Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354672
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
ARC Network in Mineral Processing, Extraction and Refining. The Network aims to develop long-term, collaborative research and training links between world-class researchers and research centres in mineral processing, extraction and refining. The goal is to ensure that Australia's major export industry is sustainable, environmentally acceptable and technically at the cutting edge.
Networking key researchers with complementary skills and expertise will enhance research quality, encourage a hol ....ARC Network in Mineral Processing, Extraction and Refining. The Network aims to develop long-term, collaborative research and training links between world-class researchers and research centres in mineral processing, extraction and refining. The goal is to ensure that Australia's major export industry is sustainable, environmentally acceptable and technically at the cutting edge.
Networking key researchers with complementary skills and expertise will enhance research quality, encourage a holistic approach to problem solving and support researchers to tackle big challenges, beyond their usual scope, that will transform the industry. The outcomes will be greater international competitiveness, better resource utilisation, and the incubation of new research leaders, enhancing Australia's minerals R&D infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Experimental and numerical studies of the packing and piling of coal. This project is oriented to the coal and steel industries, which are important to Australia. In fact, the coal industry creates a significant employment and produces 80% of electricity in Australia. Australia is also the world's biggest coal exporter. This project will develop methods to control the packing and piling processes of coal, which are of fundamental importance to many granular processes. The benefits from the proje ....Experimental and numerical studies of the packing and piling of coal. This project is oriented to the coal and steel industries, which are important to Australia. In fact, the coal industry creates a significant employment and produces 80% of electricity in Australia. Australia is also the world's biggest coal exporter. This project will develop methods to control the packing and piling processes of coal, which are of fundamental importance to many granular processes. The benefits from the project include improvements in productivity, coke quality and fuel efficiency, which will lead reduced energy consumption and pollution emission and thereby improve the competitiveness of Australia's coal and steel industries. Read moreRead less
Granular dynamics: theories, modelling and simulation. Particle science and technology is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research field and is of paramount importance Australia in view of the heavy dependence on raw materials processing. This project will tackle the core problems in this field by developing novel theories and mathematical models to describe the flow of particles. Application of the research outcomes can lead to better process or product control, a decrease in energy cons ....Granular dynamics: theories, modelling and simulation. Particle science and technology is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research field and is of paramount importance Australia in view of the heavy dependence on raw materials processing. This project will tackle the core problems in this field by developing novel theories and mathematical models to describe the flow of particles. Application of the research outcomes can lead to better process or product control, a decrease in energy consumption and an improvement in productivity, which, together with the research training offered through the conduct of the work, is very helpful to maintaining Australia's leading position in resource, energy, process and allied industries.Read moreRead less
Fundamental studies of the packing and compaction of fine particles. This project will investigate the fundamentals of the packing and compaction of fine particles at both microscopic and macroscopic levels through a combined theoretical and experimental program. It involves the use of advanced techniques to generate particle scale information, so that a packing and compaction process can be assessed at various time and length scales. It will produce a comprehensive understanding of the underlyi ....Fundamental studies of the packing and compaction of fine particles. This project will investigate the fundamentals of the packing and compaction of fine particles at both microscopic and macroscopic levels through a combined theoretical and experimental program. It involves the use of advanced techniques to generate particle scale information, so that a packing and compaction process can be assessed at various time and length scales. It will produce a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physics, computer models capable of predicting the micromechanic and transport properties of porous media, and an effective means to solve many packing and compaction problems widely encountered in minerals and materials processing industries.Read moreRead less
Fundamental studies of screening processes in coal preparation. Screening is a most important unit operation widely used in industries but not well understood. This project will investigate the fundamentals governing the dynamic behaviour of coal slurry on desliming screens by a combined theoretical and experimental program. Its aim is to develop and validate a computer model that can simulate the operation under various conditions at a particle level, providing a cost effective way to quantify ....Fundamental studies of screening processes in coal preparation. Screening is a most important unit operation widely used in industries but not well understood. This project will investigate the fundamentals governing the dynamic behaviour of coal slurry on desliming screens by a combined theoretical and experimental program. Its aim is to develop and validate a computer model that can simulate the operation under various conditions at a particle level, providing a cost effective way to quantify the screening performance in relation to materials, machine and operation conditions. It will generate a basis for developing better design and control strategies of screen operation, resulting in an improved competitiveness of Australia's mineral industry.Read moreRead less
Template-free Control of Titania Precipitation from Homogeneous Aqueous Solution. Used in the paint, plastic, ceramic, paper and synthetic fibre industries and having strategic nano-technological applications, titania is an important commodity for Australia, earning about $1.3 billion p.a. in exports. Better production methods through improved understanding of titania precipitation chemistry will help to increase our industrial productivity and minimise energy consumption. It may also lead to us ....Template-free Control of Titania Precipitation from Homogeneous Aqueous Solution. Used in the paint, plastic, ceramic, paper and synthetic fibre industries and having strategic nano-technological applications, titania is an important commodity for Australia, earning about $1.3 billion p.a. in exports. Better production methods through improved understanding of titania precipitation chemistry will help to increase our industrial productivity and minimise energy consumption. It may also lead to useful new processes and/or materials with catalytic properties. In an increasingly competitive global market, this is most relevant to Australian titania exporters and to Australian renewable energy programs (particularly for generating photovoltaic power). Read moreRead less
Thermal characterisation of iron ores and coals for HIsmelt operation. Substantial developments in direct reduction ironmaking (DRI) have been recently conducted providing sustainable way for metallurgical operations. The largest advantage of DRI is that it does not require cokemaking and sintering, two processes which are consistently causing environmental concerns. This project aims to thermally investigate coals and iron ores for optimising direct smelting, and to provide insight into effect ....Thermal characterisation of iron ores and coals for HIsmelt operation. Substantial developments in direct reduction ironmaking (DRI) have been recently conducted providing sustainable way for metallurgical operations. The largest advantage of DRI is that it does not require cokemaking and sintering, two processes which are consistently causing environmental concerns. This project aims to thermally investigate coals and iron ores for optimising direct smelting, and to provide insight into effect of the properties of ores and coals on the process. Structural changes using hot stage optical microscopy will be carefully clarified. Finally, a predictive model for DRI and energy requirements for direct smelting based on the experimental outcomes will be developed.Read moreRead less
Microdynamic study of the flow of granular materials in bladed mixers. This project aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of granular mixing mechanics in bladed mixers. The study will be carried out by means of newly developed advanced numerical and experimental techniques to generate particle scale information. The flow and mixing behaviour of particles under different conditions will be analysed at both micro- and macro-scopic levels. The research outcomes such as predictive equations ....Microdynamic study of the flow of granular materials in bladed mixers. This project aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of granular mixing mechanics in bladed mixers. The study will be carried out by means of newly developed advanced numerical and experimental techniques to generate particle scale information. The flow and mixing behaviour of particles under different conditions will be analysed at both micro- and macro-scopic levels. The research outcomes such as predictive equations will be tested by simulating and analysing complicated industrial mixing processes; modelling to improve granulation and breakage will be targets. It will significantly improve the design, optimisation and control of mixing processes that are widely used in many industries.Read moreRead less
The effect of contaminant carbon films on the leaching of gold. A major problem in cyanidation is preg-robbing, which results in severe gold losses to tailings. Too much emphasis has been placed on the blinding and characterisation of free carbon or graphite particles, instead of considering carbon or graphite as a layer on top of other ore particles. It is the aim of this project to investigate the effect of contaminant carbon layers on the leaching of gold from sulphide ores. The understanding ....The effect of contaminant carbon films on the leaching of gold. A major problem in cyanidation is preg-robbing, which results in severe gold losses to tailings. Too much emphasis has been placed on the blinding and characterisation of free carbon or graphite particles, instead of considering carbon or graphite as a layer on top of other ore particles. It is the aim of this project to investigate the effect of contaminant carbon layers on the leaching of gold from sulphide ores. The understanding of the exact role of carbon layers on mineral surfaces in both preg-robbing and leaching is essential to devise process strategies that could lead to improved extraction.Read moreRead less
Flow field evaluation of AusIron top submerged injection system. The top submerged gas injection system is widely used in the metallurgical industry in many metal refining processes. The AusIron process, which uses dual top submerged lances injection, has been developed recently for direct smelting of iron ore to produce pig iron using low quality coal as fuel and reductant. Successful implementation of the process requires optimum furnace design. This project aims to study fluid flow within the ....Flow field evaluation of AusIron top submerged injection system. The top submerged gas injection system is widely used in the metallurgical industry in many metal refining processes. The AusIron process, which uses dual top submerged lances injection, has been developed recently for direct smelting of iron ore to produce pig iron using low quality coal as fuel and reductant. Successful implementation of the process requires optimum furnace design. This project aims to study fluid flow within the furnace using a laboratory scale model, plant trials and numerical analysis. The project will enhance our fundamental understanding of the top submerged injection processes and assist in optimising AusIron furnace design.Read moreRead less