Enhancing natural convection heat transfer using a single horizontal non-metallic fin. This project will develop the basis for a simple design to improve the energy efficiency of natural convection heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are widely adopted in many electronic devices and industrial processes as they require no external power input, additional space, and are quiet, reliable and economical. The research will exploit the interaction between two flows to trigger turbulence, and will result ....Enhancing natural convection heat transfer using a single horizontal non-metallic fin. This project will develop the basis for a simple design to improve the energy efficiency of natural convection heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are widely adopted in many electronic devices and industrial processes as they require no external power input, additional space, and are quiet, reliable and economical. The research will exploit the interaction between two flows to trigger turbulence, and will result in an increase of the overall capacity and performance of engineering systems. This will contribute significantly to reductions in power consumption and improvements in productivity and work environment, leading ultimately to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Investigation of a Novel Fan. Fans are very widely used for cooling and heating, thrust and mass transport and are one of the most common fluid mechanical devices. An optimal fan design will maximise flow velocity and pressure rise for minimum energy requirements and noise production. De Rolfe has recently developed a new fan that shows considerable promise in comparison to conventional designs on single point tests.
In this project experimental and computional fluid dynamics investigations o ....Investigation of a Novel Fan. Fans are very widely used for cooling and heating, thrust and mass transport and are one of the most common fluid mechanical devices. An optimal fan design will maximise flow velocity and pressure rise for minimum energy requirements and noise production. De Rolfe has recently developed a new fan that shows considerable promise in comparison to conventional designs on single point tests.
In this project experimental and computional fluid dynamics investigations of the new fan will be carried out to determine the basic fluid mechanics and to obtain performance curves. Scaling laws will be obtained and, if possible, the fan will be further optimised.Read moreRead less
Transport by Natural Convection in Reservoir Sidearms. This project is a first step in developing models of the distribution of water quality parameters in reservoirs by a range of small scale dynamical processes not included in commercial water quality models. Specifically, the project will investigate the transport of suspended materials from the shore to the deeper parts resulting from the interaction of the meteorological forcing and the topography. This will contribute to the development of ....Transport by Natural Convection in Reservoir Sidearms. This project is a first step in developing models of the distribution of water quality parameters in reservoirs by a range of small scale dynamical processes not included in commercial water quality models. Specifically, the project will investigate the transport of suspended materials from the shore to the deeper parts resulting from the interaction of the meteorological forcing and the topography. This will contribute to the development of improved water quality models, and therefore to better management of water quality of Australia's water resources.Read moreRead less
Enhancement of heat transfer by micro-electro-mechanical devices: numerical and experimental study. The main goal of the present project is to approach a completely new concept for cooling electronic-micro-devices (EMD). We will integrate the cooling system in the EMD by mean of built micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The area of application is so innovative, that there is no engineering experience for modelling heat transfer at such small physical scales. The first goal of this project ....Enhancement of heat transfer by micro-electro-mechanical devices: numerical and experimental study. The main goal of the present project is to approach a completely new concept for cooling electronic-micro-devices (EMD). We will integrate the cooling system in the EMD by mean of built micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The area of application is so innovative, that there is no engineering experience for modelling heat transfer at such small physical scales. The first goal of this project is to fill this lack of knowledge and to validate the possible numerical procedure using experimental data obtained from experiments, also planned for the present project. Once a suitable procedure has been established for evaluating heat fluxes , we will optimized configurations for heat transfer enhancers in micro devices.Read moreRead less
Combustion Characteristics of Biomass Chars in Pressurised Circulating Fluidised Bed Reactors. The development of new, cleaner methods of electricity generation, such as biomass-based integrated gasification combined-cycles and hybrid-cycle pressurised fluidised-bed combustion, have highlighted the need for a greater understanding of the combustion characteristics of biomass chars at high pressures and temperatures. The aim of this project is to gain a clearer understanding of the underlying mec ....Combustion Characteristics of Biomass Chars in Pressurised Circulating Fluidised Bed Reactors. The development of new, cleaner methods of electricity generation, such as biomass-based integrated gasification combined-cycles and hybrid-cycle pressurised fluidised-bed combustion, have highlighted the need for a greater understanding of the combustion characteristics of biomass chars at high pressures and temperatures. The aim of this project is to gain a clearer understanding of the underlying mechanisms that control the combustion of biomass chars in pressurised circulating fluidised-bed (PCFB) reactors. The fundamental knowledge gained in this project will have immediate practical applications as modern PCFB reactors are considered to be the most suitable systems for the combustion of biomass char particles.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
Multiscale modelling of the transport phenomena of liquid iron and slag in ironmaking blast furnace. Blast furnace ironmaking is a key operation in the steel industry which, with an annual turnover around $11 billion, is a significant manufacturing sector in Australia. This project, focused on the behaviour of liquid iron and slag, can generate computer models that can reliably describe the complicated multiphase flow and thermochemical processes in the furnace. The implementation of the resulta ....Multiscale modelling of the transport phenomena of liquid iron and slag in ironmaking blast furnace. Blast furnace ironmaking is a key operation in the steel industry which, with an annual turnover around $11 billion, is a significant manufacturing sector in Australia. This project, focused on the behaviour of liquid iron and slag, can generate computer models that can reliably describe the complicated multiphase flow and thermochemical processes in the furnace. The implementation of the resultant models and the new understanding should lead to long life campaigns, better operational control, decreased fuel consumption, improved productivity and reduced environmental impact. This, together with the proposed research training, is important to the development of Australia's competitive steel industry.Read moreRead less