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
Robust fluid mixing through topological chaos. The Australian chemicals and plastics industry has an annual turnover of over $20 billion and employs over 77,000 people; fluid mixing is fundamental to this industry, yet the industry is recognised as underinvesting in research and development in this essential area. Furthermore, frontier technologies such as biotechnology and the next generation of smart materials also crucially rely on fluid mixing. This project aims to evaluate a new paradigm ( ....Robust fluid mixing through topological chaos. The Australian chemicals and plastics industry has an annual turnover of over $20 billion and employs over 77,000 people; fluid mixing is fundamental to this industry, yet the industry is recognised as underinvesting in research and development in this essential area. Furthermore, frontier technologies such as biotechnology and the next generation of smart materials also crucially rely on fluid mixing. This project aims to evaluate a new paradigm (topological chaos) for the design of mixers, to provide better and more robust mixers that work from microscopic to industrial scales.Read moreRead less
Economic Operability Assessment of Leaching Process at Kwinana Nickel Refinery. Process operability is concerned with systematic analysis and improvement of process performance in the face of variable operating conditions. This project will develop a rigorous methodology for analysis of process operability with respect to short-term and transient disturbances. The proposed technique will be applied to the Kwinana Nickel Refinery Leach section, in order to reduce the plant variability and increas ....Economic Operability Assessment of Leaching Process at Kwinana Nickel Refinery. Process operability is concerned with systematic analysis and improvement of process performance in the face of variable operating conditions. This project will develop a rigorous methodology for analysis of process operability with respect to short-term and transient disturbances. The proposed technique will be applied to the Kwinana Nickel Refinery Leach section, in order to reduce the plant variability and increase nickel throughput and plant availability. This can be considered as significant move by a process industry to embrace advanced theoretical developments and will act as a benchmark to promote future links between Australian industry and academia.Read moreRead less
Yield strength and plastic flow of heterogeneous materials: Designing optimal composites and porous materials. A major goal of materials science is to design materials with improved functionality at lower weight, cost and size. It is important to guide this expensive and time-consuming process with sophisticated computer modelling. In this project we aim to model how and why composite and porous materials fail when they are placed under stress. Our results will make materials design more efficie ....Yield strength and plastic flow of heterogeneous materials: Designing optimal composites and porous materials. A major goal of materials science is to design materials with improved functionality at lower weight, cost and size. It is important to guide this expensive and time-consuming process with sophisticated computer modelling. In this project we aim to model how and why composite and porous materials fail when they are placed under stress. Our results will make materials design more efficient by providing a valuable experimental interpretive tool and a theoretical map for material optimization. Our models will also provide crucial information needed for modelling the behavior of composites in applications.Read moreRead less
An Advanced Numerical Technique for Stability Analysis of Mining Excavations in Jointed/Faulted Rock Masses under High Stresses. The aim of this project is to develop a sophisticated mathematical model and computational technique for the stability analysis of mining excavations in jointed/faulted rock masses. The development involves a novel solution method based on current work in finite element method, boundary element method and large-scale optimisation with partial differential equation cons ....An Advanced Numerical Technique for Stability Analysis of Mining Excavations in Jointed/Faulted Rock Masses under High Stresses. The aim of this project is to develop a sophisticated mathematical model and computational technique for the stability analysis of mining excavations in jointed/faulted rock masses. The development involves a novel solution method based on current work in finite element method, boundary element method and large-scale optimisation with partial differential equation constraints. The work is extremely important to the mining industry in Australia, as the outcomes of the project will provide engineers with an innovative simulation technique to optimise mine design and to predict and control rock failure so as to reduce personnel injuries and death toll in mine sites.Read moreRead less
Modelling the stability and efficiency of ring spinning. This research will benefit the animal fibre industry, particularly the multi-billion dollar wool industry. Low spinning efficiency adds a significant cost to the conversion of animal fibres into textile products, which reduces the competitive position of these natural fibres. The proposed research will lead to improvement in the efficiency of ring spinning. It has been estimated that a 1% improvement in spinning efficiency will add about $ ....Modelling the stability and efficiency of ring spinning. This research will benefit the animal fibre industry, particularly the multi-billion dollar wool industry. Low spinning efficiency adds a significant cost to the conversion of animal fibres into textile products, which reduces the competitive position of these natural fibres. The proposed research will lead to improvement in the efficiency of ring spinning. It has been estimated that a 1% improvement in spinning efficiency will add about $16 million to the wool industry alone. Read moreRead less
Modelling and minimising energy consumption in ring spinning. Australia's 4-billion dollar natural fibre production is spun into yarns via ring spinning mainly. A major drawback of this spinning system is its high energy consumption. This project will examine, theoretically and experimentally, the key factors contributing to energy consumption in ring spinning. It will generate new knowledge on the relationship between yarn hairiness and the air drag on a rapidly rotating yarn package and on a b ....Modelling and minimising energy consumption in ring spinning. Australia's 4-billion dollar natural fibre production is spun into yarns via ring spinning mainly. A major drawback of this spinning system is its high energy consumption. This project will examine, theoretically and experimentally, the key factors contributing to energy consumption in ring spinning. It will generate new knowledge on the relationship between yarn hairiness and the air drag on a rapidly rotating yarn package and on a ballooning yarn, and predict how this air drag affects the energy consumption during package build-up in ring spinning. This will lead to ways of minimising energy consumption in this most important spinning process.Read moreRead less
Efficient Operation of Bioreactors using Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Theory. Current methods of determining optimal operating conditions in bioreactors have recently been shown to be inefficient, resulting in serious omissions of crucial parameter regions. We will use mathematical techniques from dynamical systems theory to establish a general framework by which bioreactor systems can be efficiently and systematically investigated to improve reactor performance. By communicating these results at ....Efficient Operation of Bioreactors using Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Theory. Current methods of determining optimal operating conditions in bioreactors have recently been shown to be inefficient, resulting in serious omissions of crucial parameter regions. We will use mathematical techniques from dynamical systems theory to establish a general framework by which bioreactor systems can be efficiently and systematically investigated to improve reactor performance. By communicating these results at relevant fora, we will increase the awareness within the Australian and international engineering communities of the advantages of modern mathematical techniques. Although this proposal focuses on bioreactors, the techniques can be easily adapted to improve the performances of other chemical processes.
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Wavelet approaches for solving nonlinear dynamic systems in process engineering. The success of the proposed project will enable us to obtain more accurate numerical solutions for the nonlinear dynamical systems arising from process engineering. This ensures the potential for understanding and optimising industrial and engineering processes. Hence, a wide range of processing industries in Australia, such as agricultural chemicals, mineral processing, food, detergents, pharmaceuticals, ceramics ....Wavelet approaches for solving nonlinear dynamic systems in process engineering. The success of the proposed project will enable us to obtain more accurate numerical solutions for the nonlinear dynamical systems arising from process engineering. This ensures the potential for understanding and optimising industrial and engineering processes. Hence, a wide range of processing industries in Australia, such as agricultural chemicals, mineral processing, food, detergents, pharmaceuticals, ceramics and specialty chemicals will benefit from the results of this project. This will ensure globally competitive production and, therefore, greater contributions to the Australian economy.Read moreRead less
Mining venture risk: novel econometric methods to integrate joint financial and geological uncertainty into dynamic risk forecasting measures. The mining industry is nationally important: it contributed $33,927M to Australia's GDP in 2002-3. This project's outcomes - sophisticated statistical and econometric tools - will significantly improve capability for forecasting overall risk to mining projects requiring vast upfront, irreversible investments, and contribute to its efficiency and internati ....Mining venture risk: novel econometric methods to integrate joint financial and geological uncertainty into dynamic risk forecasting measures. The mining industry is nationally important: it contributed $33,927M to Australia's GDP in 2002-3. This project's outcomes - sophisticated statistical and econometric tools - will significantly improve capability for forecasting overall risk to mining projects requiring vast upfront, irreversible investments, and contribute to its efficiency and international competitiveness. Innovative methods driven by data from complex financial and geological systems will integrate price volatility risk and orebody uncertainty in a real options framework, providing holistic, rigorous measurement of mining venture risk. Xstrata Queensland Ltd will strongly support and participate in research training of an identified candidate to deliver discoveries to the wider industry.Read moreRead less