A 60% efficient solar microconcentrator for electricity and hot water. The aim of this project is to develop a microconcentrator for deployment on house roofs that will produce both solar hot water and solar electricity with a combined efficiency above 60%. The system will have a low profile and will be nearly invisible from the street. The system will track the sun. Concentration will be accomplished by a mixture of refraction and reflection. About 20% of the sunlight will be converted to elect ....A 60% efficient solar microconcentrator for electricity and hot water. The aim of this project is to develop a microconcentrator for deployment on house roofs that will produce both solar hot water and solar electricity with a combined efficiency above 60%. The system will have a low profile and will be nearly invisible from the street. The system will track the sun. Concentration will be accomplished by a mixture of refraction and reflection. About 20% of the sunlight will be converted to electricity using lines of tiny solar cells, with the balance being converted to heat which is removed by cooling fluid and stored in hot water tanks.Read moreRead less
Variable Geometry Cooling Intakes for Passenger Vehicles. Cars reject engine heat via air forced through the grille, radiator and engine bay. The associated "cooling drag" increases total aerodynamic drag by 10-15% hence increasing fuel consumption. The highest heat load that needs to be rejected by the engine determines the quantity of cooling air, resulting in systems that are over designed for typical driving. This research provides a strategy of adjusting the cooling airflow to match the ....Variable Geometry Cooling Intakes for Passenger Vehicles. Cars reject engine heat via air forced through the grille, radiator and engine bay. The associated "cooling drag" increases total aerodynamic drag by 10-15% hence increasing fuel consumption. The highest heat load that needs to be rejected by the engine determines the quantity of cooling air, resulting in systems that are over designed for typical driving. This research provides a strategy of adjusting the cooling airflow to match the engine requirements (via variable geometry intakes that can be under the control of the engine management computer) offering substantial reductions in fuel consumption and emissions.Read moreRead less
Hybrid cooling for coal fired power stations. Water shortage is a nation wide problem facing Australian industries. The project will directly benefit the Victorian power industry through water saving. If the new proposed hybrid cooling system concept is proved to be practically feasible, it will put the Australian power industry in a strong competitive position in terms of its efficiencies and waste heat recovery technology. Lowering the temperature of water into the cooling tower by 2 degree, b ....Hybrid cooling for coal fired power stations. Water shortage is a nation wide problem facing Australian industries. The project will directly benefit the Victorian power industry through water saving. If the new proposed hybrid cooling system concept is proved to be practically feasible, it will put the Australian power industry in a strong competitive position in terms of its efficiencies and waste heat recovery technology. Lowering the temperature of water into the cooling tower by 2 degree, by using the hybrid cooling system, it would save over 17,500,000 tons of makeup water per year for the Victorian power industry alone. At the same time, the waste heat recovered by the heat pump can be fed back to the power generation cycle. Read moreRead less
Life-time Modelling of Industrial Products for Reuse. Product disposal responsibility has shifted from consumers to manufacturers. Re-use of components is the most efficient strategy for product recovery, which requires reliable methods for assessing the quality and remaining life of used components. The aim of this project is to develop a lifetime model to estimate the remaining life and quality of a used component. This will enable manufacturers to estimate the potential reusability of a compo ....Life-time Modelling of Industrial Products for Reuse. Product disposal responsibility has shifted from consumers to manufacturers. Re-use of components is the most efficient strategy for product recovery, which requires reliable methods for assessing the quality and remaining life of used components. The aim of this project is to develop a lifetime model to estimate the remaining life and quality of a used component. This will enable manufacturers to estimate the potential reusability of a component without going through costly and time consuming disassembly processes. In addition, the data from the lifetime monitoring process will provide information for improving the design and manufacture of environmentally friendly products.Read moreRead less
Making hydrogen storage work for the new hydrogen economy. This project aims to develop an innovative Liquid Organic Hydrogen Storage technology and prove its energy industry potential. This project expects to expand and validate the performance, safety and scale-up potential of this new technology in an industrial context to promote the development of the hydrogen economy. Expected outcomes include providing practical, efficient, large-scale storage technology for use in intermittent renewable ....Making hydrogen storage work for the new hydrogen economy. This project aims to develop an innovative Liquid Organic Hydrogen Storage technology and prove its energy industry potential. This project expects to expand and validate the performance, safety and scale-up potential of this new technology in an industrial context to promote the development of the hydrogen economy. Expected outcomes include providing practical, efficient, large-scale storage technology for use in intermittent renewable energy storage and hydrogen vehicle refuelling, and addressing legal/regulatory implementation issues. This should provide significant benefits in cultivating the emerging hydrogen energy industry, strengthening industrial competitiveness, enhancing Australia’s fuel security and protecting the environment.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100022
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$368,446.00
Summary
Characterising wind farm noise to reduce community disturbance. This project aims to address the issue of wind farm noise. The rapid global expansion of wind farm facilities has resulted in widespread community complaints regarding noise emission. This project aims to identify, quantify and characterise the signal components of wind farm noise that are responsible for annoyance and sleep disturbance. The anticipated outcome is establishment of dose-response relationships between wind farm noise ....Characterising wind farm noise to reduce community disturbance. This project aims to address the issue of wind farm noise. The rapid global expansion of wind farm facilities has resulted in widespread community complaints regarding noise emission. This project aims to identify, quantify and characterise the signal components of wind farm noise that are responsible for annoyance and sleep disturbance. The anticipated outcome is establishment of dose-response relationships between wind farm noise and community disturbance. Significant benefits include improved health and quality of life for people living near wind farms and greater public acceptance of wind farms in rural communities.Read moreRead less
Using solar photocatalytic oxidation processes to treat organic pollutants in wastewater. The proposal is to use physical-chemical and solar engineering approaches to increase the efficiency of solar photons in the photocatalytic oxidation process applied to the detoxification of organic pollutants in wastewater. New photocatalyists and the effects of photocatalysts's superficial characteristics on the treatment perfomance will be studied. A specific structure for a solar collector for the proce ....Using solar photocatalytic oxidation processes to treat organic pollutants in wastewater. The proposal is to use physical-chemical and solar engineering approaches to increase the efficiency of solar photons in the photocatalytic oxidation process applied to the detoxification of organic pollutants in wastewater. New photocatalyists and the effects of photocatalysts's superficial characteristics on the treatment perfomance will be studied. A specific structure for a solar collector for the process will be developed. A more efficient way to use solar photons in the process and a better conceptual design of solar collector will be two main outcomes expected from the project.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101046
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Ecotoxicology-on-a-chip: towards smart devices in environmental biomonitoring. High-throughput water quality monitoring is of great importance to the wellbeing of Australian society. The project will address this issue by developing new economical miniaturised biocybernetic instrumentation, designed for use by non-specialists and thus applicable for governmental, industrial and community projects.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668493
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$230,000.00
Summary
Characterising particulate laden flow in the lung airways: from drug delivery to primary anthropogenic sources. Facilities will provide infrastructure at Monash University and University of Sydney to continue the collaboration enhancing excellence in an exciting application of fluidics research, supporting the highest level of graduate training, providing innovative tools for industry and promoting industrial collaborations. The infrastructure is unique and will create international funding and ....Characterising particulate laden flow in the lung airways: from drug delivery to primary anthropogenic sources. Facilities will provide infrastructure at Monash University and University of Sydney to continue the collaboration enhancing excellence in an exciting application of fluidics research, supporting the highest level of graduate training, providing innovative tools for industry and promoting industrial collaborations. The infrastructure is unique and will create international funding and collaborative opportunities to support research and postgraduate training. The equipment will add value to existing infrastructure to enhance understanding of particulate flow with the paradoxical outcomes of improving drug deposition in respiratory delivery and of minimising anthropogenic particular deposition for better therapeutic and health outcomes.Read moreRead less
Time-dependent dynamic, creep and shrinkage response of curved structural members. This project concerns curved structural members, such as bridge beams, that are subjected to dynamic excitation and to concrete shrinkage and creep. Hitherto, unified formulations for the structural behaviour of these members have not been properly developed. The proposal seeks to build on a previous ARC DP of the investigator that produces significant results for static loading, by developing a sophisticated meth ....Time-dependent dynamic, creep and shrinkage response of curved structural members. This project concerns curved structural members, such as bridge beams, that are subjected to dynamic excitation and to concrete shrinkage and creep. Hitherto, unified formulations for the structural behaviour of these members have not been properly developed. The proposal seeks to build on a previous ARC DP of the investigator that produces significant results for static loading, by developing a sophisticated methodology to handle non-static dynamic loading and for shrinkage and creep. It will develop advanced mathematical tools to enable the safe and efficient design of a multiplicity of structures that is of benefit to on and offshore Australian technology.Read moreRead less