Control of Hydrophobic Interactions between Gas Bubbles in Water and Their Role in Gas Hydrate Formation and Dissociation. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and its release in deep oceans and permafrost regions due to decomposition of methane hydrate, an ice-like crystalline, could potentially pose devastating threat to mankind. On the other hand, methane hydrate represents a vast energy potential to Australia and the remainder of the world. Understanding the mechanism of gas hydrate formati ....Control of Hydrophobic Interactions between Gas Bubbles in Water and Their Role in Gas Hydrate Formation and Dissociation. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and its release in deep oceans and permafrost regions due to decomposition of methane hydrate, an ice-like crystalline, could potentially pose devastating threat to mankind. On the other hand, methane hydrate represents a vast energy potential to Australia and the remainder of the world. Understanding the mechanism of gas hydrate formation and dissociation is of fundamental importance to methane extraction and capture. This project employs state-of-the-art surface analytical tools to explore the mechanism of gas hydrate formation. The outcomes will strengthen Australia's leading role in scientific and technological development in this field. Read moreRead less
Progressive liquefaction within marine sediments: comparison between geo-centrifuge modelling, full-scale wave tank tests and numerical modelling. The evaluation of wave-induced liquefaction within the marine sediment is particularly important for coastal and geotechnical engineers involved in the design of foundation around coastal structures. The proposed study will integrate the existing knowledge from the aspects of coastal and geotechnical engineering with that of overseas experts to provid ....Progressive liquefaction within marine sediments: comparison between geo-centrifuge modelling, full-scale wave tank tests and numerical modelling. The evaluation of wave-induced liquefaction within the marine sediment is particularly important for coastal and geotechnical engineers involved in the design of foundation around coastal structures. The proposed study will integrate the existing knowledge from the aspects of coastal and geotechnical engineering with that of overseas experts to provide coastal engineers with an effective tool for the design of foundations around marine structures. It will also assist in reducing the risk of potential environmental damage caused by failure of marine structures.Read moreRead less
Contaminant Transport in Marine Sediment. Sediments in bays and estuaries are often contaminated. The inorganic contaminants in sediments can be released back into the water body through mass transfer processes. The mass transfer rate is largely controlled by the wave-driven seepage flux across the seabed. Quantification of this flux is thus a key factor in modelling water quality of coastal water bodies. This project aims to: (1) develop models forwave-induced seepage flux within sediments and ....Contaminant Transport in Marine Sediment. Sediments in bays and estuaries are often contaminated. The inorganic contaminants in sediments can be released back into the water body through mass transfer processes. The mass transfer rate is largely controlled by the wave-driven seepage flux across the seabed. Quantification of this flux is thus a key factor in modelling water quality of coastal water bodies. This project aims to: (1) develop models forwave-induced seepage flux within sediments and contaminant transport; and (2) establish the link between seepage flux and contaminant transport. Outcomes of the proposed research will enhance the understanding of the mechanism of contaminant transport in marine sediment.Read moreRead less
Numerical Modelling of Three-dimensional Scour below Offshore Pipelines. Australia's increasing offshore oil and gas exploration has demanded more accurate and reliable methods for evaluating the safety and serviceability of pipelines. Local scour around pipelines is one of the major causes of pipeline failures, and is a major concern in Australian waters. This project not only addresses these concerns in its direct application to the design and management of offshore pipelines, but also will co ....Numerical Modelling of Three-dimensional Scour below Offshore Pipelines. Australia's increasing offshore oil and gas exploration has demanded more accurate and reliable methods for evaluating the safety and serviceability of pipelines. Local scour around pipelines is one of the major causes of pipeline failures, and is a major concern in Australian waters. This project not only addresses these concerns in its direct application to the design and management of offshore pipelines, but also will contribute to the nation's development and competitiveness in offshore exploration, and produce high quality research students. The improved design and management of pipelines in Australian waters will reduce the risk of potential environmental damages caused by leaking gas and oil.Read moreRead less
Assessing and enhancing the resilience of Australian beaches to sea level rise. Accurate forecasting of coastal recession due to sea level rise is required for planning and the design of coastal defences, but the existing method is widely disputed. With collaboration with world leading research partners, this study will perform unique laboratory experiments to determine the vulnerability of Australian beaches to sea level rise and to test environmentally sustainable measures to increase their re ....Assessing and enhancing the resilience of Australian beaches to sea level rise. Accurate forecasting of coastal recession due to sea level rise is required for planning and the design of coastal defences, but the existing method is widely disputed. With collaboration with world leading research partners, this study will perform unique laboratory experiments to determine the vulnerability of Australian beaches to sea level rise and to test environmentally sustainable measures to increase their resilience. The research will address longstanding uncertainties and significantly enhance the ability of communities to plan for a changing climate. The project will deliver new data and models of immediate benefit to professional engineers to enable robust engineering decisions which enhance the safety of coastal communities.Read moreRead less
Integrated prediction of wave-induced liquefaction for stable breakwater heads. Breakwaters are central to the economies and lifestyles of many coastal areas around the world. The liquefaction of breakwater foundations causes the failure of breakwaters, with potentially deliterious consequences for life and property. The remedies involve large investments in maintenance and cause major disruptions to coastal activities. More accurate and reliable methods for analysing the stability of structures ....Integrated prediction of wave-induced liquefaction for stable breakwater heads. Breakwaters are central to the economies and lifestyles of many coastal areas around the world. The liquefaction of breakwater foundations causes the failure of breakwaters, with potentially deliterious consequences for life and property. The remedies involve large investments in maintenance and cause major disruptions to coastal activities. More accurate and reliable methods for analysing the stability of structures and their foundations is urgently required, and will bring major benefits to Australian coastal facilities. We will create the science to transform our understanding of the mechanisms of wave-induced liquefaction. This will enable engineers to significantly improve the stability and robustness of marine structures.Read moreRead less
High quality benthic and demersal surveys from small form factor underwater robots. This project will develop improved surveying systems for environmental consultancies. By enhancing the imaging and mapping capabilities of small underwater robots and extending automated interpretation tools to work with their data, this project will reduce operating costs, and increase the quality and quantity of scientifically useful data that they generate.
Development of an adaptive statistical model for oceanic flooding hazards along the East Australian coast. Planning of invaluable coastal infrastructure and housing is critical to the economic and social well-being of Australian communities. Devastating flooding along coasts and estuaries in Australia frequently occurred before 1980, but has been less common since. However, the risks are clear and enormous as demonstrated in recent disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami ....Development of an adaptive statistical model for oceanic flooding hazards along the East Australian coast. Planning of invaluable coastal infrastructure and housing is critical to the economic and social well-being of Australian communities. Devastating flooding along coasts and estuaries in Australia frequently occurred before 1980, but has been less common since. However, the risks are clear and enormous as demonstrated in recent disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Climate change makes flood predictions even more difficult. This project will develop a new adaptive model which accounts for both the present and future climate and also regional variability. The research will be in collaboration with the NSW Dept of Climate Change to enable rapid government action to improve community trust in flood protection. Read moreRead less
Performance enhancement of tidal turbine arrays. Performance enhancement of tidal turbine arrays. This project aims to understand the environmental impact of turbines, by studying how an optimised array of turbines interacts with the downstream turbulent tidal flow. Tidal power could contribute substantially to Australia's Renewable Energy goals. Australia's coastlines produce over 2.4 terajoules of tidal energy, and research into turbine optimisation, array design and environmental impact is ne ....Performance enhancement of tidal turbine arrays. Performance enhancement of tidal turbine arrays. This project aims to understand the environmental impact of turbines, by studying how an optimised array of turbines interacts with the downstream turbulent tidal flow. Tidal power could contribute substantially to Australia's Renewable Energy goals. Australia's coastlines produce over 2.4 terajoules of tidal energy, and research into turbine optimisation, array design and environmental impact is needed to exploit this potential. Fluid dynamics and optimisation researchers will design an improved vertical axis tidal turbine for use in the Torres Strait Islands. This project could improve tidal turbine design and turbine placement designs, and improve understanding of interactions between turbines and the maritime environment.Read moreRead less
Poro-elastic, single domain model of wave-induced transport and transformation of pollutants in coastal sediments. The sediments in many bays and estuaries in Australia are contaminated by pollutants due to discharge of waste from the river, groundwater or/and ocean outfall. Most previous research has had a multi-domain approach and have ignored the wave-dirven advective flow and effects of soil behaviour in coastal sediment. In this study, we will couple the procedure of pollutant transport ne ....Poro-elastic, single domain model of wave-induced transport and transformation of pollutants in coastal sediments. The sediments in many bays and estuaries in Australia are contaminated by pollutants due to discharge of waste from the river, groundwater or/and ocean outfall. Most previous research has had a multi-domain approach and have ignored the wave-dirven advective flow and effects of soil behaviour in coastal sediment. In this study, we will couple the procedure of pollutant transport near the sediment-water interface by a single domain approach, and link wave-dirven advective flow and contaminant in marine sediments. The research outcomes will provide a better prediction of the transformation behaviour of pollutants in contaminated sediments.Read moreRead less