Sewer Monitoring and Management in the Digital Era. Overflow, flooding, corrosion, and odorous emissions are persistent issues for utilities managing sewers. Current sewer maintenance is reactive, and focuses on solving problems in local networks, despite that optimal solutions require a system-wide approach. Capitalising on recent development in IoT sensors, wireless transmission, and machine learning, this multidisciplinary project aims to develop digital-twin supported data analytics for proa ....Sewer Monitoring and Management in the Digital Era. Overflow, flooding, corrosion, and odorous emissions are persistent issues for utilities managing sewers. Current sewer maintenance is reactive, and focuses on solving problems in local networks, despite that optimal solutions require a system-wide approach. Capitalising on recent development in IoT sensors, wireless transmission, and machine learning, this multidisciplinary project aims to develop digital-twin supported data analytics for proactive sewer management including network-wide real-time control. The project aims to generate significant social, environmental and economic benefits by enabling utilities to better protect public and environmental health, reduce sewer odour and greenhouse gas emissions, and extend sewer asset life.Read moreRead less
Network-wide sewer odour and corrosion management by model predictive control. Network-wide sewer odour and corrosion management by model predictive control. This project aims to develop and demonstrate, through real-life field studies, a model predictive control approach that achieves cost-effective network-wide mitigation of hydrogen sulphide. The lack of suitable methodologies to support the control designs of chemical dosing units and sewage pumping stations makes network-wide sewer corrosio ....Network-wide sewer odour and corrosion management by model predictive control. Network-wide sewer odour and corrosion management by model predictive control. This project aims to develop and demonstrate, through real-life field studies, a model predictive control approach that achieves cost-effective network-wide mitigation of hydrogen sulphide. The lack of suitable methodologies to support the control designs of chemical dosing units and sewage pumping stations makes network-wide sewer corrosion and odour management a problem. Innovative control methodology will simultaneously manipulate chemical dosing unit(s) and selected sewage pumping station(s), based on real-time prediction of sewage flows and characteristics both at sources and across the network, to ensure optimal delivery of dosed chemicals to mitigate hydrogen sulphide.Read moreRead less
Data-driven water quality treatment management decision support system. Data-driven water quality treatment management decision support system. This project aims to develop a robust decision support system to predict manganese and the character and concentration of dissolved organic matter in drinking water reservoirs, using intelligent algorithms and data collected through remote autonomous instrumentation. These predicted water quality parameters could be used as model input variables to provi ....Data-driven water quality treatment management decision support system. Data-driven water quality treatment management decision support system. This project aims to develop a robust decision support system to predict manganese and the character and concentration of dissolved organic matter in drinking water reservoirs, using intelligent algorithms and data collected through remote autonomous instrumentation. These predicted water quality parameters could be used as model input variables to provide real-time decisions for plant operators on the required treatment regime for incoming raw water, and advise them on the optimal reservoir offtake depth. This will potentially minimise treatment costs and health risks for consumers. The ultimate goal is to significantly enhance current water supply management practices.Read moreRead less
Reducing direct greenhouse gas emissions from urban wastewater systems. This project aims to develop a systematic framework for water utilities to monitor and reduce direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wastewater systems. A standardised monitoring protocol will be developed to conduct an unprecedented nationwide sampling campaign. The obtained data, with microbial characterisation and mechanism analysis, will be used to develop novel models for accurate prediction of GHG emissions. Expect ....Reducing direct greenhouse gas emissions from urban wastewater systems. This project aims to develop a systematic framework for water utilities to monitor and reduce direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wastewater systems. A standardised monitoring protocol will be developed to conduct an unprecedented nationwide sampling campaign. The obtained data, with microbial characterisation and mechanism analysis, will be used to develop novel models for accurate prediction of GHG emissions. Expected outcomes include protocol to accurately monitor emissions, models to predict emission under various conditions, and mitigation guideline for typical plant configurations. The anticipated benefit is a significant reduction in GHG emissions from urban water industry and support it to meet net-zero-emission goal by 2050.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100422
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$386,637.00
Summary
Feasible quantification of greenhouse gas emitted from wastewater treatment. This project aims to develop an accurate and practical approach to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wastewater treatment. Australian water utilities have pledged to net-zero emissions. However, most utilities do not know its actual emissions due to lack of feasible quantification method. This project will apply an interdisciplinary approach via mechanism investigations, mathematical modelling, and field work ....Feasible quantification of greenhouse gas emitted from wastewater treatment. This project aims to develop an accurate and practical approach to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wastewater treatment. Australian water utilities have pledged to net-zero emissions. However, most utilities do not know its actual emissions due to lack of feasible quantification method. This project will apply an interdisciplinary approach via mechanism investigations, mathematical modelling, and field works to develop and validate a new feasible quantification method. This project will also advance knowledge on GHG emissions to guide quantification design. The outcomes will be translated into industry protocols and disseminated into industry. The outcomes provide timely support to water sector on its pathway to net-zero.Read moreRead less
Establishing advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses. Establishing advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses. This project aims to develop innovative, cost-effective, high resolution air quality networks. Recent developments in sensor technologies improve the ability to harvest atmospheric data. This project will develop, validate and implement methods for high sensitivity atmospheric sensing and apply cutting-edge statistical and analytic techniques to the data sets, ....Establishing advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses. Establishing advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses. This project aims to develop innovative, cost-effective, high resolution air quality networks. Recent developments in sensor technologies improve the ability to harvest atmospheric data. This project will develop, validate and implement methods for high sensitivity atmospheric sensing and apply cutting-edge statistical and analytic techniques to the data sets, unprecedented in scope and resolution. Outcomes include an open access database to quantify and visualise intra-urban air pollution and human exposure and develop air quality maps and smoke pollution management tools. It is expected to advance the evidence-based management of air as a resource, increasing economic prosperity and enhancing human health and quality of life.Read moreRead less
New nanotechnology controlling wettability in unconventional gas reservoirs. This project aims to develop new nanoparticle technologies to change rock wettability and significantly increase gas production from shale and coal seam gas fields. The project plans to use a unique combination of new theoretical models for suspension transport in fractures and innovative mathematical modelling supported by laboratory studies and validated against field results, to test and develop the new strategies fo ....New nanotechnology controlling wettability in unconventional gas reservoirs. This project aims to develop new nanoparticle technologies to change rock wettability and significantly increase gas production from shale and coal seam gas fields. The project plans to use a unique combination of new theoretical models for suspension transport in fractures and innovative mathematical modelling supported by laboratory studies and validated against field results, to test and develop the new strategies for Australian gas fields. The project is expected to improve understanding of complex physical phenomena associated with natural gas production and to deliver economic benefit to the Australian gas industry.Read moreRead less
Designing the next generation of geosynthetic liner systems . The project aims to improve the effectiveness of geosynthetic liner systems to contain emerging contaminants such as per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) for better protection of Australian groundwater resources. The project expects to experimentally validate theory to improve predictive models for performance of geosynthetic liner systems. Expected outcomes include new and updated design guidelines for effective environmental ....Designing the next generation of geosynthetic liner systems . The project aims to improve the effectiveness of geosynthetic liner systems to contain emerging contaminants such as per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) for better protection of Australian groundwater resources. The project expects to experimentally validate theory to improve predictive models for performance of geosynthetic liner systems. Expected outcomes include new and updated design guidelines for effective environmental protection against PFASs and establishment of new approaches for predicting functional containment lifetimes of liner systems. These outcomes are expected to benefit the waste and remediation industries by influencing next-generation design regulations to ensure long-term environmental protection from PFAS.Read moreRead less
New nanocomposites of porous materials and visible light sensitive TiO2 for efficient wastewater purification. The innovative newly proposed materials can trap and efficiently decompose dissolved organics in the same process, without generating any waste for disposal. No UV is required and the solar radiation can be efficiently used. The proposed research will be a significant breakthrough in the field of water treatment that reduces energy consumption, uses low cost materials and provides a rea ....New nanocomposites of porous materials and visible light sensitive TiO2 for efficient wastewater purification. The innovative newly proposed materials can trap and efficiently decompose dissolved organics in the same process, without generating any waste for disposal. No UV is required and the solar radiation can be efficiently used. The proposed research will be a significant breakthrough in the field of water treatment that reduces energy consumption, uses low cost materials and provides a real solution. The research findings will be useful to a wide spectrum of manufacturing industries which are currently generating slightly contaminated wastewater, and will be beneficial to the community in general. At the same time, the industries will be a step forward toward sustainable manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Simultaneous dissolved methane and nitrogen removal. Direct anaerobic treatment of wastewater converts majority of organic matters in wastewater to methane, an energy source. However, up to 50% of the methane produced stays dissolved in wastewater. Its subsequent stripping to atmosphere in aerobic treatment not only causes significant loss of energy but also emission of a potent greenhouse gas. This project aims to develop a technology that not only avoids methane stripping but also enables its ....Simultaneous dissolved methane and nitrogen removal. Direct anaerobic treatment of wastewater converts majority of organic matters in wastewater to methane, an energy source. However, up to 50% of the methane produced stays dissolved in wastewater. Its subsequent stripping to atmosphere in aerobic treatment not only causes significant loss of energy but also emission of a potent greenhouse gas. This project aims to develop a technology that not only avoids methane stripping but also enables its beneficial use to enhance nitrogen removal, which is otherwise typically unsatisfactory due to the lack of organic carbon to support denitrification. The project will provide strong support to the Australian water industry in their endeavour to achieve energy- and carbon-neutral wastewater services.Read moreRead less