Wet granule mechanics and their influence on agglomeration behaviour and granulation processes. Granulation is a widely-used particle size enlargement process performed by spraying a liquid binder onto an agitated powder mass. It is currently impossible to quantitatively predict granule growth behaviour in terms of the fundamental properties of the particles and binder. This project will measure and model the deformation of granules and the strength of bonds formed between them and use this info ....Wet granule mechanics and their influence on agglomeration behaviour and granulation processes. Granulation is a widely-used particle size enlargement process performed by spraying a liquid binder onto an agitated powder mass. It is currently impossible to quantitatively predict granule growth behaviour in terms of the fundamental properties of the particles and binder. This project will measure and model the deformation of granules and the strength of bonds formed between them and use this information to predict their growth behaviour. Special attention will be given to the effects of strain-rate and particle morphology in granulation mechanics. Improvements in granulation technology will be of great benefit to food, pharmaceutical, agricultural, explosives and mining industries and opens the way to 'designer granulation' for special purposes.Read moreRead less
Optimising Fouling Control in Membrane Bioreactors. Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are growing in importance for wastewater treatment because they offer an alternative for producing higher effluent quality wastewater within a more compact space compared to conventional processes. However, due to the pumping and bubbling used to keep the membranes clear of foulants resulting from the biological processes in MBR's, controlling fouling incurs significant energy usage and costs. The proposal aims to red ....Optimising Fouling Control in Membrane Bioreactors. Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are growing in importance for wastewater treatment because they offer an alternative for producing higher effluent quality wastewater within a more compact space compared to conventional processes. However, due to the pumping and bubbling used to keep the membranes clear of foulants resulting from the biological processes in MBR's, controlling fouling incurs significant energy usage and costs. The proposal aims to reduce the costs of fouling control by understanding the optimal conditions to remove these depositions and improve the design of MBR modules, operating conditions and shear delivery in the membrane system.Read moreRead less
Macromolecular Fouling in Membrane Bioreactors. As the demands for domestic and industrial water increasing in Australia and overseas, membrane bioreactors (MBR) offer an alternative for producing higher effluent quality wastewater compared to conventional processes. However, aeration costs used to remove fouling deposits (which reduce the operating performance) need to be further minimised. The proposal aims to study fundamental mechanisms involve in the deposition of foulant components by usin ....Macromolecular Fouling in Membrane Bioreactors. As the demands for domestic and industrial water increasing in Australia and overseas, membrane bioreactors (MBR) offer an alternative for producing higher effluent quality wastewater compared to conventional processes. However, aeration costs used to remove fouling deposits (which reduce the operating performance) need to be further minimised. The proposal aims to study fundamental mechanisms involve in the deposition of foulant components by using model systems of polysaccharides, proteins and microbial cells and comparing these with real MBR systems. The effect of bubbling varied gas compositions (air/H2S ratios) a novel approach in this study will be investigated to prevent or remove foulants in MBR systems. Read moreRead less
Analysing Instabilities in Complex Combustion Models for Different Geometrical Configurations. Anyone who has gazed into a fire will appreciate the complexity of combustion. To date only the simplest of models have been comprehensively analysed. This project, which aims to analyse more complex combustion models, will address some of the fundamental issues of combustion theory. Results from this project will lead to a better understanding of combustion processes, with the potential to prevent exp ....Analysing Instabilities in Complex Combustion Models for Different Geometrical Configurations. Anyone who has gazed into a fire will appreciate the complexity of combustion. To date only the simplest of models have been comprehensively analysed. This project, which aims to analyse more complex combustion models, will address some of the fundamental issues of combustion theory. Results from this project will lead to a better understanding of combustion processes, with the potential to prevent explosions in reactors and storage tanks. Other potential applications range from bushfires to the manufacture of exotic materials. Furthermore, the novel mathematical techniques developed in this project can be easily adapted to other types of systems such as those used in biology (eg. epidemiology and tumour growth), economics, physics etc. Read moreRead less
Fatigue Life Prediction of Nano-filler Modified Composites. The proposed project aims to study the behaviour and the failure mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites under cyclic loading. The outcomes of the project will make original contributions to our knowledge base on such materials. The mechanics modelling and statistical analysis of the prediction of fatigue life will provide a sound physical basis and a useful tool for any future improvement and optimisation of the composites to achieve bett ....Fatigue Life Prediction of Nano-filler Modified Composites. The proposed project aims to study the behaviour and the failure mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites under cyclic loading. The outcomes of the project will make original contributions to our knowledge base on such materials. The mechanics modelling and statistical analysis of the prediction of fatigue life will provide a sound physical basis and a useful tool for any future improvement and optimisation of the composites to achieve better reliability and integrity in their intended applications. This study will bring economic benefits to the end-users of advanced material technology including the Australian materials industries. Read moreRead less
Management of Complex Assets Using Smart Information Systems. The aim is to develop an integrative framework and a smart system for holistic asset management in order to manage and optimise asset decisions vis-a-vis shifts in customer and market needs. It will develop an advanced conceptual framework, a dedicated smart system that is capable of handling uncertainty often associated with decision making in large complex operations. The benefits of this research are: a more competitive indusry wit ....Management of Complex Assets Using Smart Information Systems. The aim is to develop an integrative framework and a smart system for holistic asset management in order to manage and optimise asset decisions vis-a-vis shifts in customer and market needs. It will develop an advanced conceptual framework, a dedicated smart system that is capable of handling uncertainty often associated with decision making in large complex operations. The benefits of this research are: a more competitive indusry with focus on markets; a smart system to demonstrate business-based decision making and generally a much more sophisticated approach to asset management.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882388
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$130,000.00
Summary
Advanced characterisation of organics and biopolymers in water and wastewater treatment. Although membrane technology is increasingly used for water production, wastewater treatment and reclamation, fouling by complex bio-organics is a major limitation. The liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection and the Flow FFF equipments give detailed analyses of the complex organics, thereby helping to understand the fouling and organic removal mechanisms allowing process optimisation. The availabilit ....Advanced characterisation of organics and biopolymers in water and wastewater treatment. Although membrane technology is increasingly used for water production, wastewater treatment and reclamation, fouling by complex bio-organics is a major limitation. The liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection and the Flow FFF equipments give detailed analyses of the complex organics, thereby helping to understand the fouling and organic removal mechanisms allowing process optimisation. The availability of these equipments will ramatically improve the quality of a number of research projects currently funded and being developed in Australia. This equipment would provide necessary infrastructure to keep Australian researchers world leaders in this research field (one of Australian top research priorities) and attract national and international collaborations.Read moreRead less