Novel gas-liquid columns for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Novel gas-liquid columns for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. This project aims to design distillation and absorption columns, perhaps the most important unit operations in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, and whose optimization is integral to overall performance of any LNG plant. This project will use 3D printers to rapidly prototype concepts of columns and their internals, and test them using flow characterization ....Novel gas-liquid columns for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Novel gas-liquid columns for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. This project aims to design distillation and absorption columns, perhaps the most important unit operations in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, and whose optimization is integral to overall performance of any LNG plant. This project will use 3D printers to rapidly prototype concepts of columns and their internals, and test them using flow characterization tools and numerical models. The final outcome of the project will be a set of designs of the columns, which should be more efficient, safer and cheaper to operate, and have smaller physical and environmental footprints, thus helping the Australian LNG industry to stay globally competitive.Read moreRead less
Utilisation of dense gas technology for the development of controlled release active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) delivery systems. The aim of this project is to develop an orally administered drug formulation for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and other diseases of the colon. Irritable bowel syndrome is a debilitating condition and the cost to society is similar to that of asthma. As such, the project has the potential to have a major impact on society.
Engineering floating liquid marbles for three-dimensional cell cultures. This project aims to understand the physics of three-dimensional cell cultures in a liquid marble floating on a liquid free surface. New methodology developed can produce these cell cultures without using matrices or scaffolds and with run-times well beyond existing technologies. This methodology closely mimics a normal in-vivo environment and produces spheroids needed in cell transplantation therapies. This project will re ....Engineering floating liquid marbles for three-dimensional cell cultures. This project aims to understand the physics of three-dimensional cell cultures in a liquid marble floating on a liquid free surface. New methodology developed can produce these cell cultures without using matrices or scaffolds and with run-times well beyond existing technologies. This methodology closely mimics a normal in-vivo environment and produces spheroids needed in cell transplantation therapies. This project will resolve uncertainties in the underlying phenomena. The expected outcome should support future high quality cell cultures suitable for transplantation therapies.Read moreRead less
Vaporization of heavier gas oil in Fluid Catalytic Cracking risers. Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) is an important refinery operation responsible for about 45 per cent of the total petrol produced. The project is aimed at improving production efficiency of Australian refineries by applying fundamental modelling to the FCC. The outcomes will enable refiners to produce cleaner fuel and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
Improving the scale-up of spray drying for bioactive extracts and fibres. The project will develop new processing techniques that will contribute to better functional foods and bioactive products from fruit and vegetable wastes. The total national crop of fruit and vegetables produces over 3 million tonnes of wastes, where the bioactive materials in the wastes have a potential value of $3 billion/year.
Flow process and visible-light driven reactions for polymer manufacturing. This project aims to develop rapid, scalable light-driven continuous flow processing techniques that allow the production of value-added synthetic polymers that cannot be achieved by existing technologies. The project will take advantage of the spatio-temporal control of the light mediated polymerisation with flow process to achieve control over the primary structure, the sequential arrangement of monomer units in a polym ....Flow process and visible-light driven reactions for polymer manufacturing. This project aims to develop rapid, scalable light-driven continuous flow processing techniques that allow the production of value-added synthetic polymers that cannot be achieved by existing technologies. The project will take advantage of the spatio-temporal control of the light mediated polymerisation with flow process to achieve control over the primary structure, the sequential arrangement of monomer units in a polymer chain and the molecular weight distribution. The project will result in the preparation of functional polymers containing a specific arrangement of monomers in the polymer chain and a precise distribution of polymer chains. The development of such process will result in the development of advanced materials.Read moreRead less
Improving the Processing of Timber from Plantation Forests: The Challenge of Managing Variability. Drying is a key step in processing timber. The increasing availability of plantation hardwood timber, with greater variability in its properties than previous resources, presents an opportunity to take advantage of the development of better mathematical techniques for process optimization and better drying and mechanical models for timber to address this challenge. This project will produce optimi ....Improving the Processing of Timber from Plantation Forests: The Challenge of Managing Variability. Drying is a key step in processing timber. The increasing availability of plantation hardwood timber, with greater variability in its properties than previous resources, presents an opportunity to take advantage of the development of better mathematical techniques for process optimization and better drying and mechanical models for timber to address this challenge. This project will produce optimized drying schedules, which are combinations of temperatures and humidities used during drying, to effectively dry plantation timber with variable properties, producing timber for high-value and appearance-grade end uses, such as flooring and furniture.Read moreRead less
Exploiting Resonance in Improving Dried Timber Quality by Optimizing Cyclic Drying Processes in Solar Kilns. Maximizing the value of final dried timber is essential for maximizing the economic benefits for Australia. If 10% of one million cubic metres of sawn hardwood timber produced annually in Australia increases its value raised by $500/m3, then the potential direct gain to Australian companies is over A$50 million per year. Multiplier effects include future applications to the drying of fo ....Exploiting Resonance in Improving Dried Timber Quality by Optimizing Cyclic Drying Processes in Solar Kilns. Maximizing the value of final dried timber is essential for maximizing the economic benefits for Australia. If 10% of one million cubic metres of sawn hardwood timber produced annually in Australia increases its value raised by $500/m3, then the potential direct gain to Australian companies is over A$50 million per year. Multiplier effects include future applications to the drying of foods, where the potential benefit in using solar kilns is a reduction in CO2 emissions of at least a million tonnes of CO2 per year, and a potential cost reduction of A$38 million per year.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0346822
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$538,000.00
Summary
Polymer Optical Fibre Drawing Facility. A revolutionary new technology is emerging in polymer optical fibres, sparked by an important breakthrough in polymer optical fibres that was achieved last year by researchers at the University of Sydney. Therefore, Australia currently has a unique and short-lived opportunity to firmly establish themselves as the world leaders of this technology, provided the infrastructure to realise the novel concepts is available. We request funding for a high-quality p ....Polymer Optical Fibre Drawing Facility. A revolutionary new technology is emerging in polymer optical fibres, sparked by an important breakthrough in polymer optical fibres that was achieved last year by researchers at the University of Sydney. Therefore, Australia currently has a unique and short-lived opportunity to firmly establish themselves as the world leaders of this technology, provided the infrastructure to realise the novel concepts is available. We request funding for a high-quality polymer optical fibre draw tower to enable this. The collaborating institutions will be fabricating a range of different polymer optical fibres, targeting specific applications in optical sensing and telecommunications.Read moreRead less
Development of a Novel Process for the Formation of Polymer Vesicles. The project would provide an increased understanding of polymer structures, polymer-drug interactions and dense gas processing of polymers. The novel process developed would be beneficial on a manufacturing level since it dramatically reduces processing time and minimises energy requirements. The research to be conducted is leading-edge technology that will attract business from international polymer, drug and biotechnology co ....Development of a Novel Process for the Formation of Polymer Vesicles. The project would provide an increased understanding of polymer structures, polymer-drug interactions and dense gas processing of polymers. The novel process developed would be beneficial on a manufacturing level since it dramatically reduces processing time and minimises energy requirements. The research to be conducted is leading-edge technology that will attract business from international polymer, drug and biotechnology companies. The development of world-class research provides Australia with recognition as a world leader in the field and strengthens and broadens the knowledge base of Australian scientists and engineers.Read moreRead less