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Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from sewers – understanding, modelling and mitigation. The research and industry partners will collaborate on this project to quantify, understand and mitigate emissions of methane and nitrous oxide in sewer networks. Both methane and nitrous oxide are potent greenhouse gases, and their emissions need to be accounted for and mitigated for the water industry to achieve greenhouse neutral water services.
Application and evaluation of passive samplers for monitoring aquatic pollution. Pollutants in water bodies pose a threat to environmental and human health. Monitoring of chemicals in water has thus become a key challenge for environmental authorities. Sampling based on the
analysis of grab samples is expensive, complicated and provides only patchy data. Passive sampling devices that allow time integrated sampling of pollutants are a promising alternative. This collaborative research aims t ....Application and evaluation of passive samplers for monitoring aquatic pollution. Pollutants in water bodies pose a threat to environmental and human health. Monitoring of chemicals in water has thus become a key challenge for environmental authorities. Sampling based on the
analysis of grab samples is expensive, complicated and provides only patchy data. Passive sampling devices that allow time integrated sampling of pollutants are a promising alternative. This collaborative research aims to evaluate a series of existing and novel passive samplers both in laboratory and field conditions and determine sensitive parameters that significantly influence sampler behaviour.
The project should provide a set of new tools for more effective management of water pollution.Read moreRead less
Development of a Novel Flue Gas Desulphurization Technology for Alumina Refineries. This project aims to develop a novel technology of flue gas desulphurization for alumina industry. The successful completion of this project will provide a practical solution to the SOx emission problem in alumina refineries. Specifically, we aim to make use of the waste causticiser sludge discharged during the causticisation of the liquor streams and the used filter aid after the polishing filtration of the ref ....Development of a Novel Flue Gas Desulphurization Technology for Alumina Refineries. This project aims to develop a novel technology of flue gas desulphurization for alumina industry. The successful completion of this project will provide a practical solution to the SOx emission problem in alumina refineries. Specifically, we aim to make use of the waste causticiser sludge discharged during the causticisation of the liquor streams and the used filter aid after the polishing filtration of the refinery pregnant liquors as reagent to remove SOx emitted by the power house and the alumina calciners. We also aim to recover some alumina during the process of flue gas desulphurization thus further reducing the cost of air pollution control.Read moreRead less
Packed bed reactor for continuous biodiesel production process. One of the few oppoutunities for significant substitution of liquid fossil fuels by renewable energy resources is through biodiesel. This project seeks to develop a continuous process for biodiesel production from beef tallow, including feed preparation, reaction and the separation processes of the product exiting the reator. A key reqirement is to develop a heterogeneous catalyst for the chemical conversion, enabling the use of a p ....Packed bed reactor for continuous biodiesel production process. One of the few oppoutunities for significant substitution of liquid fossil fuels by renewable energy resources is through biodiesel. This project seeks to develop a continuous process for biodiesel production from beef tallow, including feed preparation, reaction and the separation processes of the product exiting the reator. A key reqirement is to develop a heterogeneous catalyst for the chemical conversion, enabling the use of a packed bed reactor for the conversion step. The process offers the potential to use poor quality and wet feed materials with much higher efficency and product quality than existing processesRead moreRead less
Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to formic acid. This project aims to develop economical and scalable carbon dioxide electrochemical technologies to convert carbon dioxide in blast furnace flue gas to formic acid as a value-added product in steel-making plants. The project expects to develop new electrochemical catalysts, to optimise the structure of electrodes and ultimately improve carbon dioxide conversion efficiency and reaction selectivity towards formic acid. The expected outco ....Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to formic acid. This project aims to develop economical and scalable carbon dioxide electrochemical technologies to convert carbon dioxide in blast furnace flue gas to formic acid as a value-added product in steel-making plants. The project expects to develop new electrochemical catalysts, to optimise the structure of electrodes and ultimately improve carbon dioxide conversion efficiency and reaction selectivity towards formic acid. The expected outcomes of this project will provide an efficient and economically viable electrochemical technology to convert carbon dioxide to a valuable product such as formic acid or syngas, with the potential to significantly reduce the emission of carbon dioxide from steel-making processes and coal-fired power plants.Read moreRead less
Improving biological nitrogen removal by enhanced mixing in non-aerated bioreactors. Mixing has been identified as a key factor in achieving enhanced performance out of existing and upgraded bioreactors. There is currently a poor understanding of the relationship between non-ideal flow and performance in wastewater treatment bioreactors. The project will determine this relationship and subsequently use it to show how reactor performance can be improved, providing first criteria by which mixing c ....Improving biological nitrogen removal by enhanced mixing in non-aerated bioreactors. Mixing has been identified as a key factor in achieving enhanced performance out of existing and upgraded bioreactors. There is currently a poor understanding of the relationship between non-ideal flow and performance in wastewater treatment bioreactors. The project will determine this relationship and subsequently use it to show how reactor performance can be improved, providing first criteria by which mixing can be assessed, and second a systematic methodology for improving reactor performance by improving mixing.Read moreRead less
Sewer corrosion reduction through model-supported ventilation control. Ventilation is one of the key technologies for sewer corrosion control. However, its design and operation are currently based on experience and empirical equations, often leading to unsatisfactory results. By integrating in-depth laboratory and pilot-sewer studies under defined conditions with extensive field investigations, this multidisciplinary project aims to develop critical models to predict the corrosion process in res ....Sewer corrosion reduction through model-supported ventilation control. Ventilation is one of the key technologies for sewer corrosion control. However, its design and operation are currently based on experience and empirical equations, often leading to unsatisfactory results. By integrating in-depth laboratory and pilot-sewer studies under defined conditions with extensive field investigations, this multidisciplinary project aims to develop critical models to predict the corrosion process in response to ventilation and dynamic wastewater and atmospheric conditions, enabling model-based sewer ventilation design and operation. The project also aims to deliver novel, field-demonstrated ventilation strategies. The project findings will be incorporated in the Australian ventilation design and operation guidelines.Read moreRead less
Landfill Based Rapid Anaerobic Digestion of Municipal Solid Waste. The rapid digestion of municipal solid waste has the potential to make putrescible landfills obsolete. Waste can be digested prior to landfilling, eliminating odour and the emission of methane. Pre-digestion is currently performed in highly mechanised in-vessel digesters in some European locations. Demonstations in our laboratory have shown similar digestion rates can be achieved in static beds. This technology can be feasibl ....Landfill Based Rapid Anaerobic Digestion of Municipal Solid Waste. The rapid digestion of municipal solid waste has the potential to make putrescible landfills obsolete. Waste can be digested prior to landfilling, eliminating odour and the emission of methane. Pre-digestion is currently performed in highly mechanised in-vessel digesters in some European locations. Demonstations in our laboratory have shown similar digestion rates can be achieved in static beds. This technology can be feasibly scaled to digest waste streams of the size produced by Australian cities. The project will scale up this technology in a series of test cell trials at the Thiess Swanbank landfill near Ipswich, Queensland.Read moreRead less
Microbial Ecology and Control of Foaming in Anaerobic Digesters. One of the world's most common treatments of biosolids (product of wastewater treatment), anaerobic digestion often suffers from accumulation of biological foam. This foam hinders treatment, personnel health and safety, legal requirements for environmental protection are jeopardised and attempts to control digester foaming are costly. There is a clear lack of knowledge about the organisms involved and causes, therefore no informe ....Microbial Ecology and Control of Foaming in Anaerobic Digesters. One of the world's most common treatments of biosolids (product of wastewater treatment), anaerobic digestion often suffers from accumulation of biological foam. This foam hinders treatment, personnel health and safety, legal requirements for environmental protection are jeopardised and attempts to control digester foaming are costly. There is a clear lack of knowledge about the organisms involved and causes, therefore no informed solutions exist. Molecular DNA techniques, 16SrDNA sequencing and DGGE, will assist in deciphering causes and organisms involved. Research outcomes will present environmental, legal and economical acceptable control strategies for digester foaming to the waste management and water industries.Read moreRead less
Next generation bioplastics: Production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastics from organic waste. Production of next generation bioplastics by using waste as a resource supports an environmentally sustainable Australia and provides wide-ranging commercial opportunities for Australian businesses. Fundamental research in this field will provide a platform for creation of an Australian Centre of Excellence in PHA bioplastics, which will play an integral role in progressing research on sustainab ....Next generation bioplastics: Production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastics from organic waste. Production of next generation bioplastics by using waste as a resource supports an environmentally sustainable Australia and provides wide-ranging commercial opportunities for Australian businesses. Fundamental research in this field will provide a platform for creation of an Australian Centre of Excellence in PHA bioplastics, which will play an integral role in progressing research on sustainable materials development. The project will provide training and PhD education in environmental biotechnology, and direct commercial benefits to Australia by the development of significant Intellectual Property and linkage between an Australian University and leading players in environment technology commercialisation.Read moreRead less