Development of a Novel One Step Process for Gas Conversion to Liquid. Australia has a rich natural gas reserve, most of which is in remote locations. This project will lead to a new technology to use the remote gas that would be flared into the atmosphere, thus benefiting both Australian economy and green house gas reduction. It will also reduce the risk of relying on importing oil from Overseas thus contributing to Australia's energy security. In addition, while crude-based oil emits SOx, NOx a ....Development of a Novel One Step Process for Gas Conversion to Liquid. Australia has a rich natural gas reserve, most of which is in remote locations. This project will lead to a new technology to use the remote gas that would be flared into the atmosphere, thus benefiting both Australian economy and green house gas reduction. It will also reduce the risk of relying on importing oil from Overseas thus contributing to Australia's energy security. In addition, while crude-based oil emits SOx, NOx and particulates etc into air, the liquid fuels from gas are pure and burns cleanly thus also contributing to air pollution control. Read moreRead less
Hydrogen Production by Non-thermal Plasma Assisted Catalytic Pyrolysis of Natural Gas. This project aims to develop a cost effective technology for hydrogen production using catalytic pyrolysis of natural gas assisted by non-thermal plasma. The mechanism and kinetics of catalytic hydrocarbon decomposition on carbons produced in situ will be systematically studied. Based on the fundamental understanding of carbon nanostructures and their catalytic activities and stabilities, the non-thermal plasm ....Hydrogen Production by Non-thermal Plasma Assisted Catalytic Pyrolysis of Natural Gas. This project aims to develop a cost effective technology for hydrogen production using catalytic pyrolysis of natural gas assisted by non-thermal plasma. The mechanism and kinetics of catalytic hydrocarbon decomposition on carbons produced in situ will be systematically studied. Based on the fundamental understanding of carbon nanostructures and their catalytic activities and stabilities, the non-thermal plasma and the catalytic reactions will be optimized to achieve high conversion and catalytic stability. The project will lead to a new process combining effective carbon catalyst and low temperature plasma to produce pure hydrogen with high energy efficiency and no CO2 emissions.Read moreRead less
Life Cycle Measures of Cost Effectiveness for 4 D CAD in Design and Construct Projects across Industry Sectors. The effective and efficient delivery of complex construction projects will be transformed by the increased application of virtual design and construction technologies, including 4D CAD. By combining a 3D computer model of a design with the time dimension of the construction schedule, 4D CAD enables risks and opportunities to be better managed during the design phase and hence avoid co ....Life Cycle Measures of Cost Effectiveness for 4 D CAD in Design and Construct Projects across Industry Sectors. The effective and efficient delivery of complex construction projects will be transformed by the increased application of virtual design and construction technologies, including 4D CAD. By combining a 3D computer model of a design with the time dimension of the construction schedule, 4D CAD enables risks and opportunities to be better managed during the design phase and hence avoid costly issues during construction. However this requires addition design costs which currently represent a barrier to the uptake of this transforming technology. This project will overcome this by developing a flexible framework that allows the benefits gained across the life cycle of a project through using 4D CAD to be set against the additional costs and thus make this emerging technology more attractive to industry. Significantly this research will be based on comparative cases studies across different industry sectors including civil, building, and process engineering.Read moreRead less
Role of Reactive Particles in Explosive Emulsions. Concentrated water-in oil explosive emulsions are widely used in the minerals industry because they are cheap, easily detonated and relatively safe to handle. Their explosive energy can be significantly increased when reactive particles are introduced into the emulsion matrix. To do this, the interaction between the solid, oil, and water phases needs to be optimised. This investigation will increase our basic understanding of the physical and ch ....Role of Reactive Particles in Explosive Emulsions. Concentrated water-in oil explosive emulsions are widely used in the minerals industry because they are cheap, easily detonated and relatively safe to handle. Their explosive energy can be significantly increased when reactive particles are introduced into the emulsion matrix. To do this, the interaction between the solid, oil, and water phases needs to be optimised. This investigation will increase our basic understanding of the physical and chemical interactions that occur between the particle and the oil-water interface, and develop a more efficient explosive that can be produced continuously on a commercial scale.Read moreRead less
Improved Nanoscale and Molecular Models for Nanostructured Carbons, and their Applications in Simulation of Confined Fluids. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, a key one of which is the promotion of cross-disciplinary interaction and collaboration to conduct leading edge research in a technologically important area. In addition the project will utilize two PhD students who will be trained in research, and gain a broad range of skills in this multifaceted project involving t ....Improved Nanoscale and Molecular Models for Nanostructured Carbons, and their Applications in Simulation of Confined Fluids. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, a key one of which is the promotion of cross-disciplinary interaction and collaboration to conduct leading edge research in a technologically important area. In addition the project will utilize two PhD students who will be trained in research, and gain a broad range of skills in this multifaceted project involving theory, simulation and experiment. The research, grounded in molecular fundamentals, will also lead to the development of advanced tools for adsorption process modelling, useful in process design and scale-up, and contribute to Goal 1 of National Priority Area 3: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.Read moreRead less
Friction-based modelling of the dynamics of nanoconfined fluid mixtures. This project will transform the molecular science of fluid transport in nanoconfined spaces by delivering a tool that will be critical to the development of emerging nanotechnologies. The tool will embed a novel theory in a framework for modelling transport over all scales from nano- to macroscopic. The project will have strong benefits for the advancement of leading-edge fundamental research and in its relevance to a numbe ....Friction-based modelling of the dynamics of nanoconfined fluid mixtures. This project will transform the molecular science of fluid transport in nanoconfined spaces by delivering a tool that will be critical to the development of emerging nanotechnologies. The tool will embed a novel theory in a framework for modelling transport over all scales from nano- to macroscopic. The project will have strong benefits for the advancement of leading-edge fundamental research and in its relevance to a number of novel nanotechnologies. It will be particularly relevant to scientific and industrial developments exploiting new nanomaterials such as AlPO4-25, carbon molecular sieves and carbon nanotubes, as well as in nanofluidics.Read moreRead less
Transport Processes in Flexible Porous Materials for Gas Separation and Storage. This project seeks to understand the mechanisms of transport processes in flexible porous materials, which have great potential in gas separation and storage. Coal and natural gas are important to the Australian economy, and the potential applications of flexible porous materials, such as air separation and hydrogen storage, are crucial for Australia to use coal and natural gas cleanly. The analysis method to be dev ....Transport Processes in Flexible Porous Materials for Gas Separation and Storage. This project seeks to understand the mechanisms of transport processes in flexible porous materials, which have great potential in gas separation and storage. Coal and natural gas are important to the Australian economy, and the potential applications of flexible porous materials, such as air separation and hydrogen storage, are crucial for Australia to use coal and natural gas cleanly. The analysis method to be developed is useful not only to gas separation and storage, but also to hydrogeology and soil science in Australia.Read moreRead less
Incorporating Design Management Culture within the Total Project Management Process: a Socio-technical Approach. New project delivery methods (e.g. design & construct; alliance contracting) in major commercial and infrastructure projects have the potential to dramatically increase the value added to clients and the wider community.
However to realise this potential, we need to better understand those socio-technical factors that foster an effective design management culture within tradition ....Incorporating Design Management Culture within the Total Project Management Process: a Socio-technical Approach. New project delivery methods (e.g. design & construct; alliance contracting) in major commercial and infrastructure projects have the potential to dramatically increase the value added to clients and the wider community.
However to realise this potential, we need to better understand those socio-technical factors that foster an effective design management culture within traditional construction companies, especially their knowledge sharing culture.
This project will develop and test an innovative research methodology that blends approaches from the social sciences and engineering. The findings regarding design management will have wide applicability to industry and cover civil, building, mining and process engineering projects, each of which has its own culture.Read moreRead less
Patterned assemblies of molecules on surfaces. Because of their redox and photophysical properties, artificial porphyrin systems have been designed for applications such as light-harvesting antennae, catalysts and sensors. Control of molecular orientation is required in order to construct practical devices, and in this project methods of assembling porphyrins on surfaces in well-defined patterns will be developed. Sophisticated methods will be used to characterise the films produced in these w ....Patterned assemblies of molecules on surfaces. Because of their redox and photophysical properties, artificial porphyrin systems have been designed for applications such as light-harvesting antennae, catalysts and sensors. Control of molecular orientation is required in order to construct practical devices, and in this project methods of assembling porphyrins on surfaces in well-defined patterns will be developed. Sophisticated methods will be used to characterise the films produced in these ways, in order to provide the information necessary to refine procedures and design new molecules suitable for advanced applications. Expected outcomes are new methods and architectures that can ultimately yield devices that act at the molecular level.Read moreRead less
Quantum Induced Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in Nanoporous Materials. This research addresses a key challenge in gas separation; that of separation of deuterium from hydrogen, while advancing the molecular science of adsorption and transport of light gases in molecularly confined spaces. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, not only because of the economic potential of deuterium, but because it will see a new generation of Australian researchers trained in mu ....Quantum Induced Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in Nanoporous Materials. This research addresses a key challenge in gas separation; that of separation of deuterium from hydrogen, while advancing the molecular science of adsorption and transport of light gases in molecularly confined spaces. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, not only because of the economic potential of deuterium, but because it will see a new generation of Australian researchers trained in multidisciplinary cutting-edge research while addressing several areas of national priority, including breakthrough sciences, and development of frontier technologies, and thereby creating new opportunities for industry.Read moreRead less