Multiscale Integrated Modelling and Control of an Ethanol-Fuelled Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. The results from this project will allow use of alternative sources for energy through a better understanding of the functioning, design, operability and control of SOFCs. Fuel Cells (FCs) with biomass ethanol feed will not only act as reliable power source but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A successful R&D effort to develop FCs will improve the national energy security by reducing the growin ....Multiscale Integrated Modelling and Control of an Ethanol-Fuelled Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. The results from this project will allow use of alternative sources for energy through a better understanding of the functioning, design, operability and control of SOFCs. Fuel Cells (FCs) with biomass ethanol feed will not only act as reliable power source but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A successful R&D effort to develop FCs will improve the national energy security by reducing the growing dependency on foreign energy sources, improve the environment by reducing carbon and other harmful emissions, and improve the economic growth by expanding the portfolio of highly efficient energy and useful spill over technologies. Read moreRead less
WAVELET-BASED MODELLING AND MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF COMPLEX MULTIDIMENSIONAL CRYSTALLISATION PROCESSES. The results of this project will directly contribute to a better understanding of crystallisation which is an important unit operation to achieve high purity separations. Many Australian industries for example, mineral processing, sugar processing, pharmaceuticals, etc will benefit from the results in order to enhance optimal operation and control to ensure globally competitive production ....WAVELET-BASED MODELLING AND MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF COMPLEX MULTIDIMENSIONAL CRYSTALLISATION PROCESSES. The results of this project will directly contribute to a better understanding of crystallisation which is an important unit operation to achieve high purity separations. Many Australian industries for example, mineral processing, sugar processing, pharmaceuticals, etc will benefit from the results in order to enhance optimal operation and control to ensure globally competitive production which is on time, minimize wastes and raw materials and inventories. The leading edge results will increase the contributions of these industries to the Australian economy and our global competitiveness necessary to maintain our culture and the beauty of our environment. Read moreRead less
Understanding and Controlling Wall Deposition in Spray Dryers via Experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Studies. A key problem in operating spray dryers for producing milk powders and other consumer products, such as detergents, is the occurrence of internal wall deposits of powder, leading to thermal degradation of the products and potential fire hazards. However, no fundamental theory has been applied in spray dryers to allow this process to be controlled. The proposed project wi ....Understanding and Controlling Wall Deposition in Spray Dryers via Experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Studies. A key problem in operating spray dryers for producing milk powders and other consumer products, such as detergents, is the occurrence of internal wall deposits of powder, leading to thermal degradation of the products and potential fire hazards. However, no fundamental theory has been applied in spray dryers to allow this process to be controlled. The proposed project will use state-of-the-art experimental and computational techniques to gain a fundamental understanding of this phenomenon and will develop a validated wall deposition model to predict when and to what extent this process occurs, to give higher throughputs and/or more efficient systems.Read moreRead less
Scale-up and Intelligent Control of Granulation Processes. Granulation is the process that forms granular products with carefully targeted properties from powdery or liquid feeds. Granular products abound in the pharmaceutical, agricultural & industrial chemicals, and food & consumer goods industries. Poor understanding of the granulation causes delays in the time to market of new products and poor efficiency in large scale continuous granulation plants. This project will build on recent adva ....Scale-up and Intelligent Control of Granulation Processes. Granulation is the process that forms granular products with carefully targeted properties from powdery or liquid feeds. Granular products abound in the pharmaceutical, agricultural & industrial chemicals, and food & consumer goods industries. Poor understanding of the granulation causes delays in the time to market of new products and poor efficiency in large scale continuous granulation plants. This project will build on recent advances in the understanding of granulation fundamentals to (1) develop new robust design and scale up rules (2) develop intelligent control schemes for continuous granulation circuits, and (3) develop a new generation of regime separated granulators. The project is receiving substantial support from 3 industry partners (MSD Australia, Incitec and WMC Fertilizers) with cash contributions over 40% of the ARC grant requested, as well as very substantial in-kind contributions.Read moreRead less
Fundamental Data and Thermodynamic Modelling for Cryogenic LNG Fluids to Improve Process Design, Simulation and Operation. This research will contribute to a more environmentally sustainable Australia because it will promote the use of natural gas as a fuel supply which produces significantly fewer greenhouse gases than oil or coal. This project will improve the ability of engineers to reliably simulate LNG production plants as well as test new processes and technologies with the potential to in ....Fundamental Data and Thermodynamic Modelling for Cryogenic LNG Fluids to Improve Process Design, Simulation and Operation. This research will contribute to a more environmentally sustainable Australia because it will promote the use of natural gas as a fuel supply which produces significantly fewer greenhouse gases than oil or coal. This project will improve the ability of engineers to reliably simulate LNG production plants as well as test new processes and technologies with the potential to increase efficiency or revenue. Consequently, the level of over-engineering and, thus, the capital and operational costs of such plants will decrease. This in turn will promote the development of Australian gas reserves, particularly for those fields currently on the margins of economic viability.Read moreRead less
Embedded Antenna Technology in Smart Polymeric Composite Structures. This project is about embedding Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) reception technology in polymeric composite components to be deployed in automobiles. The aim of the project is to investigate the various parameters involved in integrating several participating technologies necessary to produce such smart components. The parameters to be investigated include the disciplines of composite materials, patch antenna and wireless co ....Embedded Antenna Technology in Smart Polymeric Composite Structures. This project is about embedding Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) reception technology in polymeric composite components to be deployed in automobiles. The aim of the project is to investigate the various parameters involved in integrating several participating technologies necessary to produce such smart components. The parameters to be investigated include the disciplines of composite materials, patch antenna and wireless communication technologies. The significance and outcome of this project is the development of a manufacturing method to make a normal looking composite component with GPS signal processing capabilities. It is also expected that the findings from this project can be extended to other sensor-based industries.Read moreRead less
Dynamic Controllability Analysis for Plantwide Process Design and Control. World-wide chemical plants represent many billions of dollars of investment. Improvements to the process designs in terms of controllability would have the potential to provide large economic benefits, as it implies improved productivity, reduced operating costs and product variability. This proposed research will be a step towards integration of process design and control, which has been widely recognized as the key to t ....Dynamic Controllability Analysis for Plantwide Process Design and Control. World-wide chemical plants represent many billions of dollars of investment. Improvements to the process designs in terms of controllability would have the potential to provide large economic benefits, as it implies improved productivity, reduced operating costs and product variability. This proposed research will be a step towards integration of process design and control, which has been widely recognized as the key to this improvement. The outcomes from this project may be readily implemented in process design practice, and therefore have a direct impact to the Australian and world-wide process industries, helping to build a more efficient and environmental conscious Australian process industries.Read moreRead less
Increasing the operational lifetime and optimising the design of crankcase oil-mist filters. Australia is one of the largest (per capita) users worldwide of heavy diesel engines, within sectors such as transport, mining, construction, shipping and power generation (usage of many of the above is concentrated in regional communities e.g. mining). This work will minimise emissions from such industries, as well as reduce lubricant oil usage - thereby maximising waste oil recovery and reuse (approx 5 ....Increasing the operational lifetime and optimising the design of crankcase oil-mist filters. Australia is one of the largest (per capita) users worldwide of heavy diesel engines, within sectors such as transport, mining, construction, shipping and power generation (usage of many of the above is concentrated in regional communities e.g. mining). This work will minimise emissions from such industries, as well as reduce lubricant oil usage - thereby maximising waste oil recovery and reuse (approx 5500 tonnes p.a.). Oil mists can be regarded as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for the purposes of CO2 equivalent emissions, so therefore, the efficient capture of oil mists will reduce carbon emissions from the above industries in Australia.Read moreRead less
Coarse-Grid Eulerian-Eulerian Multiphase Model for Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit. A fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is an important refinery unit operation responsible for about 45% of total petrol production. The aim of this study is to improve the petrol production efficiency of Australian refineries thus allowing our country not only to maintain its self-sufficiency but also to permit lucrative exports. This will be done by optimising the performance of the FCC unit through novel computat ....Coarse-Grid Eulerian-Eulerian Multiphase Model for Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit. A fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is an important refinery unit operation responsible for about 45% of total petrol production. The aim of this study is to improve the petrol production efficiency of Australian refineries thus allowing our country not only to maintain its self-sufficiency but also to permit lucrative exports. This will be done by optimising the performance of the FCC unit through novel computational fluid dynamic simulations. The outcomes of this study will enable refiners to produce cleaner fuel (e.g., fuel with less sulphur) and decrease air pollution from the FCC unit (in the form of CO and particulates) thus helping Australia to preserve its diverse and relatively pollution-free environment.Read moreRead less
Optimisation and Control of Bagasse Handling System in a Sugar Mill. Bagasse, the fibre residue from sugar cane, is used as fuel in suspension fired boilers for energy production for the sugar milling process. The use of bagasse as a fuel is currently gaining more prominence as the sugar industry looks to co-generation joint ventures with traditional electricity supply and generation authorities. This project is aimed at applying optimisation and control techniques to bagasse handling system in ....Optimisation and Control of Bagasse Handling System in a Sugar Mill. Bagasse, the fibre residue from sugar cane, is used as fuel in suspension fired boilers for energy production for the sugar milling process. The use of bagasse as a fuel is currently gaining more prominence as the sugar industry looks to co-generation joint ventures with traditional electricity supply and generation authorities. This project is aimed at applying optimisation and control techniques to bagasse handling system in a CSR sugar mill so that the fibre residue from sugar cane can be used to gain maximum efficiency in generating energy supplies in the sugar mill. If the project succeeds, other sugar mills from CSR would implement the advanced control system.Read moreRead less