Novel membranes and membrane structures using electrospinning. This project aims to develop novel membrane support materials and novel membrane structures to enhance chemical separation processes. These materials can be used in desalination and water treatment, reducing the resistance to water flows. In turn, this will reduce the energy required to produce fresh drinking water for Australians, as well as the cost. The approach will also be applied to carbon dioxide capture from flue gas streams, ....Novel membranes and membrane structures using electrospinning. This project aims to develop novel membrane support materials and novel membrane structures to enhance chemical separation processes. These materials can be used in desalination and water treatment, reducing the resistance to water flows. In turn, this will reduce the energy required to produce fresh drinking water for Australians, as well as the cost. The approach will also be applied to carbon dioxide capture from flue gas streams, increasing the energy efficiency of these processes, so that they can become economically viable. The project has the potential to develop localised manufacturing operations to produce these materials, adding value to Australian manufactured products.Read moreRead less
Advanced membranes for energy-efficient electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to fuel. This project proposes to develop a technology to convert carbon dioxide to liquid fuels using renewable energy as the required energy source. The project will therefore help in the mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions and offset the depletion of fossil fuel reserves.
Next generation gas separations via innovative adsorption technologies. This project aims to develop new gas separation technologies that combine novel materials and pressure swing adsorption cycles to deliver inexpensive industrial processes capable of both high recovery and high purity products. The project will advance our ability to manipulate the phenomenon of regulated guest admission into microporous materials, and integrate such materials within new types of dual-reflux adsorption cycles ....Next generation gas separations via innovative adsorption technologies. This project aims to develop new gas separation technologies that combine novel materials and pressure swing adsorption cycles to deliver inexpensive industrial processes capable of both high recovery and high purity products. The project will advance our ability to manipulate the phenomenon of regulated guest admission into microporous materials, and integrate such materials within new types of dual-reflux adsorption cycles that deliver multiple refined gas products. Successful implementation of these industrial developments will increase Australia's access to cheap supplies of natural gas, encourage the broader use of biomass, lower the carbon emissions of industrial processes, and efficiently recover high-value compounds only present at trace concentrations.Read moreRead less
Designing the surface and structural properties of MFI zeolite membranes for low energy ion-selective desalination. Desalination is being established in response to climate change and growing demands on existing supplies. Fresh water from infinitely abundant ocean sources using little energy input will benefit communities by providing affordably a vital resource with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. Fresh water from current desalination costs $2 per kl, being a major expense for a vital resourc ....Designing the surface and structural properties of MFI zeolite membranes for low energy ion-selective desalination. Desalination is being established in response to climate change and growing demands on existing supplies. Fresh water from infinitely abundant ocean sources using little energy input will benefit communities by providing affordably a vital resource with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. Fresh water from current desalination costs $2 per kl, being a major expense for a vital resource normally $0.2 per kl. As energy input accounts for half of the desalination cost, the smart ion-selective membrane to be developed in this project has the capability to reduce desalinated water price by 50%. Such an advancement derived from fundamental material properties is a novel contribution to both science and membrane desalinationRead moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100135
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$438,400.00
Summary
Superhydrophobic thermally rearranged membranes for low-energy separation. This project aims to develop thermally rearranged membranes with superhydrophobicity using novel polymer chemistry and nanofibre morphology. Both water flowrate in membrane distillation and gas flowrate in carbon dioxide stripping from solvents will be increased by minimising the water vapor condensation between the nanofibers; resolving shortcomings in current energy-intensive filtration systems. This project will provid ....Superhydrophobic thermally rearranged membranes for low-energy separation. This project aims to develop thermally rearranged membranes with superhydrophobicity using novel polymer chemistry and nanofibre morphology. Both water flowrate in membrane distillation and gas flowrate in carbon dioxide stripping from solvents will be increased by minimising the water vapor condensation between the nanofibers; resolving shortcomings in current energy-intensive filtration systems. This project will provide significant benefits to Australian communities by advancing cost-effective and energy-efficient potable water production and carbon dioxide separation processes for sustainable development. The advanced materials developed can be manufactured locally and will enhance our national capability in modern manufacturing.Read moreRead less
The Permeation of Water through Industrial Membrane Systems. This project aims to understand the permeation of water through commercially relevant non-porous polymeric membranes. Permeation, solubility and diffusivity will be studied in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature to elucidate the changes in free volume that occur through this transition. Non-linear concentration gradients due to anisotropic swelling will be probed using novel laminated membrane systems. Water clustering wil ....The Permeation of Water through Industrial Membrane Systems. This project aims to understand the permeation of water through commercially relevant non-porous polymeric membranes. Permeation, solubility and diffusivity will be studied in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature to elucidate the changes in free volume that occur through this transition. Non-linear concentration gradients due to anisotropic swelling will be probed using novel laminated membrane systems. Water clustering will be evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. Results are proposed to be used to build a new phenomenological model of water permeation that can be used directly by engineers in the design of industrial membrane systems.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC150100019
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,571,797.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Liquefied Natural Gas Futures. ARC Training Centre for Liquefied Natural Gas Futures. This training centre aims to deliver projects and training to enable future Australian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production from reserves in deep water, at small or remote on-shore locations, with greater efficiency, less environmental impact, and at lower cost than currently possible. This should be accomplished via research projects undertaken by the PhD students and research fellows ....ARC Training Centre for Liquefied Natural Gas Futures. ARC Training Centre for Liquefied Natural Gas Futures. This training centre aims to deliver projects and training to enable future Australian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production from reserves in deep water, at small or remote on-shore locations, with greater efficiency, less environmental impact, and at lower cost than currently possible. This should be accomplished via research projects undertaken by the PhD students and research fellows with guidance from the centre’s industrial partners. The centre’s expected legacy is a unique research and training facility, designed for future integration into a microscale LNG plant. The anticipated research and training outcomes will help to ensure Australia plays a leading role in future global LNG developments.Read moreRead less
3-D Printed Catalytic Monoliths for Energy Efficient Carbon Conversion. Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) is an essential pathway for reducing carbon in the Earth's atmosphere. However a major hurdle in the carbon utilisation part is that the conversion technologies often rely on energy derived from fossil sources. Electrification of carbon conversion processes can overcome this hurdle by providing this energy via renewables. This project aims to develop an electrically powered energy efficie ....3-D Printed Catalytic Monoliths for Energy Efficient Carbon Conversion. Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) is an essential pathway for reducing carbon in the Earth's atmosphere. However a major hurdle in the carbon utilisation part is that the conversion technologies often rely on energy derived from fossil sources. Electrification of carbon conversion processes can overcome this hurdle by providing this energy via renewables. This project aims to develop an electrically powered energy efficient catalytic process for carbon conversion. A modular 3-D printed monolithic catalytic reactor prototype powered by induction or resistive heating will be developed to minimise energy loss in the carbon conversion process. An expected outcome of this project is translation of this prototype in a CCU pilot scale facility.Read moreRead less
The separation of carbon dioxide from industrial sources using nanoporous carbon. Carbon nanotubes and nanoporous carbon membranes offer the possibility of low cost energy efficient separations of gas mixtures. Possible applications include the purification of greenhouse gases for sequestration and the purification of hydrogen from reformer gas for use in a hydrogen energy economy. The proposed project involves the development of mathematical models and computer simulations to understand and ....The separation of carbon dioxide from industrial sources using nanoporous carbon. Carbon nanotubes and nanoporous carbon membranes offer the possibility of low cost energy efficient separations of gas mixtures. Possible applications include the purification of greenhouse gases for sequestration and the purification of hydrogen from reformer gas for use in a hydrogen energy economy. The proposed project involves the development of mathematical models and computer simulations to understand and optimise the nanoporous structure for different gas separations, and experimental research to produce the carbon nanoporous materials and determine their effectiveness of gas separation.Read moreRead less
Linking topology and rheology for designing supramolecular polymer networks. This project aims to develop a foundation for understanding how microscopic topology and intermolecular interactions control the flow behaviour of supramolecular polymer networks. Brownian dynamics algorithms will be developed to unravel the complex dynamics of the network and calibrated by comparison with carefully designed experiments. The expected outcome of the project is a quantitative framework for connecting the ....Linking topology and rheology for designing supramolecular polymer networks. This project aims to develop a foundation for understanding how microscopic topology and intermolecular interactions control the flow behaviour of supramolecular polymer networks. Brownian dynamics algorithms will be developed to unravel the complex dynamics of the network and calibrated by comparison with carefully designed experiments. The expected outcome of the project is a quantitative framework for connecting the molecular structure and energy landscape with resulting macroscopic properties. This project should yield significant benefit in the rational design of supramolecular systems in which the thermorheological properties can be tuned over a wide range of force/time scales with applications spanning from enhanced oil recovery to injectable hydrogels.Read moreRead less