Production of hydrogen from biomass by integrated catalytic aqueous hydrolysis and reforming in subcritical water. The outcomes of this project will lead to the development of a novel process for efficient and cost-effective hydrogen production from renewable biomass using integrated hydrolysis and catalytic aqueous reforming at low temperatures. Such technological innovation will provide significant benefits to Australia as a whole for transition to a truly sustainable hydrogen economy. The nov ....Production of hydrogen from biomass by integrated catalytic aqueous hydrolysis and reforming in subcritical water. The outcomes of this project will lead to the development of a novel process for efficient and cost-effective hydrogen production from renewable biomass using integrated hydrolysis and catalytic aqueous reforming at low temperatures. Such technological innovation will provide significant benefits to Australia as a whole for transition to a truly sustainable hydrogen economy. The novel reaction system and research methodologies proposed in this proposal will certainly enhance Australia's science and technology capability and international competitiveness, in the area of reaction engineering. Also of the national benefit is the successful training of a postgraduate at PhD level who will no doubt add to future scientific research workforce.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms of Ammonium Nitrate Decomposition and Stability of Industrial Explosives in Reactive Mining Grounds. This project is designed to probe reaction mechanisms of ammonium nitrate based explosives with pyritic shales commonly found in overburdens of mineral deposits, and to study the influence of various factors, such as mineralogical characteristics, carbonaceous materials, weathering, pH values and application of various inhibition agents, on the decomposition and stability of ammonium n ....Mechanisms of Ammonium Nitrate Decomposition and Stability of Industrial Explosives in Reactive Mining Grounds. This project is designed to probe reaction mechanisms of ammonium nitrate based explosives with pyritic shales commonly found in overburdens of mineral deposits, and to study the influence of various factors, such as mineralogical characteristics, carbonaceous materials, weathering, pH values and application of various inhibition agents, on the decomposition and stability of ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate crystallisation, which significantly reduces the stability of emulsion explosives, will be examined using both chemical and microscopic tools. The outcomes of this research will provide a scientific basis that underpins the development of safe and cost-effective explosives for applications in dangerous reactive mining grounds.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0237922
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
High Resolution Cryogenic Field Emission Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope Facility. A high resolution variable pressure scanning electron microscope will replace aging, heavily utilised facilities. It will be accessed by existing large and diverse user groups in a mature and internationally-recognised Centre. The novel combination of a cryogenic stage and the electrostatic beam blanking modification will support continuance of the local, world-leading research and application of new ....High Resolution Cryogenic Field Emission Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope Facility. A high resolution variable pressure scanning electron microscope will replace aging, heavily utilised facilities. It will be accessed by existing large and diverse user groups in a mature and internationally-recognised Centre. The novel combination of a cryogenic stage and the electrostatic beam blanking modification will support continuance of the local, world-leading research and application of new imaging techniques, particularly in the materials and mineral sciences. Both new nanotechnology and existing globally-significant industries will utilise the unique aspects of this instrument for product refinement and maintenance of commercial leadership, in partnership with local Universities and Government agencies.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775672
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
3D Scanning and Printing Facilities (3DSPF). A one-stop shop is proposed to accommodate 3D scanning and printing facilities in WA to advance a range of research projects currently undertaken by internationally renowned researchers in their respective fields. The facility will impact on our research programs in a wide range of disciplines including rapid prototyping, robotics, geomatics, demining, nanotechnology, and molecular modeling. These projects are of high significance and will advance res ....3D Scanning and Printing Facilities (3DSPF). A one-stop shop is proposed to accommodate 3D scanning and printing facilities in WA to advance a range of research projects currently undertaken by internationally renowned researchers in their respective fields. The facility will impact on our research programs in a wide range of disciplines including rapid prototyping, robotics, geomatics, demining, nanotechnology, and molecular modeling. These projects are of high significance and will advance research in most of the national priorities. The facility can also be used for training and teaching purposes. The facility builds on a previous long range scanning facility and on the State Government's support of leading edge computational and visualization facilities. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0230569
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$175,000.00
Summary
INTEGRATED PARTICLE IMAGE THERMOMETRY / VELOCIMETRY FACILITY. This proposal seeks to establish a specialised Particle Image Thermometry / Velocimetry (PITV) facility for simultaneous three-dimensional measurements of global temperature and velocity fields in complex flows. The proposed facility is needed to obtain experimental validations for theories and models developed for complex reacting and non-reacting flows that are strongly influenced by transient behaviour. Applications of PITV include ....INTEGRATED PARTICLE IMAGE THERMOMETRY / VELOCIMETRY FACILITY. This proposal seeks to establish a specialised Particle Image Thermometry / Velocimetry (PITV) facility for simultaneous three-dimensional measurements of global temperature and velocity fields in complex flows. The proposed facility is needed to obtain experimental validations for theories and models developed for complex reacting and non-reacting flows that are strongly influenced by transient behaviour. Applications of PITV include, but are not limited to, low-temperature reacting flows, mixing, jets, wakes, shear layers, time-dependent multiphase flows, unsteady turbulent flows, complex rotating machinery and other periodic flows, as well as natural convection studies.Read moreRead less
Improvements and Optimisation of Water Electrolysis for Hydroxy Gas Production for Metal Cutting Applications. The current technique for metal cutting mainly uses oxygen-acetylene flames, which means for the large number of Australian remote communities oxygen and acetylene bottles have to be transported from major cities. This incurs significant transport costs and associated environmental emissions and presents major safety concerns. Hydroxy flames using electrolysis of water can alleviate the ....Improvements and Optimisation of Water Electrolysis for Hydroxy Gas Production for Metal Cutting Applications. The current technique for metal cutting mainly uses oxygen-acetylene flames, which means for the large number of Australian remote communities oxygen and acetylene bottles have to be transported from major cities. This incurs significant transport costs and associated environmental emissions and presents major safety concerns. Hydroxy flames using electrolysis of water can alleviate these problems and, by utilising renewable electricity, the new technology to be developed in this research will transform tens of thousands of Australian metal workshops to be more environmentally friendly, safer and more cost-effective, thus contributing to the development of an environmentally sustainable Australia. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989675
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
Interface-specific facility for quantifying adsorption and structures at particulate interfaces. The facility will be used by the collaborating universities to investigate adsorption and interface properties with great precision, and to develop new and improved technologies for coal and mineral processing, saline water utilisation, water desalination, energy production and environment protection. In particular, the project will investigate innovative ways of using ion-interface interactions in ....Interface-specific facility for quantifying adsorption and structures at particulate interfaces. The facility will be used by the collaborating universities to investigate adsorption and interface properties with great precision, and to develop new and improved technologies for coal and mineral processing, saline water utilisation, water desalination, energy production and environment protection. In particular, the project will investigate innovative ways of using ion-interface interactions in saline water for cleaning coal and recovering value minerals by flotation, and for improving dissolved air flotation used in water treatment and desalination to produce drinking water. The project will further investigate novel ways of capturing CO2, storing natural gases and hydrogen, and tailoring nutrient nano-crystals for foliar delivery.Read moreRead less
Influence of adsorbed surfactants on three phase contact line motion at high capillary number. The interaction between thin films and solid surfaces underpins the performance of a number of value-adding industrial processes, most notably metallurgical coating operations. Typically, these operations are performed at speeds well beyond the range of existing models, thereby limiting their value when changes in operation occur or when there are problems with product quality. Existing models are also ....Influence of adsorbed surfactants on three phase contact line motion at high capillary number. The interaction between thin films and solid surfaces underpins the performance of a number of value-adding industrial processes, most notably metallurgical coating operations. Typically, these operations are performed at speeds well beyond the range of existing models, thereby limiting their value when changes in operation occur or when there are problems with product quality. Existing models are also limited by their inability to account for the presence of surfactants commonly used throughout industry. This study will produce a capability for predicting how velocity and local changes in molecular composition affect the wetting/dewetting of coated surfaces.Read moreRead less
Alarm Management - Silence is Golden. This project develops novel strategies and tools that aid alarm rationalisation in all types of process plants (e.g. gas, petrochemical, mining) by extracting groupings of related alarm tags from an enormous dataset of complex process data. These groupings are used in re-aligning the alarm systems, thus overcoming problems associated with the common practice of over-alarming, which may contribute to incidents like the Longford tragedy in Victoria. The approa ....Alarm Management - Silence is Golden. This project develops novel strategies and tools that aid alarm rationalisation in all types of process plants (e.g. gas, petrochemical, mining) by extracting groupings of related alarm tags from an enormous dataset of complex process data. These groupings are used in re-aligning the alarm systems, thus overcoming problems associated with the common practice of over-alarming, which may contribute to incidents like the Longford tragedy in Victoria. The approach is cost effective and improves alarm management. It addresses economic and safety concerns of the process industry as well as concerns raised in the study commissioned by the Institute of Engineers, Australia.Read moreRead less