Stability, transition and heat transfer in thermally coupled natural convection boundary layers. Thermally coupled natural convection systems occur when a conducting vertical wall separates two fluids at different temperatures. Such configurations occur, for example, at a window separating the interior of a room from the outside or when a container of fluid is placed in a refrigerator. Improved building heating/cooling and ventilation, and more efficient refrigeration systems, require a thoroug ....Stability, transition and heat transfer in thermally coupled natural convection boundary layers. Thermally coupled natural convection systems occur when a conducting vertical wall separates two fluids at different temperatures. Such configurations occur, for example, at a window separating the interior of a room from the outside or when a container of fluid is placed in a refrigerator. Improved building heating/cooling and ventilation, and more efficient refrigeration systems, require a thorough understanding and predictive capability for these flows. This project will develop experimental, numerical and analytic tools to predict these flows and provide simple scaling relations for bulk flow parameters such as the heat transfer across the wall, which will be of immediate use in the associated industries.Read moreRead less
Enhancement of Heat Transfer by Stimulated Transition to Turbulence in Natural Convection Boundary Layers on Heated Walls. The aim of this project is to increase the heat transfer from heated vertical surfaces to an ambient fluid by stimulating an early transition to turbulence. Such passive heat transfer occurs in heat transfer devices, natural ventilation systems and in many environmental settings. Enhanced heat transfer will greatly improve the performance of these systems. The project will ....Enhancement of Heat Transfer by Stimulated Transition to Turbulence in Natural Convection Boundary Layers on Heated Walls. The aim of this project is to increase the heat transfer from heated vertical surfaces to an ambient fluid by stimulating an early transition to turbulence. Such passive heat transfer occurs in heat transfer devices, natural ventilation systems and in many environmental settings. Enhanced heat transfer will greatly improve the performance of these systems. The project will provide the length scales, frequency and amplification rate for the occurence of the secondary spanwise mode that is the primary mechanism for turbulent transition. This will provide guidance for the development of appropriate roughness elements and heating length and time scales.Read moreRead less
Viscous extensional flow and drop breakoff. Honey falling from a spoon is an everyday example of a viscous fluid in a free extensional flow which may eventually break up into drops. Such flows are important in modern technologies including ink-jet printing, welding, soldering and molten metal processing, polymer and glass fibre spinning, and for rheological measurement. We seek to increase understanding of the mechanisms governing such flows, particularly the role of initial conditions and the ....Viscous extensional flow and drop breakoff. Honey falling from a spoon is an everyday example of a viscous fluid in a free extensional flow which may eventually break up into drops. Such flows are important in modern technologies including ink-jet printing, welding, soldering and molten metal processing, polymer and glass fibre spinning, and for rheological measurement. We seek to increase understanding of the mechanisms governing such flows, particularly the role of initial conditions and the geometry of the original containing vessel, together with balances between forces such as inertia, gravity, viscosity, viscoelasticity, and surface tension, through a theoretical, computational and experimental study of the fluid mechanics.Read moreRead less
Application of tuneable nanofluids in regenerative supercritical power generation. The proposed project combines the simplicity, flexibility, robustness and thermodynamic effectiveness of GRANEXTM cycle with the advances recently made in nanotechnology. If deployed across Australia to recover even 50 per cent of the 11,000 Gigawatt hour annual bioenergy potential, it will generate a revenue stream of approximately $550 million per annum while reducing greenhouse emissions by 14 mega tonne, which ....Application of tuneable nanofluids in regenerative supercritical power generation. The proposed project combines the simplicity, flexibility, robustness and thermodynamic effectiveness of GRANEXTM cycle with the advances recently made in nanotechnology. If deployed across Australia to recover even 50 per cent of the 11,000 Gigawatt hour annual bioenergy potential, it will generate a revenue stream of approximately $550 million per annum while reducing greenhouse emissions by 14 mega tonne, which is about 2.5 per cent of the annual national emissions. The proposed research will place Australia within the forefront of the research and development activities in the field of low grade heat recovery and will clearly contribute the Australian Government's National Research Priority an environmentally sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Research into techniques for enhancing the heat transfer performance of finned-tube heat exchangers. This project explores several methods for enhancing the heat transfer performance of mechanically bonded finned tube heat exchangers. The methods would be analysed experimentally, and using finite elements, numerically. Any increase in heat transfer efficiency would contribute to the conservation of energy, and therefore, of natural resources. An improved design of heat exchangers would give a de ....Research into techniques for enhancing the heat transfer performance of finned-tube heat exchangers. This project explores several methods for enhancing the heat transfer performance of mechanically bonded finned tube heat exchangers. The methods would be analysed experimentally, and using finite elements, numerically. Any increase in heat transfer efficiency would contribute to the conservation of energy, and therefore, of natural resources. An improved design of heat exchangers would give a definite competitive edge to the Australian manufacturer. An equally significant outcome would be the training of a research person in industry-related research and skilled both in experimental and numerical procedures.Read moreRead less
Micro Process Plants - Non-Newtonian flow and particle synthesis in confined geometries. Understanding the flow behaviour of well characterised non-Newtonian fluids within microfluidic and nanofluidic devices is of vital importance to development of novel high-value added services, products and devices within Australia's burgeoning biotechnology, environmental technology, communications and information technology industries. The outcomes of this project will provide new 'systematic' design stand ....Micro Process Plants - Non-Newtonian flow and particle synthesis in confined geometries. Understanding the flow behaviour of well characterised non-Newtonian fluids within microfluidic and nanofluidic devices is of vital importance to development of novel high-value added services, products and devices within Australia's burgeoning biotechnology, environmental technology, communications and information technology industries. The outcomes of this project will provide new 'systematic' design standards for microdevice manufacture for these industries, ultimately leading to the creation of new, exciting avenues for tailoring novel biotechnology and 'point-of-care' products for Australia.Read moreRead less
Multiphase flows in microchannels. This project will improve our understanding of how multiphase fluids (such as a gas and a liquid or two liquids) flow in very small passages. Such flows are at the heart of almost all chemical processing and miniaturisation of chemical processes depends on our ability to design for and control them. There is a worldwide interest in microplant for chemicals manufacture and the international partner investigators are leaders in this field. The particular benefit ....Multiphase flows in microchannels. This project will improve our understanding of how multiphase fluids (such as a gas and a liquid or two liquids) flow in very small passages. Such flows are at the heart of almost all chemical processing and miniaturisation of chemical processes depends on our ability to design for and control them. There is a worldwide interest in microplant for chemicals manufacture and the international partner investigators are leaders in this field. The particular benefit to Australia lies in the possibility that miniaturised, microsctructured chemical plant could become the basis for remote, distributed manufacture that could, for example, allow natural gas processing on ocean platforms directly located at the point of production. Read moreRead less
Application of exact coherent structures to transition and turbulence. This project aims to understand coherent structures and devise methods to prevent bypass transition to turbulence and reduce turbulent wall drag. Coherent structures in turbulence may be identified with nonlinear solutions of the exact equations of motion. Such "exact" coherent structures have their Reynolds number dependence described explicitly and apply for moderate to very large Reynolds numbers, well above the range of f ....Application of exact coherent structures to transition and turbulence. This project aims to understand coherent structures and devise methods to prevent bypass transition to turbulence and reduce turbulent wall drag. Coherent structures in turbulence may be identified with nonlinear solutions of the exact equations of motion. Such "exact" coherent structures have their Reynolds number dependence described explicitly and apply for moderate to very large Reynolds numbers, well above the range of full Navier–Stokes calculations. Understanding the fundamentals of turbulence is expected to lead to more efficient and cheaper air transportation, and better tools for climate prediction and short-term weather forecasting.Read moreRead less
A Novel Approach To Flow Control By Topography. The project will resolve important questions concerning the influence of boundary topography on transition to turbulence and on the exact coherent structures forming the backbone of turbulence.
The canonical topography known from previous work by one of the investigators is a wavy wall and, as well as resolving important issues in flow physics, the research is relevant to many flows of importance such roughness induced transition on aircraft wings, ....A Novel Approach To Flow Control By Topography. The project will resolve important questions concerning the influence of boundary topography on transition to turbulence and on the exact coherent structures forming the backbone of turbulence.
The canonical topography known from previous work by one of the investigators is a wavy wall and, as well as resolving important issues in flow physics, the research is relevant to many flows of importance such roughness induced transition on aircraft wings, flows in heat transfer/mixing devices, blood flow and the influence of topography on the atmospheric boundary layer.
Expected outcomes are an understanding of the interplay between transitional and turbulent flows with wall topography together with strategies to enhance mixing and drag reduction.Read moreRead less
Lattice Boltzmann method based simulation of complex microchannels and mixing at micro-scales. The proposed study explores fundamental aspects of microfluidics using new tools, which will enhance the country's database of knowledge. It will lead to the development of a low-cost versatile software package, an important tool for solving microfluidics problems of interest to industries and academics, and will facilitate development and optimization of future microdevices. Further, it will improve A ....Lattice Boltzmann method based simulation of complex microchannels and mixing at micro-scales. The proposed study explores fundamental aspects of microfluidics using new tools, which will enhance the country's database of knowledge. It will lead to the development of a low-cost versatile software package, an important tool for solving microfluidics problems of interest to industries and academics, and will facilitate development and optimization of future microdevices. Further, it will improve Australia's competitiveness in the areas of LBM and MEMS both of which are new techniques with promising applications in their respective areas. The project falls under the National Research Priorities areas of Breakthrough Science and Frontier Technology. The potential applications of the technology encompass several key areas.Read moreRead less