Volatile Organic Compound removal from indoor air environments by an integrated photocatalytic/filtration system. This project promotes the development of technology for providing improved air quality in indoor environments. Mentoring by internationally renowned experts of young Australian researchers on this issue of high importance will be undertaken by the Chief and Partner Investigators. Success from this project will place Australia as a leader in the global community for developing technol ....Volatile Organic Compound removal from indoor air environments by an integrated photocatalytic/filtration system. This project promotes the development of technology for providing improved air quality in indoor environments. Mentoring by internationally renowned experts of young Australian researchers on this issue of high importance will be undertaken by the Chief and Partner Investigators. Success from this project will place Australia as a leader in the global community for developing technology in air pollution quality control.Read moreRead less
Plasma-Catalytist Hybrid Process for Simultaneous Removal of NOx and SOx. Coal combustion provides over 80% of the electricity produced in Australia, with the power stations being major emitters of the pollutants NOx and SOx. This project will potentially lead to a new technology to simultaneously remove NOx and SOx in a single and economical process, eliminating the secondary waste streams that disadvantage current competing technologies. This will provide: significant environmental benefits f ....Plasma-Catalytist Hybrid Process for Simultaneous Removal of NOx and SOx. Coal combustion provides over 80% of the electricity produced in Australia, with the power stations being major emitters of the pollutants NOx and SOx. This project will potentially lead to a new technology to simultaneously remove NOx and SOx in a single and economical process, eliminating the secondary waste streams that disadvantage current competing technologies. This will provide: significant environmental benefits for Australia in reducing these dangerous atmospheric pollutants; economic advantage to our power stations by enabling cheaper, more efficient technologies and consolidate Australia's leading position in the world in air pollution control. Read moreRead less
Improving biological nitrogen removal by enhanced mixing in non-aerated bioreactors. Mixing has been identified as a key factor in achieving enhanced performance out of existing and upgraded bioreactors. There is currently a poor understanding of the relationship between non-ideal flow and performance in wastewater treatment bioreactors. The project will determine this relationship and subsequently use it to show how reactor performance can be improved, providing first criteria by which mixing c ....Improving biological nitrogen removal by enhanced mixing in non-aerated bioreactors. Mixing has been identified as a key factor in achieving enhanced performance out of existing and upgraded bioreactors. There is currently a poor understanding of the relationship between non-ideal flow and performance in wastewater treatment bioreactors. The project will determine this relationship and subsequently use it to show how reactor performance can be improved, providing first criteria by which mixing can be assessed, and second a systematic methodology for improving reactor performance by improving mixing.Read moreRead less
Multi-component Gas Transport in Deep Coal. The understanding of multi-component gas flow in coal underlies the use, management and optimization of deep coal as an economic resource for methane recovery, CO2 sequestration, pipeline gas storage and underground gasification. This project will develop a predictive reservoir flow model for deep coal behavior under asymmetric, dynamically evolving internal and external stresses, during multi-component gas release or injection. A confluence of new too ....Multi-component Gas Transport in Deep Coal. The understanding of multi-component gas flow in coal underlies the use, management and optimization of deep coal as an economic resource for methane recovery, CO2 sequestration, pipeline gas storage and underground gasification. This project will develop a predictive reservoir flow model for deep coal behavior under asymmetric, dynamically evolving internal and external stresses, during multi-component gas release or injection. A confluence of new tools including a large sample, high pressure, triaxial stress permeameter, and micron resolved 3D reconstruction of the coal cleat and pore structure, will provide physical parameters to the fundamentally based, competitive transport and adsorption/desorption model.Read moreRead less
Sequestration of CO2 with enhanced methane recovery from deep coal. Coal and gas represent the main energy source for the Australian and many other national economies into the foreseeable future. The continuing use of these critical resources requires that greenhouse gas emission issues be addressed. Any serious attempt to achieve reduced emission of CO2 from power generation requires sequestration as a necessary element. A plausible method for cost effective sequestration of large amounts of ....Sequestration of CO2 with enhanced methane recovery from deep coal. Coal and gas represent the main energy source for the Australian and many other national economies into the foreseeable future. The continuing use of these critical resources requires that greenhouse gas emission issues be addressed. Any serious attempt to achieve reduced emission of CO2 from power generation requires sequestration as a necessary element. A plausible method for cost effective sequestration of large amounts of CO2 is by geological fixing in deep, unminable coal. The key technological and scientific issues regarding capacity, rate, technical viability and site selection form the basis of this proposal.Read moreRead less
Fundamental Knowledge Generation of Organic Solid Waste-Microorganism Interactions. The management of organic solid waste is a major global environmental issue, exacerbated by increasing populations and urbanisation. However, there are biological processes (e.g. anaerobic composting) that show excellent potential as the solution to this global problem. We know that the rate-limiting step to biological organic solid waste degradation is the initial hydrolysis process carried out by microorganisms ....Fundamental Knowledge Generation of Organic Solid Waste-Microorganism Interactions. The management of organic solid waste is a major global environmental issue, exacerbated by increasing populations and urbanisation. However, there are biological processes (e.g. anaerobic composting) that show excellent potential as the solution to this global problem. We know that the rate-limiting step to biological organic solid waste degradation is the initial hydrolysis process carried out by microorganisms. We will study at a microscale the "organic solid waste surface-microorganism" interactions and compare data from digesters with the rumen which is a highly efficient model solid substrate digestion system. Our generated knowledge will be used in future practical applications.Read moreRead less
Advanced Stability Sensor for Anaerobic Digestion Processes. Australia is firmly committed to energy reduction and production, where possible, renewable energy production. Anaerobic digestion is the only in-use wastewater treatment option that not only can have net zero energy consumption, but that actually produces energy. This energy is from renewable carbon sources is therefore a zero contributor to greenhouse gases. Australia has some of the strongest environmental limit laws in the world. ....Advanced Stability Sensor for Anaerobic Digestion Processes. Australia is firmly committed to energy reduction and production, where possible, renewable energy production. Anaerobic digestion is the only in-use wastewater treatment option that not only can have net zero energy consumption, but that actually produces energy. This energy is from renewable carbon sources is therefore a zero contributor to greenhouse gases. Australia has some of the strongest environmental limit laws in the world. While this is reasonable - given our sensitive environment -assisting industry in meeting those limits in a cost effective manner is a priority. Given sufficient process stability and transparency, anaerobic digestion is a low capital and operating cost option. Read moreRead less
Development of a Trickle Filter for Treating Sour Water from Oil Shale Processing Plants. Oil is extracted from oil shale by pyrolysing pre-dried crushed shale. Despite drying , the shale retains a residual moisture level of approximately 5% which ultimately ends up as an aqueous phase in the condensate stream from the pyrolysis process. This aqueous phase, know as sour water, contains a range of organic compounds, including carboxylic acids, nitorgen heterocyclics and ketones. This aim of thi ....Development of a Trickle Filter for Treating Sour Water from Oil Shale Processing Plants. Oil is extracted from oil shale by pyrolysing pre-dried crushed shale. Despite drying , the shale retains a residual moisture level of approximately 5% which ultimately ends up as an aqueous phase in the condensate stream from the pyrolysis process. This aqueous phase, know as sour water, contains a range of organic compounds, including carboxylic acids, nitorgen heterocyclics and ketones. This aim of this proposal is to develop trickle filters to treat the sour water. The biofilms that develop in trickle filters are ideal for supporting slow growing microbial species. Research is needed to transfer native microorganisms in the oil shale desposit to the durable gravels that will be used in the filter.Read moreRead less
Packed bed reactor for continuous biodiesel production process. One of the few oppoutunities for significant substitution of liquid fossil fuels by renewable energy resources is through biodiesel. This project seeks to develop a continuous process for biodiesel production from beef tallow, including feed preparation, reaction and the separation processes of the product exiting the reator. A key reqirement is to develop a heterogeneous catalyst for the chemical conversion, enabling the use of a p ....Packed bed reactor for continuous biodiesel production process. One of the few oppoutunities for significant substitution of liquid fossil fuels by renewable energy resources is through biodiesel. This project seeks to develop a continuous process for biodiesel production from beef tallow, including feed preparation, reaction and the separation processes of the product exiting the reator. A key reqirement is to develop a heterogeneous catalyst for the chemical conversion, enabling the use of a packed bed reactor for the conversion step. The process offers the potential to use poor quality and wet feed materials with much higher efficency and product quality than existing processesRead moreRead less
Modelling of Nitric Oxides and Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Bagasse-Fires Boilers. The project aims to develop computational models to predict emissions of nitric oxides and carbon monoxide from sugar-mill boilers burning bagasse. Bagasse combustion does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and clean and efficient combustion of this fuel has become very important for the sugar industry and for Australia. The project combines the opportunity of direct boiler measurements by SRI with the m ....Modelling of Nitric Oxides and Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Bagasse-Fires Boilers. The project aims to develop computational models to predict emissions of nitric oxides and carbon monoxide from sugar-mill boilers burning bagasse. Bagasse combustion does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and clean and efficient combustion of this fuel has become very important for the sugar industry and for Australia. The project combines the opportunity of direct boiler measurements by SRI with the modelling expertise at the University to develop combustion-kinetics models for these species. The models will be incorporated into the previously developed computational fluid dynamics - combustion code of the furnace to give the capability of emission prediction as a function of burner operating conditions and fuel parameters.Read moreRead less