples for electron microscopy and microanalysis and for preparing the operator for entry into the Cleanroom. It also houses a specimen baking unit.

The Cleanroom is intended exclusively for electron microscopy and microanalysis. It is equipped with a ThermoFisher Apreo 2S LoVac field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and cathodoluminescence (CL).

We use the laboratory for our own research work and it is not rented out.

Description of equipment

The laboratory serves for the preparation and measurement of thermal parameters of sediments and rocks under various, laboratory-controlled conditions. The laboratory also serves as the current storage of measured rock and sediment samples for further analysis.

For this purpose, we use various equipment:

• TCS meter with optical scanning: performing measurements of thermal parameters (thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity) on samples of solid rocks and other hard (and possibly semi-hard) materials.

• KD2 Pro meter: performing thermal parameter measurements on samples of unbound (loose) sediments and other mostly soft substances (highly viscous liquids, gels, biological tissues, etc.). With additional sample preparation, it can also be used on solid rocks.

- Moisture meter: perform sample moisture measurements simultaneously using the KD2 Pro meter.

• Thermal Response Test (TRT) device: performing measurements of thermal parameters in a test geoprobe (borehole heat exchanger, BHE) in the field.

• MTP-1 thermal conductivity meter (Year of production: 1982/83)

• MTP-4 thermal conductivity meter (Year of production: 1984)

Usage/Projects/Articles

Rajver, Dušan, Adrinek, Simona. 2023. Overview of the thermal properties of rocks and sediments in Slovenia. Geology, 66/1, 125-150

Equipment rental

We also perform measurements for external clients. Space and equipment are not rented.