Designing an Intelligent Process Operation Management System. The complexity and sophistication of current generation of industrial processes, and the growing need for autonomous agents that control physical systems, motivate the need for the development of an intelligent process operation management system. In this project, the innovative integration of theories from different scientific fields (computer systems, process engineering, systems and control engineering) provides an excellent platfo ....Designing an Intelligent Process Operation Management System. The complexity and sophistication of current generation of industrial processes, and the growing need for autonomous agents that control physical systems, motivate the need for the development of an intelligent process operation management system. In this project, the innovative integration of theories from different scientific fields (computer systems, process engineering, systems and control engineering) provides an excellent platform for development of a smart data management tool, to oversee the major operational tasks within the plant and help the operators and engineers to make more informed decisions. Direct application of the techniques developed in this study to a pilot case study, could be used as a benchmark to show the potential benefits that can be gained through smart information use and data management.Read moreRead less
Better Planning for and Managing Asymmetric Threats to Australia's Security: Applying the Field Anomaly Relaxation (FAR) Systems Thinking Approach. Despite an enviable national security condition, Australia is at risk in an information-abundant world that increasingly spawns asymmetric threats such as information terrorism. What is needed are enhanced strategic and operational structures to improve the nation's security and ensure sound futures planning. This research focuses on applying the Fie ....Better Planning for and Managing Asymmetric Threats to Australia's Security: Applying the Field Anomaly Relaxation (FAR) Systems Thinking Approach. Despite an enviable national security condition, Australia is at risk in an information-abundant world that increasingly spawns asymmetric threats such as information terrorism. What is needed are enhanced strategic and operational structures to improve the nation's security and ensure sound futures planning. This research focuses on applying the Field Anomaly Relaxation (FAR) systems thinking approach to asymmetric information warfare threats to Australia. This is a new approach previously developed by ECU researchers investigating risk and innovation in the armed forces. It will now be extended to improve professional practice and the knowledge and skill base of Australia's information defence practitioners.Read moreRead less
Deep Downunder: designing a deep-sea exploration and discovery capability for Australia. Exploration of the deep-sea with the modern technologies to be developed by Deep-Downunder is a first for Australia. We aim to explore and discover life at depths from 50-3000m off The Great Barrier Reef, around the seamounts of Lord Howe Island and Tasmania and in the deep canyons of WA and SA. We expect to discover new species, hope for a glimpse of giant squid at home and will answer specific questions on ....Deep Downunder: designing a deep-sea exploration and discovery capability for Australia. Exploration of the deep-sea with the modern technologies to be developed by Deep-Downunder is a first for Australia. We aim to explore and discover life at depths from 50-3000m off The Great Barrier Reef, around the seamounts of Lord Howe Island and Tasmania and in the deep canyons of WA and SA. We expect to discover new species, hope for a glimpse of giant squid at home and will answer specific questions on Australia's ocean biology, fisheries and biotechnology never before approachable. To be effective guardians of Australian waters we must learn what lies in the depths we can't see from a boat.Read moreRead less
Optimal Control Computation and Analysis of Switched Systems with State and Control Constraints. DC/DC converters are widely used in power supply systems and hybrid power systems generate cleaner energy. Achieving optimum performance in these applications has high commercial and environmental impacts. New optimal control problems for such practical problems will be formulated and new unified optimization theory and methods for these optimal control problems will be obtained. The outcomes will en ....Optimal Control Computation and Analysis of Switched Systems with State and Control Constraints. DC/DC converters are widely used in power supply systems and hybrid power systems generate cleaner energy. Achieving optimum performance in these applications has high commercial and environmental impacts. New optimal control problems for such practical problems will be formulated and new unified optimization theory and methods for these optimal control problems will be obtained. The outcomes will enhance Australia's reputation in this cutting edge research, and contribute to achieving optimal performance of high commercial and environmental value applications. It will also facilitate international collaboration, and provide an excellent opportunity for research training.Read moreRead less
Wavelet approaches for solving nonlinear dynamic systems in process engineering. The success of the proposed project will enable us to obtain more accurate numerical solutions for the nonlinear dynamical systems arising from process engineering. This ensures the potential for understanding and optimising industrial and engineering processes. Hence, a wide range of processing industries in Australia, such as agricultural chemicals, mineral processing, food, detergents, pharmaceuticals, ceramics ....Wavelet approaches for solving nonlinear dynamic systems in process engineering. The success of the proposed project will enable us to obtain more accurate numerical solutions for the nonlinear dynamical systems arising from process engineering. This ensures the potential for understanding and optimising industrial and engineering processes. Hence, a wide range of processing industries in Australia, such as agricultural chemicals, mineral processing, food, detergents, pharmaceuticals, ceramics and specialty chemicals will benefit from the results of this project. This will ensure globally competitive production and, therefore, greater contributions to the Australian economy.Read moreRead less
New multiplexed optical read-out technologies for micromachined cantilever sensor arrays. Passive sensing of chemical and biological agents is an essential capability in fields as diverse as national security, agriculture, mining and medicine. In many cases, generic sensing (e.g. are there pesticides present) as well as specific sensing (which pesticide) are both important. While sensors based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) have shown extremely high performance at low cost, they have ....New multiplexed optical read-out technologies for micromachined cantilever sensor arrays. Passive sensing of chemical and biological agents is an essential capability in fields as diverse as national security, agriculture, mining and medicine. In many cases, generic sensing (e.g. are there pesticides present) as well as specific sensing (which pesticide) are both important. While sensors based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) have shown extremely high performance at low cost, they have been limited to detection of a specific substance. Success in this project will make low cost generic MEMS-based sensors a reality, allowing, for the first time, wide-spread use of sensitive sensing systems in applications such as farming, container transport security, general medical practice and national security.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network for a Secure Australia. The Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA) is a multi-disciplinary collaboration established to strengthen Australia's research capacity for protecting critical infrastructure from natural or human-caused disasters including terrorist acts. The RNSA will facilitate a knowledge-sharing network for research organisations, government and the private sector to develop research tools and methods to mitigate emerging safety and security issues relat ....ARC Research Network for a Secure Australia. The Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA) is a multi-disciplinary collaboration established to strengthen Australia's research capacity for protecting critical infrastructure from natural or human-caused disasters including terrorist acts. The RNSA will facilitate a knowledge-sharing network for research organisations, government and the private sector to develop research tools and methods to mitigate emerging safety and security issues relating to critical infrastructure. World-leaders with extensive national and international linkages in relevant scientific, engineering and technological research will lead this collaboration. The RNSA will launch various activities to foster research collaboration and nurture young investigators.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989759
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Australian Access to and Operation of Advanced Synchrotron Radiation Facilities at the Photon Factory. The primary national benefit of this application will be continued access by peer review for Australian scientists to the advanced synchrotron-radiation capabilities of the Australian National Beamline Facility and other complementary beamlines at the Photon Factory, Japan. This proposal is consistent with the National Research Priorities of An Environmentally Sustainable Australia, Promoting a ....Australian Access to and Operation of Advanced Synchrotron Radiation Facilities at the Photon Factory. The primary national benefit of this application will be continued access by peer review for Australian scientists to the advanced synchrotron-radiation capabilities of the Australian National Beamline Facility and other complementary beamlines at the Photon Factory, Japan. This proposal is consistent with the National Research Priorities of An Environmentally Sustainable Australia, Promoting and Maintaining Good Health and Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries and will generate science to support and stimulate domestic industry, enhance the domestic knowledge base and international research profile, train students and future synchrotron scientists and foster domestic and international collaborations.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0230569
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$175,000.00
Summary
INTEGRATED PARTICLE IMAGE THERMOMETRY / VELOCIMETRY FACILITY. This proposal seeks to establish a specialised Particle Image Thermometry / Velocimetry (PITV) facility for simultaneous three-dimensional measurements of global temperature and velocity fields in complex flows. The proposed facility is needed to obtain experimental validations for theories and models developed for complex reacting and non-reacting flows that are strongly influenced by transient behaviour. Applications of PITV include ....INTEGRATED PARTICLE IMAGE THERMOMETRY / VELOCIMETRY FACILITY. This proposal seeks to establish a specialised Particle Image Thermometry / Velocimetry (PITV) facility for simultaneous three-dimensional measurements of global temperature and velocity fields in complex flows. The proposed facility is needed to obtain experimental validations for theories and models developed for complex reacting and non-reacting flows that are strongly influenced by transient behaviour. Applications of PITV include, but are not limited to, low-temperature reacting flows, mixing, jets, wakes, shear layers, time-dependent multiphase flows, unsteady turbulent flows, complex rotating machinery and other periodic flows, as well as natural convection studies.Read moreRead less
An evaluation of novel aluminosilicate materials based on modified kaolins for environmental applications. We have shown that simple and inexpensive modification of kaolin produces materials that adsorb large amounts of ammonium (N) and phosphate (P). We intend to evaluate and develop these materials for water treatment, so as to reduce N, P inputs into rivers and wetlands. The materials can then be used as fertilisers. Similarly addition of the materials to sandy soils to reduce leaching losses ....An evaluation of novel aluminosilicate materials based on modified kaolins for environmental applications. We have shown that simple and inexpensive modification of kaolin produces materials that adsorb large amounts of ammonium (N) and phosphate (P). We intend to evaluate and develop these materials for water treatment, so as to reduce N, P inputs into rivers and wetlands. The materials can then be used as fertilisers. Similarly addition of the materials to sandy soils to reduce leaching losses of N, P from fertilisers will be investigated. The major outcome of this research will be effective and inexpensive procedures for reducing eutrophication due to N, P from waste water and fertilisers.Read moreRead less