Development of solvent extraction systems for improved sugar quality and yield. The recent collapse in the international sugar price and increased competition amongst producers have highlighted the vulnerability of Australian sugar mills and the regional communities reliant on sugar cane growing to variation in the price of this commodity. Hence, the development of new, more efficient means to produce raw sugar of high quality is of paramount importance to maintain Australia as a low cost produ ....Development of solvent extraction systems for improved sugar quality and yield. The recent collapse in the international sugar price and increased competition amongst producers have highlighted the vulnerability of Australian sugar mills and the regional communities reliant on sugar cane growing to variation in the price of this commodity. Hence, the development of new, more efficient means to produce raw sugar of high quality is of paramount importance to maintain Australia as a low cost producer. This project aims to investigate the use of unique solvent extraction methods to remove deleterious impurities from the raw cane juice in sugar mills with the consequent improvement in both sugar yield and quality.Read moreRead less
Developing New Multifunctional Layered Particles with Novel Modular Food Processing Systems. The global market for organic foods has a value of approximately $150 billion, indicating the high potential export market. Australia's organic industry is currently valued at $350M, with annual growth of 25%. Alternatives to chemical preservatives in products such as breads are in demand, and Australian essential oils show promise, but new technology is required to value-add products from essential oil ....Developing New Multifunctional Layered Particles with Novel Modular Food Processing Systems. The global market for organic foods has a value of approximately $150 billion, indicating the high potential export market. Australia's organic industry is currently valued at $350M, with annual growth of 25%. Alternatives to chemical preservatives in products such as breads are in demand, and Australian essential oils show promise, but new technology is required to value-add products from essential oil producers. Spray drying will be used with the smart coating of extracts, such as antimicrobial compounds, as natural preservatives that promote the shelf life of foods, benefitting service providers, the wider food industry and consumers. Read moreRead less
Enhancing the Production of Functional Food Powders by Studying Reaction Processes in Spray Dryers. The project is a key component of a technical development program that has the potential to make a very large contribution to the processing of functional foods resulting in products of high value for nutritional use. The total national crop of cereals, pulses, oil seeds, fruit and vegetables is thirty million tonnes/year. Over three million tonnes/year of waste are produced, containing three mi ....Enhancing the Production of Functional Food Powders by Studying Reaction Processes in Spray Dryers. The project is a key component of a technical development program that has the potential to make a very large contribution to the processing of functional foods resulting in products of high value for nutritional use. The total national crop of cereals, pulses, oil seeds, fruit and vegetables is thirty million tonnes/year. Over three million tonnes/year of waste are produced, containing three million kilogrammes of bioactive compounds, valued at a minimum of $1,000/kg, giving an estimated potential value of $3 billion/year. If only 10% of this potential is captured, then the national benefit would be as high as A$300 million/year.Read moreRead less
Innovative zero-energy membrane technologies to reduce water consumption in the dairy industry. The Australian dairy industry not only plays a critical role in our way of life, but processed dairy products contribute to 12% or $3.27b to Australia's export revenue. It has learnt to adapt to changing market demands through innovative membrane technologies, but now energy and water are key issues. This project aims to reduce water consumption in dairy processing by treating waste streams using nove ....Innovative zero-energy membrane technologies to reduce water consumption in the dairy industry. The Australian dairy industry not only plays a critical role in our way of life, but processed dairy products contribute to 12% or $3.27b to Australia's export revenue. It has learnt to adapt to changing market demands through innovative membrane technologies, but now energy and water are key issues. This project aims to reduce water consumption in dairy processing by treating waste streams using novel membrane processes including membrane distillation. The energy is supplied from low grade waste heat, offsetting the need to supply more power to the plant. Reducing the need for water in a zero-energy way will ensure the thriving dairy industry remains cost competitive and an integral part of Australia's culture and economy.Read moreRead less
Ultrasonics as a New Platform Technology in Dairy Processing. We intend to develop the use of ultrasound as an innovative platform technology within the Australian dairy industry. The outcomes will place the industry in a lead position internationally through the development of a range of novel, patentable, heat stable dairy ingredients that can command a premium price in a global market. This project will also lead to increased energy efficiency, reduced carbon footprints and increased profitab ....Ultrasonics as a New Platform Technology in Dairy Processing. We intend to develop the use of ultrasound as an innovative platform technology within the Australian dairy industry. The outcomes will place the industry in a lead position internationally through the development of a range of novel, patentable, heat stable dairy ingredients that can command a premium price in a global market. This project will also lead to increased energy efficiency, reduced carbon footprints and increased profitability for Australian dairy manufacturing through improved productivity of membrane operations, evaporators and spray driers. In turn, this work will help to secure the future of the wider Australian dairy industry and the rural townships that depend upon this industry.Read moreRead less
Development of a concentration process for thermally sensitive liquids by the integration of Osmotic Distillation with Freeze Concentration. There is a need for low temperature concentration of thermally sensitive fruit juices and biological liquids with preserved qualities and nutrients. Although Freeze Concentration has been successful up to about 40% solids, it then requires expensive freezing. This project aims to integrate Osmotic Distillation with Freeze Concentration to achieve up to ab ....Development of a concentration process for thermally sensitive liquids by the integration of Osmotic Distillation with Freeze Concentration. There is a need for low temperature concentration of thermally sensitive fruit juices and biological liquids with preserved qualities and nutrients. Although Freeze Concentration has been successful up to about 40% solids, it then requires expensive freezing. This project aims to integrate Osmotic Distillation with Freeze Concentration to achieve up to about 70% solids, for long-term storage under ambient or refrigerated conditions. If successful, the combined process would enable increased export of high quality agricultural products such as grape concentrate for wine making, as well as other liquid foods, beverages and biotechnological products.Read moreRead less
Optimising Removal of Proteinaceous Foulants from Membranes. Removal of proteinacous foulants from membrane systems imposes both significant economic costs in terms of chemical usage as well as significant environmental costs in terms of water usage and production of effluents from the cleaning and rinsing waters. The outcome of this project should allow us to develop methods for the prediction and optimisation of membrane cleaning performance of relevance to major Australian industries includin ....Optimising Removal of Proteinaceous Foulants from Membranes. Removal of proteinacous foulants from membrane systems imposes both significant economic costs in terms of chemical usage as well as significant environmental costs in terms of water usage and production of effluents from the cleaning and rinsing waters. The outcome of this project should allow us to develop methods for the prediction and optimisation of membrane cleaning performance of relevance to major Australian industries including the dairy, food processing and water and waste water treatment industries.Read moreRead less
The Development of New Carrier Technologies for Spray-Dried Fruit Extracts. This project aims to develop new carrier techniques for spray drying fruit extracts based on the use of natural fibres, with the aim of overcoming a key problem in the operation of spray dryers for producing powders, the deposition of particles on walls. Carriers are non-sticky materials that effectively dilute the stickiness of any materials. The significance is that it will use waste products from fruit processing (th ....The Development of New Carrier Technologies for Spray-Dried Fruit Extracts. This project aims to develop new carrier techniques for spray drying fruit extracts based on the use of natural fibres, with the aim of overcoming a key problem in the operation of spray dryers for producing powders, the deposition of particles on walls. Carriers are non-sticky materials that effectively dilute the stickiness of any materials. The significance is that it will use waste products from fruit processing (the fibres from skins) to overcome this problem, and it will also be possible to dry sticky materials using material from the fruit itself, rather than additives such as maltodextrin.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