Fibre-reinforced composites: Single-crystal mullite fibres from topaz. The project aims to develop the means of fabricating single-crystal mullite fibres from topaz that are suitable for reinforcement of metal and ceramic matrix composites. Single-crystal mullite is the most sought after fibrous additive, but is not available commercially. It is expected to attract an immediate clientele in laboratories and companies servicing the aviation industry and the military. This will allow large depos ....Fibre-reinforced composites: Single-crystal mullite fibres from topaz. The project aims to develop the means of fabricating single-crystal mullite fibres from topaz that are suitable for reinforcement of metal and ceramic matrix composites. Single-crystal mullite is the most sought after fibrous additive, but is not available commercially. It is expected to attract an immediate clientele in laboratories and companies servicing the aviation industry and the military. This will allow large deposit of topaz in Torrington, NSW to be used to develop a high-value niche product (fibres) and a large-volume, low-value product (fluoride). This will provide significant economic and environmental benefits and it addresses the research priorities - Resources and Advanced Manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH130200031
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,273,780.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Advanced Technologies for Australian Iron Ore. ARC Research Hub for Advanced Technologies for Australian Iron Ore. This Research Hub aims to bring together three world-class groups covering fine particle beneficiation, raw materials handling, and iron ore characterisation to address the complex issues that arise from the different ore types that have emerged in recent years. This Research Hub will focus on the development and adoption of advanced beneficiation and handling t ....ARC Research Hub for Advanced Technologies for Australian Iron Ore. ARC Research Hub for Advanced Technologies for Australian Iron Ore. This Research Hub aims to bring together three world-class groups covering fine particle beneficiation, raw materials handling, and iron ore characterisation to address the complex issues that arise from the different ore types that have emerged in recent years. This Research Hub will focus on the development and adoption of advanced beneficiation and handling technologies into iron ore mining operations, and new knowledge for informing producers and end-users, while providing the training for a new generation of research leaders.Read moreRead less
Biogeochemical controls on efficacy and sustainability of uranium heap leaching. Improvement of the heap leaching process planned for Ranger Mine is of immense economic importance to Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. This project will benefit Australia, including Indigenous Australians who represent 18 per cent of the workforce at Ranger, through other flow-on effects, such as job creation in the Alligator Rivers regional economy and wealth generation to traditional landowners and all Australia ....Biogeochemical controls on efficacy and sustainability of uranium heap leaching. Improvement of the heap leaching process planned for Ranger Mine is of immense economic importance to Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. This project will benefit Australia, including Indigenous Australians who represent 18 per cent of the workforce at Ranger, through other flow-on effects, such as job creation in the Alligator Rivers regional economy and wealth generation to traditional landowners and all Australians through increased royalty payments to the Australian Government. This project will also provide insights into minimising the impacts arising from contaminant mobilisation in acid sulphate environments, such as acid mine drainage. As such, this project will greatly benefit the economic strength, health and environmental integrity of Australia.Read moreRead less
Gravity Separation and Desliming of Fine Particles. This project will be of benefit to the Australian coal and mineral processing industries, worth tens of billions of dollars to the Australian economy each year. The objective is to establish an innovative system of cascading Reflux Classifiers for achieving both gravity separation and desliming of fine particles. Presently millions of tonnes of fine coal exist in tailings dams, unrecoverable by existing technologies such as flotation. This rese ....Gravity Separation and Desliming of Fine Particles. This project will be of benefit to the Australian coal and mineral processing industries, worth tens of billions of dollars to the Australian economy each year. The objective is to establish an innovative system of cascading Reflux Classifiers for achieving both gravity separation and desliming of fine particles. Presently millions of tonnes of fine coal exist in tailings dams, unrecoverable by existing technologies such as flotation. This research will provide options for the recovery of this resource, making the remediation of these sites economically viable. The project will also support the education and training of researchers in this field of importance to Australia’s future.Read moreRead less
Enhancing Direct Cu Recovery through Increased Gas Processing Understanding. This project aims to investigate mechanisms of copper loss during smelting and find new ways to reduce the loss. Smelting, which produces copper matte product and slag tailings, is an important step of the copper-making process from copper sulphides. The loss of copper to slag can be as high as 12 per cent. The project aims to create new knowledge about copper loss by matte droplets floated with gas bubbles generated by ....Enhancing Direct Cu Recovery through Increased Gas Processing Understanding. This project aims to investigate mechanisms of copper loss during smelting and find new ways to reduce the loss. Smelting, which produces copper matte product and slag tailings, is an important step of the copper-making process from copper sulphides. The loss of copper to slag can be as high as 12 per cent. The project aims to create new knowledge about copper loss by matte droplets floated with gas bubbles generated by chemical reactions to the slag phase. The outcomes are intended to enable copper smelters to maximise direct copper recovery, reduce copper production costs and increase the productivity of the smelting process.Read moreRead less
Hydrophobic particle recovery using permeable hydrophobic media. This project aims to solve an intractable problem in froth flotation. Bubbles will be replaced by permeable, hydrophobic media, minimising the viscous hydrodynamic resistance that limits ultrafine particle recovery. The project expects to generate new knowledge relating the efficacy of the novel media to its underlying physical structure, composition, geometry, and interfacial structure. Expected outcomes include a framework for de ....Hydrophobic particle recovery using permeable hydrophobic media. This project aims to solve an intractable problem in froth flotation. Bubbles will be replaced by permeable, hydrophobic media, minimising the viscous hydrodynamic resistance that limits ultrafine particle recovery. The project expects to generate new knowledge relating the efficacy of the novel media to its underlying physical structure, composition, geometry, and interfacial structure. Expected outcomes include a framework for developing alternative, highly permeable, hydrophobic media, and new high performance separation technologies. This is expected to benefit large scale, low-cost, ultrafast processing of particulate suspensions in mineral processing and waste water treatment.Read moreRead less
Surface characteristics and hydrodynamics in detachment of coarse particles. Froth flotation is widely used for separating coal and minerals from the gangue. The largest particles that can be floated in the industry are 10 times smaller than the particles that can be floated under quiescent conditions. This project aims to better understand and quantify the detachment of large particles from the bubble surface. It aims to develop innovative modelling and experimental approaches to examine the ef ....Surface characteristics and hydrodynamics in detachment of coarse particles. Froth flotation is widely used for separating coal and minerals from the gangue. The largest particles that can be floated in the industry are 10 times smaller than the particles that can be floated under quiescent conditions. This project aims to better understand and quantify the detachment of large particles from the bubble surface. It aims to develop innovative modelling and experimental approaches to examine the effect of particle surface characteristics and hydrodynamic conditions on coarse particle detachment and flotation. New ways to save energy by floating coarse composite particles are proposed to be developed. This research is at the forefront of flotation science and technology, and is expected to deliver significant outcomes to the mining industry.Read moreRead less
Designing starches for increased productivity in mineral flotation. Designing starches for increased productivity in mineral flotation. This project aims to understand the process of starch-mineral surface interactions, and design and develop tailored starch depressant/flocculant biopolymers for mineral beneficiation via the froth flotation process. Natural and modified starches are used as depressants and flocculants in mineral flotation, but scientists lack knowledge of mechanisms describing s ....Designing starches for increased productivity in mineral flotation. Designing starches for increased productivity in mineral flotation. This project aims to understand the process of starch-mineral surface interactions, and design and develop tailored starch depressant/flocculant biopolymers for mineral beneficiation via the froth flotation process. Natural and modified starches are used as depressants and flocculants in mineral flotation, but scientists lack knowledge of mechanisms describing starch-mineral surface interactions, particularly how they process base metal sulphides. This project also intends to develop starch characterisation techniques and novel methods for modifying starch structures and functionalities. Anticipated outcomes are new novel manufacturing applications for starch in Australia.Read moreRead less
Enhanced Fractionation of Mineral Particles According to Density. Aims: -to achieve a significant advance in the hydrodynamic fractionation of particles on the basis of density, and develop an algorithm to deconvolve the fractionation data to produce the underlying density distribution of the particles. Significance: This density distribution, which is used in resource assessment, plant design, and process evaluation in mineral processing, is currently produced using toxic, and environmentally d ....Enhanced Fractionation of Mineral Particles According to Density. Aims: -to achieve a significant advance in the hydrodynamic fractionation of particles on the basis of density, and develop an algorithm to deconvolve the fractionation data to produce the underlying density distribution of the particles. Significance: This density distribution, which is used in resource assessment, plant design, and process evaluation in mineral processing, is currently produced using toxic, and environmentally damaging heavy liquids, despite the emergence of alternative mineral analysers. Expected Outcomes: -a safe, cost effective basis for generating the density distribution. Benefits: -increasing mineral resource recovery through improved access to critical data, while eliminating the need for the toxic heavy liquids.
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Enhanced recovery and concentration of cenospheres from fly ash. The purpose of this project is to investigate the recovery of valuable particles, referred to as cenospheres, from the fly ash waste of coal fired power stations. An understanding of the complex gravitational settling behaviour of fly ash suspensions in inclined channels will lead to a new technology for recovering and concentrating the particles.