A coupled finite volume method for viscoelastic flow problems on highly-skewed unstructured meshes: a computational rheology revolution. Commercial tools are unavailable for 21st century industry to analyse complex flow processes involving viscoelastic materials. Using fabrication of microstructured polymer optical fibre as a key case study, a coupled finite volume methodology holds the key for the next generation of computational rheology simulators.
An innovative computational technique for the study and control of oscillation marks in continuous casting of steel. The project addresses an important problem in steel making industry. The success of the project will lead to a comprehensive understanding of the continuous steel casting process and the development of an innovative computational technique for the analysis of the process, which is important for the optimal control of the process. As Australia has a huge amount of mineral resources ....An innovative computational technique for the study and control of oscillation marks in continuous casting of steel. The project addresses an important problem in steel making industry. The success of the project will lead to a comprehensive understanding of the continuous steel casting process and the development of an innovative computational technique for the analysis of the process, which is important for the optimal control of the process. As Australia has a huge amount of mineral resources, improvement of the steel casting technology will result in great economic and social benefit. It will increase the revenue from the steelmaking industry and ensure the Australian steelmaking industry to be internationally competitive. The project will also lead to the production of a number of graduates with expertise directly useful to our local industry. Read moreRead less
Quantum Induced Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in Nanoporous Materials. This research addresses a key challenge in gas separation; that of separation of deuterium from hydrogen, while advancing the molecular science of adsorption and transport of light gases in molecularly confined spaces. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, not only because of the economic potential of deuterium, but because it will see a new generation of Australian researchers trained in mu ....Quantum Induced Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in Nanoporous Materials. This research addresses a key challenge in gas separation; that of separation of deuterium from hydrogen, while advancing the molecular science of adsorption and transport of light gases in molecularly confined spaces. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, not only because of the economic potential of deuterium, but because it will see a new generation of Australian researchers trained in multidisciplinary cutting-edge research while addressing several areas of national priority, including breakthrough sciences, and development of frontier technologies, and thereby creating new opportunities for industry.Read moreRead less
Improved Nanoscale and Molecular Models for Nanostructured Carbons, and their Applications in Simulation of Confined Fluids. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, a key one of which is the promotion of cross-disciplinary interaction and collaboration to conduct leading edge research in a technologically important area. In addition the project will utilize two PhD students who will be trained in research, and gain a broad range of skills in this multifaceted project involving t ....Improved Nanoscale and Molecular Models for Nanostructured Carbons, and their Applications in Simulation of Confined Fluids. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, a key one of which is the promotion of cross-disciplinary interaction and collaboration to conduct leading edge research in a technologically important area. In addition the project will utilize two PhD students who will be trained in research, and gain a broad range of skills in this multifaceted project involving theory, simulation and experiment. The research, grounded in molecular fundamentals, will also lead to the development of advanced tools for adsorption process modelling, useful in process design and scale-up, and contribute to Goal 1 of National Priority Area 3: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.Read moreRead less
Modelling of Adsorption Dynamics in Microporous Solids based on Molecular Dynamics Computations. This project seeks to incorporate non-equilibrium molecular dynamics calculations into particle scale models for adsorption kinetics. Molecular dynamics calculations will be performed for hydrocarbon molecules in small pores to obtain transport coefficients in pores of various sizes, at various bulk gas pressures and temperatures. These transport coefficients will be used in particle scale models t ....Modelling of Adsorption Dynamics in Microporous Solids based on Molecular Dynamics Computations. This project seeks to incorporate non-equilibrium molecular dynamics calculations into particle scale models for adsorption kinetics. Molecular dynamics calculations will be performed for hydrocarbon molecules in small pores to obtain transport coefficients in pores of various sizes, at various bulk gas pressures and temperatures. These transport coefficients will be used in particle scale models to obtain a dynamic model, which will be utilised to interpret experimental data from the literature as well as that being obtained in our laboratory. Such first principles-based modelling has not been performed before at the particle scale, and will mitigate the empiricism in existing approaches.Read moreRead less
A fundamental study of milk ultrafiltration. The Dairy Industry is one of Australia's largest domestic and export industries. The fundamental knowledge and models developed in this project will be used to optimise dairy membrane processing. This will reduce water and energy use to improve the global competitiveness and reduce the environmental impact of the Australian Dairy Industry.
Development of Superflux Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Gas Separation. The project seeks to develop gas separation membranes displaying superfluxes - throughputs 10 to 100 times higher than current systems, with lower operating costs. There is compelling evidence that very high flow rates are achievable and they have been shown for single gas transport. Theory predicts that highly selective separations are possible, but this has not yet been experimentally shown - a key outcome from this proje ....Development of Superflux Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Gas Separation. The project seeks to develop gas separation membranes displaying superfluxes - throughputs 10 to 100 times higher than current systems, with lower operating costs. There is compelling evidence that very high flow rates are achievable and they have been shown for single gas transport. Theory predicts that highly selective separations are possible, but this has not yet been experimentally shown - a key outcome from this project. The applications are widespread and include separation of carbon dioxide from power station flue gas for sequestration, purification of natural gas and provision of pure component gases such as oxygen and nitrogen amongst others.Read moreRead less
Hydrodynamics of Bubble Column Reactors. This project will study the hydrodynamics of bubble columns with the aim of optimising these reactors for offshore gas-to-liquid plants. Along with experiments using the state-of-art techniques such as the particle image velocimetry, radioactive particle tracking, electrical capacitance tomography and optical probes, computational fluid dynamics simulations will be conducted to gain a deeper insight into bubble-induced turbulence and regime transitions in ....Hydrodynamics of Bubble Column Reactors. This project will study the hydrodynamics of bubble columns with the aim of optimising these reactors for offshore gas-to-liquid plants. Along with experiments using the state-of-art techniques such as the particle image velocimetry, radioactive particle tracking, electrical capacitance tomography and optical probes, computational fluid dynamics simulations will be conducted to gain a deeper insight into bubble-induced turbulence and regime transitions in these reactors. This information will then be used to devise scale-up strategies of these complex and industrially important equipment.Read moreRead less
Solar-driven massive hydrogen production from biomass and biomass/coal mixtures by supercritical water gasification. Cheap and massive hydrogen production from renewable resources is one of the key challenges to achieve a hydrogen economy that promises to ultimately solve critical problems, such as energy depletion and climate change. This project exactly falls into this research and development priority and will benefit Australian economy and environment.
Analysing Instabilities in Complex Combustion Models for Different Geometrical Configurations. Anyone who has gazed into a fire will appreciate the complexity of combustion. To date only the simplest of models have been comprehensively analysed. This project, which aims to analyse more complex combustion models, will address some of the fundamental issues of combustion theory. Results from this project will lead to a better understanding of combustion processes, with the potential to prevent exp ....Analysing Instabilities in Complex Combustion Models for Different Geometrical Configurations. Anyone who has gazed into a fire will appreciate the complexity of combustion. To date only the simplest of models have been comprehensively analysed. This project, which aims to analyse more complex combustion models, will address some of the fundamental issues of combustion theory. Results from this project will lead to a better understanding of combustion processes, with the potential to prevent explosions in reactors and storage tanks. Other potential applications range from bushfires to the manufacture of exotic materials. Furthermore, the novel mathematical techniques developed in this project can be easily adapted to other types of systems such as those used in biology (eg. epidemiology and tumour growth), economics, physics etc. Read moreRead less