Microstructure and Rheology of Starch-Gelatine confectionery products as a function of manufacturing process. We propose to develop a novel continuous extrusion process for manufacturing confectionery jellies. Jellies are traditionally manufactured in a multi-step labour and capital-intensive batch process with inter-batch variability and difficult to automate. Continuous processes offer many advantages including high throughput, efficiency, straightforward automation including quality monitorin ....Microstructure and Rheology of Starch-Gelatine confectionery products as a function of manufacturing process. We propose to develop a novel continuous extrusion process for manufacturing confectionery jellies. Jellies are traditionally manufactured in a multi-step labour and capital-intensive batch process with inter-batch variability and difficult to automate. Continuous processes offer many advantages including high throughput, efficiency, straightforward automation including quality monitoring and control. They are little used in this industry because of the inability to relate product requirements through fundamental microstructural properties to processing conditions. This project addresses these key technical obstacles to gain the competitive advantage of continuous extrusion processing, through advanced mathematical modelling informed by experimentation. The proposed techniques derive from advanced polymer processing and characterisation capabilities.Read moreRead less
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
Understanding and Controlling Wall Deposition in Spray Dryers via Experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Studies. A key problem in operating spray dryers for producing milk powders and other consumer products, such as detergents, is the occurrence of internal wall deposits of powder, leading to thermal degradation of the products and potential fire hazards. However, no fundamental theory has been applied in spray dryers to allow this process to be controlled. The proposed project wi ....Understanding and Controlling Wall Deposition in Spray Dryers via Experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Studies. A key problem in operating spray dryers for producing milk powders and other consumer products, such as detergents, is the occurrence of internal wall deposits of powder, leading to thermal degradation of the products and potential fire hazards. However, no fundamental theory has been applied in spray dryers to allow this process to be controlled. The proposed project will use state-of-the-art experimental and computational techniques to gain a fundamental understanding of this phenomenon and will develop a validated wall deposition model to predict when and to what extent this process occurs, to give higher throughputs and/or more efficient systems.Read moreRead less
Improving Powder Properties by Using Spray Dryers to Process Amorphous Components of Solids into Crystalline Materials. Australia has a large food and dairy processing industry, capturing 13% of the world dairy export market, worth US$460 million annually. This proposal will build on Australia's strengths in dairy and food industries, particularly milk powder products. This project will enhance our competitive advantage in the production of dried foodstuffs by streamlining their production and ....Improving Powder Properties by Using Spray Dryers to Process Amorphous Components of Solids into Crystalline Materials. Australia has a large food and dairy processing industry, capturing 13% of the world dairy export market, worth US$460 million annually. This proposal will build on Australia's strengths in dairy and food industries, particularly milk powder products. This project will enhance our competitive advantage in the production of dried foodstuffs by streamlining their production and allowing tailored and new powder products to be created.Read moreRead less
Advanced Stability Sensor for Anaerobic Digestion Processes. Australia is firmly committed to energy reduction and production, where possible, renewable energy production. Anaerobic digestion is the only in-use wastewater treatment option that not only can have net zero energy consumption, but that actually produces energy. This energy is from renewable carbon sources is therefore a zero contributor to greenhouse gases. Australia has some of the strongest environmental limit laws in the world. ....Advanced Stability Sensor for Anaerobic Digestion Processes. Australia is firmly committed to energy reduction and production, where possible, renewable energy production. Anaerobic digestion is the only in-use wastewater treatment option that not only can have net zero energy consumption, but that actually produces energy. This energy is from renewable carbon sources is therefore a zero contributor to greenhouse gases. Australia has some of the strongest environmental limit laws in the world. While this is reasonable - given our sensitive environment -assisting industry in meeting those limits in a cost effective manner is a priority. Given sufficient process stability and transparency, anaerobic digestion is a low capital and operating cost option. Read moreRead less
Developing a smart supervisory control system for pan stage operations in sugar factories. This project aims to develop a prototype smart supervisory control system for pan stage crystallisation operations in raw sugar processing. Intelligent systems technologies will be tailored to provide a standardised approach for pan operations by using key process measurements and combining them with the collective expertise and knowledge of pan operators. This project will lead to a significant advance in ....Developing a smart supervisory control system for pan stage operations in sugar factories. This project aims to develop a prototype smart supervisory control system for pan stage crystallisation operations in raw sugar processing. Intelligent systems technologies will be tailored to provide a standardised approach for pan operations by using key process measurements and combining them with the collective expertise and knowledge of pan operators. This project will lead to a significant advance in the development of intelligent systems techniques for industrial applications and provide a better decision making strategy for pan stage operations with the benefit of reduced costs of sugar manufacture and increased profitability of the Australian sugar industry.Read moreRead less
Design and Optimisation of Spinning Cone Columns. This project will optimise the design and operation of spinning cone columns, a novel industrial distillation technology that has been developed in Australia. Novel and significant outcomes include applying Computational Fluid Dynamics to the design and optimisation of food processing equipment, understanding fundamental modelling issues in simulating strongly swirling flows, and allowing scale-up to be performed reliably from first principles. ....Design and Optimisation of Spinning Cone Columns. This project will optimise the design and operation of spinning cone columns, a novel industrial distillation technology that has been developed in Australia. Novel and significant outcomes include applying Computational Fluid Dynamics to the design and optimisation of food processing equipment, understanding fundamental modelling issues in simulating strongly swirling flows, and allowing scale-up to be performed reliably from first principles. The result will be a "virtual model" of the equipment, allowing design and optimisation of the equipment to be performed from first principles.Read moreRead less