Robust fluid mixing through topological chaos. The Australian chemicals and plastics industry has an annual turnover of over $20 billion and employs over 77,000 people; fluid mixing is fundamental to this industry, yet the industry is recognised as underinvesting in research and development in this essential area. Furthermore, frontier technologies such as biotechnology and the next generation of smart materials also crucially rely on fluid mixing. This project aims to evaluate a new paradigm ( ....Robust fluid mixing through topological chaos. The Australian chemicals and plastics industry has an annual turnover of over $20 billion and employs over 77,000 people; fluid mixing is fundamental to this industry, yet the industry is recognised as underinvesting in research and development in this essential area. Furthermore, frontier technologies such as biotechnology and the next generation of smart materials also crucially rely on fluid mixing. This project aims to evaluate a new paradigm (topological chaos) for the design of mixers, to provide better and more robust mixers that work from microscopic to industrial scales.Read moreRead less
Micro Process Plants - Non-Newtonian flow and particle synthesis in confined geometries. Understanding the flow behaviour of well characterised non-Newtonian fluids within microfluidic and nanofluidic devices is of vital importance to development of novel high-value added services, products and devices within Australia's burgeoning biotechnology, environmental technology, communications and information technology industries. The outcomes of this project will provide new 'systematic' design stand ....Micro Process Plants - Non-Newtonian flow and particle synthesis in confined geometries. Understanding the flow behaviour of well characterised non-Newtonian fluids within microfluidic and nanofluidic devices is of vital importance to development of novel high-value added services, products and devices within Australia's burgeoning biotechnology, environmental technology, communications and information technology industries. The outcomes of this project will provide new 'systematic' design standards for microdevice manufacture for these industries, ultimately leading to the creation of new, exciting avenues for tailoring novel biotechnology and 'point-of-care' products for Australia.Read moreRead less
Coarse-Grid Eulerian-Eulerian Multiphase Model for Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit. A fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is an important refinery unit operation responsible for about 45% of total petrol production. The aim of this study is to improve the petrol production efficiency of Australian refineries thus allowing our country not only to maintain its self-sufficiency but also to permit lucrative exports. This will be done by optimising the performance of the FCC unit through novel computat ....Coarse-Grid Eulerian-Eulerian Multiphase Model for Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit. A fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is an important refinery unit operation responsible for about 45% of total petrol production. The aim of this study is to improve the petrol production efficiency of Australian refineries thus allowing our country not only to maintain its self-sufficiency but also to permit lucrative exports. This will be done by optimising the performance of the FCC unit through novel computational fluid dynamic simulations. The outcomes of this study will enable refiners to produce cleaner fuel (e.g., fuel with less sulphur) and decrease air pollution from the FCC unit (in the form of CO and particulates) thus helping Australia to preserve its diverse and relatively pollution-free environment.Read moreRead less
Selective generation of hydrogen from biomass and waste fuels. Biomass fuels account for 14% of global energy supply. This is likely to increase in future as the population increases, energy demand rises, cheap oil and coal reserves are depleted, and the effects of global warming become more readily visible. In Australia the development of a sustainable hydrogen economy is a national priority. The hydrogen economy could bring about improved energy security, substantially reduced greenhouse gas e ....Selective generation of hydrogen from biomass and waste fuels. Biomass fuels account for 14% of global energy supply. This is likely to increase in future as the population increases, energy demand rises, cheap oil and coal reserves are depleted, and the effects of global warming become more readily visible. In Australia the development of a sustainable hydrogen economy is a national priority. The hydrogen economy could bring about improved energy security, substantially reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved energy efficiency and improved air quality. This proposal directly addresses this challenge by investigating the science underpinning a large-scale sustainable hydrogen synthesis process using biomass and waste fuels. Read moreRead less
Jet breakup of emulsions for the production of designer microparticulate drug delivery systems. Drug delivery systems are an important and growing part of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology market. The growth is estimated to be at 23% p.a. and is tied to the requirements for more precise and complex delivery profiles by highly potent drugs or vaccines (bioactives). To achieve the required level of control and precision, improved encapsulation technologies are needed to produce particles of a p ....Jet breakup of emulsions for the production of designer microparticulate drug delivery systems. Drug delivery systems are an important and growing part of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology market. The growth is estimated to be at 23% p.a. and is tied to the requirements for more precise and complex delivery profiles by highly potent drugs or vaccines (bioactives). To achieve the required level of control and precision, improved encapsulation technologies are needed to produce particles of a precise size and narrow size distribution. This project aims to develop an innovative technology for the production of superior uniformly sized particulate drug delivery systems for the delivery of the "next generation" bioactives.Read moreRead less
Hydrodynamics of Bubble Column Reactors. This project will study the hydrodynamics of bubble columns with the aim of optimising these reactors for offshore gas-to-liquid plants. Along with experiments using the state-of-art techniques such as the particle image velocimetry, radioactive particle tracking, electrical capacitance tomography and optical probes, computational fluid dynamics simulations will be conducted to gain a deeper insight into bubble-induced turbulence and regime transitions in ....Hydrodynamics of Bubble Column Reactors. This project will study the hydrodynamics of bubble columns with the aim of optimising these reactors for offshore gas-to-liquid plants. Along with experiments using the state-of-art techniques such as the particle image velocimetry, radioactive particle tracking, electrical capacitance tomography and optical probes, computational fluid dynamics simulations will be conducted to gain a deeper insight into bubble-induced turbulence and regime transitions in these reactors. This information will then be used to devise scale-up strategies of these complex and industrially important equipment.Read moreRead less
Drag Force on Bubbles and Particles in Turbulent Flows. Australian exports are dominated by the minerals, metallurgical and chemicals industries, with minerals exports worth at least $40 billion annually. Many of the production processes are underpinned by the complex interaction between particles, bubbles and liquids. It is important that we understand the complex interactions taking place. This will enable us to improve existing operations and also to design completely new technologies, especi ....Drag Force on Bubbles and Particles in Turbulent Flows. Australian exports are dominated by the minerals, metallurgical and chemicals industries, with minerals exports worth at least $40 billion annually. Many of the production processes are underpinned by the complex interaction between particles, bubbles and liquids. It is important that we understand the complex interactions taking place. This will enable us to improve existing operations and also to design completely new technologies, especially in the emerging fields of nano and biotechnology. This project is important because it adds to our knowledge in the national priority area of Transforming Australian Industries, and its success will ensure that our industries remain at the forefront of innovation and are globally competitive. Read moreRead less
Multiphase flows in microchannels. This project will improve our understanding of how multiphase fluids (such as a gas and a liquid or two liquids) flow in very small passages. Such flows are at the heart of almost all chemical processing and miniaturisation of chemical processes depends on our ability to design for and control them. There is a worldwide interest in microplant for chemicals manufacture and the international partner investigators are leaders in this field. The particular benefit ....Multiphase flows in microchannels. This project will improve our understanding of how multiphase fluids (such as a gas and a liquid or two liquids) flow in very small passages. Such flows are at the heart of almost all chemical processing and miniaturisation of chemical processes depends on our ability to design for and control them. There is a worldwide interest in microplant for chemicals manufacture and the international partner investigators are leaders in this field. The particular benefit to Australia lies in the possibility that miniaturised, microsctructured chemical plant could become the basis for remote, distributed manufacture that could, for example, allow natural gas processing on ocean platforms directly located at the point of production. Read moreRead less