Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453629
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$322,077.00
Summary
Integrated Combustion Research Facility for Biomass Derived Fuels. Bio-mass derived fuels are gaining in importance because they can contribute to solving the problems arising from the world wide decline in the reserve to production ratio of crude oil, the emission of greenhouse gases and energy security. In Australia they can also assist in mitigating dry-land salinity by increasing the viability of large-scale plantation of locally indigenous trees. However significant technical and political ....Integrated Combustion Research Facility for Biomass Derived Fuels. Bio-mass derived fuels are gaining in importance because they can contribute to solving the problems arising from the world wide decline in the reserve to production ratio of crude oil, the emission of greenhouse gases and energy security. In Australia they can also assist in mitigating dry-land salinity by increasing the viability of large-scale plantation of locally indigenous trees. However significant technical and political issues remain to be addressed before this potential can be realised. The Integrated Combustion Research Facility for Biomass Derived Fuels to be established by this grant will provide the necessary infrastructure to address these issues.Read moreRead less
OPTIMISATION OF COMPACT BOILING HEAT EXCHANGERS USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK. Compact heat exchangers are increasingly considered for duties in many industrial applications, involving phase change processes of boiling and condensation. In many cases such applications are completely new and no previous experience or information is available for constructive design of compact heat exchangers. This project aims to develop a commercially-viable design methodology that will be innovative and novel ....OPTIMISATION OF COMPACT BOILING HEAT EXCHANGERS USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK. Compact heat exchangers are increasingly considered for duties in many industrial applications, involving phase change processes of boiling and condensation. In many cases such applications are completely new and no previous experience or information is available for constructive design of compact heat exchangers. This project aims to develop a commercially-viable design methodology that will be innovative and novel with in mind of robust and speedy computations of key design parameters of compact boiling heat exchangers through the artificial neural networks (ANN) model and maintaining the inherent accuracy associated with the solutions of the boiling flow and heat transfer processes from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and validated using experimental data. It will provide a cutting edge to the Industry Partner to compete successfully on the local and global market fronts in designing and manufacturing compact boiling heat exchangers.Read moreRead less
Supersonic flow past micro-scale particles: Industrial applications. Droplet based materials processing has developed significantly over the last decade, with applications in a wide range of industries where high-strength, light-weight materials are critical. Our research will allow for continued progress of this method, by developing accurate models to predict the cooling rate throughout the process and hence the physical properties of the finished product. Development of this knowledge will al ....Supersonic flow past micro-scale particles: Industrial applications. Droplet based materials processing has developed significantly over the last decade, with applications in a wide range of industries where high-strength, light-weight materials are critical. Our research will allow for continued progress of this method, by developing accurate models to predict the cooling rate throughout the process and hence the physical properties of the finished product. Development of this knowledge will allow for higher precision products to be produced and allow for new techniques to be developed. This information will allow for material processing in Australia to be maintained at world class levels, and for Australian industry to continue to lead the way in the production of technologically advanced materials.Read moreRead less
Multiscale modelling of the transport phenomena of liquid iron and slag in ironmaking blast furnace. Blast furnace ironmaking is a key operation in the steel industry which, with an annual turnover around $11 billion, is a significant manufacturing sector in Australia. This project, focused on the behaviour of liquid iron and slag, can generate computer models that can reliably describe the complicated multiphase flow and thermochemical processes in the furnace. The implementation of the resulta ....Multiscale modelling of the transport phenomena of liquid iron and slag in ironmaking blast furnace. Blast furnace ironmaking is a key operation in the steel industry which, with an annual turnover around $11 billion, is a significant manufacturing sector in Australia. This project, focused on the behaviour of liquid iron and slag, can generate computer models that can reliably describe the complicated multiphase flow and thermochemical processes in the furnace. The implementation of the resultant models and the new understanding should lead to long life campaigns, better operational control, decreased fuel consumption, improved productivity and reduced environmental impact. This, together with the proposed research training, is important to the development of Australia's competitive steel industry.Read moreRead less
Thermal Storage for Built Environment. Thermal storage systems with Phase Chage Materials (PCM) can be ulilised to reduce the energy required to cool and heat buildings. The PCM used has a freezing point around 20C. Thus alowing cool summer night air to freeze the PCM overnight. During the day warmer outside air is cooled significantly as it melts the PCM. PCM systems can be retrofitted to existing systems to precool the outside air, and thus significantly reduce the energy required to cool a bu ....Thermal Storage for Built Environment. Thermal storage systems with Phase Chage Materials (PCM) can be ulilised to reduce the energy required to cool and heat buildings. The PCM used has a freezing point around 20C. Thus alowing cool summer night air to freeze the PCM overnight. During the day warmer outside air is cooled significantly as it melts the PCM. PCM systems can be retrofitted to existing systems to precool the outside air, and thus significantly reduce the energy required to cool a building. This project deals with design, simulation and optimisation of this kind of thermal storage system. A laboratory prototype system will also be built and tested.Read moreRead less
DROP DEFORMATION IN CONFINED MICROFLUIDIC GEOMETRIES. Increasingly, high technology applications in biotechnology and microtechnology industries need to process complex (non-Newtonian) fluids with dispersed particles/droplets in channels as small as several microns (microfluidics). A computational fluid dynamic model of non-Newtonian droplet deformation in microfluidic geometries will be developed, and validated using experimental measurements of the flow field in this project. The aim is to und ....DROP DEFORMATION IN CONFINED MICROFLUIDIC GEOMETRIES. Increasingly, high technology applications in biotechnology and microtechnology industries need to process complex (non-Newtonian) fluids with dispersed particles/droplets in channels as small as several microns (microfluidics). A computational fluid dynamic model of non-Newtonian droplet deformation in microfluidic geometries will be developed, and validated using experimental measurements of the flow field in this project. The aim is to understand and quantify factors influencing droplet deformation. Coupling non-Newtonian characteristics with microfluidic geometries will allow the continuous manufacture of micro-particles of specified size and shape for existing and new applications, and will provide guidance for further extending the process to nano-particle manufacture.Read moreRead less
Electro-viscous effects on pressure-driven liquid flow in microchannels. Australian biotechnology, information technology and food technology industries will benefit from the development of new tailored micro- and nano-fluidic devices for processing of non-Newtonian fluids. The efficiency of functional elements such as valves, pumps, mixers, reactors, heat exchangers can be optimised for specific fluids by understanding the coupling between the fluid properties, the device geometry, surface cha ....Electro-viscous effects on pressure-driven liquid flow in microchannels. Australian biotechnology, information technology and food technology industries will benefit from the development of new tailored micro- and nano-fluidic devices for processing of non-Newtonian fluids. The efficiency of functional elements such as valves, pumps, mixers, reactors, heat exchangers can be optimised for specific fluids by understanding the coupling between the fluid properties, the device geometry, surface charge, and the numerical predictions. This understanding will complement development in related projects on non-Newtonian drop and particle formation in microfluidic flows which envisage continuous particle manufacture for novel materials possessing programmable, enhanced functional properties.Read moreRead less
Enabling low greenhouse gas emissions from road vehicles through the proper use of alternative fuels. A major increase in alternative transport fuel use appears necessary in our response to the challenges of climate change and energy security. This proposal will advance our fundamental understanding of key aspects of the combustion of particular alternative fuels, thus enabling proper engine design and so maximising greenhouse and energy security benefits. Further, the Australian automotive indu ....Enabling low greenhouse gas emissions from road vehicles through the proper use of alternative fuels. A major increase in alternative transport fuel use appears necessary in our response to the challenges of climate change and energy security. This proposal will advance our fundamental understanding of key aspects of the combustion of particular alternative fuels, thus enabling proper engine design and so maximising greenhouse and energy security benefits. Further, the Australian automotive industry is a major employer and exporter, and needs to develop and/or maintain international leadership in low emission technologies to ensure its long term viability. This proposal builds a consortium of local organisations with common interests, thus helping local industry respond to several, significant challenges that they presently face.Read moreRead less
Design and Construction of Novel Thermal Interferometers. This project aims to invent thermal interferometers, which take advantage of the interference effect of thermal waves to display standing temperature interference fringes on a surface of prism. Two coherent thermal waves are input from two other surfaces of the prism in a similar way as an optical interferometer does. By inventing such a device, the project will demonstrate a new instrumentation mechanism which may lead to its applicati ....Design and Construction of Novel Thermal Interferometers. This project aims to invent thermal interferometers, which take advantage of the interference effect of thermal waves to display standing temperature interference fringes on a surface of prism. Two coherent thermal waves are input from two other surfaces of the prism in a similar way as an optical interferometer does. By inventing such a device, the project will demonstrate a new instrumentation mechanism which may lead to its application in medical technology. Furthermore, the principle of temperature localisation due to thermal interference may provide new insights to account for the cause of conformational changes of proteins that result in diseases.Read moreRead less
Assessment of the new technologies to maximise the internal energy efficiency by modelling the energy flows in Victorian power stations. Increased internal energy efficiency will reduce the CO2 emissions and increase the profit margin for the power stations. The aim of the proposed research is to investigate the internal energy efficiency in the brown coal fired power stations by modelling the internal energy flows to reveal the potentials in the 'waste' heat streams in the power stations, and t ....Assessment of the new technologies to maximise the internal energy efficiency by modelling the energy flows in Victorian power stations. Increased internal energy efficiency will reduce the CO2 emissions and increase the profit margin for the power stations. The aim of the proposed research is to investigate the internal energy efficiency in the brown coal fired power stations by modelling the internal energy flows to reveal the potentials in the 'waste' heat streams in the power stations, and to assess new waste heat recovery measures for the power industry. The proposed research, supported by the entire Victorian power generation industry, will help the industry to achieve their green house gas emission reduction target set by the Federal Government.
Read moreRead less