Particle scale modelling of dense medium cyclones in coal preparation. Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter, and black coal is Australia's largest export, worth around $A13.5 billion annually. Dense medium cyclones process the vast majority of tonnes fed to Australian coal preparation plants, and hence play a critical economic role in coal production. This project aims at providing substantial design and operational improvements through the application of a novel combined continuum and ....Particle scale modelling of dense medium cyclones in coal preparation. Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter, and black coal is Australia's largest export, worth around $A13.5 billion annually. Dense medium cyclones process the vast majority of tonnes fed to Australian coal preparation plants, and hence play a critical economic role in coal production. This project aims at providing substantial design and operational improvements through the application of a novel combined continuum and discrete modelling method. Specifically, the improvements targeted relate to better process and product control, a decrease in unit energy consumption and improvements in productivity, which, together with the research training offered, will further enhance Australia's leading position in global coal industry.Read moreRead less
Fundamental studies of screening processes in coal preparation. Screening is a most important unit operation widely used in industries but not well understood. This project will investigate the fundamentals governing the dynamic behaviour of coal slurry on desliming screens by a combined theoretical and experimental program. Its aim is to develop and validate a computer model that can simulate the operation under various conditions at a particle level, providing a cost effective way to quantify ....Fundamental studies of screening processes in coal preparation. Screening is a most important unit operation widely used in industries but not well understood. This project will investigate the fundamentals governing the dynamic behaviour of coal slurry on desliming screens by a combined theoretical and experimental program. Its aim is to develop and validate a computer model that can simulate the operation under various conditions at a particle level, providing a cost effective way to quantify the screening performance in relation to materials, machine and operation conditions. It will generate a basis for developing better design and control strategies of screen operation, resulting in an improved competitiveness of Australia's mineral industry.Read moreRead less
Particle scale modelling and analysis of the multiphase flows in coal preparation. Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter, and black coal is Australia's largest export, with an annual value >$20 billion. Optimum design and control of the processes in coal preparation play a critical economic role in coal production. This project aims at providing substantial improvements through the application of a novel combined continuum and discrete modelling method. Specifically, the improvements ta ....Particle scale modelling and analysis of the multiphase flows in coal preparation. Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter, and black coal is Australia's largest export, with an annual value >$20 billion. Optimum design and control of the processes in coal preparation play a critical economic role in coal production. This project aims at providing substantial improvements through the application of a novel combined continuum and discrete modelling method. Specifically, the improvements targeted relate to better process and product control, a decrease in unit energy consumption and improvements in productivity, which, together with the research training offered, will further enhance Australia's leading position in global coal industry.Read moreRead less
Fundamental studies of multiphase flow and separation performance of natural medium cyclones for recovering waste coal. This project aims to develop an effective method to design, control and optimise natural medium cyclones for recovering waste coal, important for environmental protection and for energy efficiency. Its conduct will enhance Australia's leading position in the coal industry.
Multiscale physics theory to understand secondary migration of hydrocarbons. This project aims to derive mathematical models to reveal the geological history of how petroleum accumulates at laboratory, reservoir, and basin scales. The project will identify secondary migration trajectories of hydrocarbons from source rocks to stratigraphic traps, to optimise exploration for energy resources. By enabling multiscale analytical modelling, the new model will improve the reliability of reservoir chara ....Multiscale physics theory to understand secondary migration of hydrocarbons. This project aims to derive mathematical models to reveal the geological history of how petroleum accumulates at laboratory, reservoir, and basin scales. The project will identify secondary migration trajectories of hydrocarbons from source rocks to stratigraphic traps, to optimise exploration for energy resources. By enabling multiscale analytical modelling, the new model will improve the reliability of reservoir characterisation at the crucial initial exploitation stage, and prediction of oil-gas distribution in petroleum basin. The novel multiscale approach is expected to significantly improve exploration and exploitation and create highly skilled jobs to incorporate such modelling into the energy sector.Read moreRead less
Experimentally validated theory for the mixing of granular materials. The project aims to develop better mixing theories to support industrial applications. Effective mixing of granular materials such as aggregates in building industry and stockpiles in mineral processing is important for creating homogeneous products, yet industrial mixers lack scientific design and operate with no control of mixture quality. The project aims to establish a new general continuum mixing theory, which will be val ....Experimentally validated theory for the mixing of granular materials. The project aims to develop better mixing theories to support industrial applications. Effective mixing of granular materials such as aggregates in building industry and stockpiles in mineral processing is important for creating homogeneous products, yet industrial mixers lack scientific design and operate with no control of mixture quality. The project aims to establish a new general continuum mixing theory, which will be validated against X-ray measurements of grain motions within small mixers. By describing the theory using an accurate computational method, the simulations of these mixers will be scalable, and would help deliver predictions for particle mixing in much larger operations. Other expected outcomes are to control mixture quality and reduce industry reliance on costly and time-consuming trial-and-error experiments.Read moreRead less
Slag Entrainment and Dispersion in Continuous Slab Casting. Australia's steel industry employs 75,000 people and has an annual turnover in excess of $21 billion. However, it produces less than 8 million tonnes of steel per annum which is approximately 7 percent of the world's production. Australia does not have the economies of scale and to be competitive, must invest heavily in new technology and have best workplace practices to generate products that are superior to low cost competitors. This ....Slag Entrainment and Dispersion in Continuous Slab Casting. Australia's steel industry employs 75,000 people and has an annual turnover in excess of $21 billion. However, it produces less than 8 million tonnes of steel per annum which is approximately 7 percent of the world's production. Australia does not have the economies of scale and to be competitive, must invest heavily in new technology and have best workplace practices to generate products that are superior to low cost competitors. This project is focussed on improving product quality through invention of new equipment which also overcomes current operational practices and creates a safer working environment. Read moreRead less
Granular dynamics: theories, modelling and simulation. Particle science and technology is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research field and is of paramount importance Australia in view of the heavy dependence on raw materials processing. This project will tackle the core problems in this field by developing novel theories and mathematical models to describe the flow of particles. Application of the research outcomes can lead to better process or product control, a decrease in energy cons ....Granular dynamics: theories, modelling and simulation. Particle science and technology is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research field and is of paramount importance Australia in view of the heavy dependence on raw materials processing. This project will tackle the core problems in this field by developing novel theories and mathematical models to describe the flow of particles. Application of the research outcomes can lead to better process or product control, a decrease in energy consumption and an improvement in productivity, which, together with the research training offered through the conduct of the work, is very helpful to maintaining Australia's leading position in resource, energy, process and allied industries.Read moreRead less
Catastrophic Rock and Concrete Brittle Failures. Brittle rocks and concrete under extreme stresses fracture spontaneously and without pre-warning. In deep mining and tunnelling this causes fatalities, injuries and serious damage. Based on recent advances by the CIs in understanding the effect of biaxial loading and the free surface on catastrophic fracture propagation, the project aims to develop a new paradigm of monitoring, prediction and prevention of dangerous skin rock burst-type failures. ....Catastrophic Rock and Concrete Brittle Failures. Brittle rocks and concrete under extreme stresses fracture spontaneously and without pre-warning. In deep mining and tunnelling this causes fatalities, injuries and serious damage. Based on recent advances by the CIs in understanding the effect of biaxial loading and the free surface on catastrophic fracture propagation, the project aims to develop a new paradigm of monitoring, prediction and prevention of dangerous skin rock burst-type failures. A unique experimental methodology, measurements and analytical and numerical models will be employed to provide a better understanding of the fundamental processes in rock fracturing. This will lead to safer and more cost-effective deep rock engineering designs.Read moreRead less
Discrete particle modelling and analysis of complex particle-fluid flows. Multiphase processes are widely used in both conventional and modern industries in Australia and worldwide, however rarely reach more than 60% of design capacity because of a poor understanding of their fundamental characteristics. This project aims to overcome this problem using an extensive combined fundamental and applied approach. The resulting theories, computer models and simulation techniques will be applied to imp ....Discrete particle modelling and analysis of complex particle-fluid flows. Multiphase processes are widely used in both conventional and modern industries in Australia and worldwide, however rarely reach more than 60% of design capacity because of a poor understanding of their fundamental characteristics. This project aims to overcome this problem using an extensive combined fundamental and applied approach. The resulting theories, computer models and simulation techniques will be applied to improve process design, control and optimisation. Consequentially, productivity and Australian competitiveness will be significantly enhanced in its most important industries such as minerals, metallurgical, chemical, energy, and materials.Read moreRead less