Towards New Functionality in Dairy Ingredients. The Australian dairy industry plays a significant part in the nation’s economy, with almost $3 billion in export revenue in 2016-2017. Powdered dairy products extend shelf life and ease of transport, with >20% annual growth in premium products, such as milk protein concentrates and infant formula powders. This project aims to support the development of value-added dairy powders by investigating the impact of a novel high pressure processing technol ....Towards New Functionality in Dairy Ingredients. The Australian dairy industry plays a significant part in the nation’s economy, with almost $3 billion in export revenue in 2016-2017. Powdered dairy products extend shelf life and ease of transport, with >20% annual growth in premium products, such as milk protein concentrates and infant formula powders. This project aims to support the development of value-added dairy powders by investigating the impact of a novel high pressure processing technology in enhancing the properties of dairy powders and/or introducing new functionality. Successful outcomes will help expand the offering of high value dairy ingredients and thus increase the global competitiveness of Australian dairy manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Modelling of Slug Pneumatic Conveying with an In-situ Microprobe Sensor. This project aims to develop a particle-scale microprobe to capture the transient dynamics of particle behaviours for pneumatic conveying. Slug flow pneumatic transport of granular materials such as mineral particles and food grains is extremely popular across the processing industry. However, without the fundamental understanding of the conveying mechanism at the particulate level, pneumatic conveyors are over-designed and ....Modelling of Slug Pneumatic Conveying with an In-situ Microprobe Sensor. This project aims to develop a particle-scale microprobe to capture the transient dynamics of particle behaviours for pneumatic conveying. Slug flow pneumatic transport of granular materials such as mineral particles and food grains is extremely popular across the processing industry. However, without the fundamental understanding of the conveying mechanism at the particulate level, pneumatic conveyors are over-designed and energy intensive. The project aims to enable accurate measurement of the motion, inertia and force information at the particle scale, so as to produce more accurate design protocols for such a conveying system. Improved pneumatic conveyors may have the potential to reduce the energy consumption in such systems by up to a factor of 10.Read moreRead less
Modelling and characterisation of biomass materials for pneumatic transport. This project aims to develop a particle scale microprobe to capture the transient dynamics of biomass compaction, dilation and associated airflow for pneumatic conveying and potentially beyond. Low velocity, dense phase pneumatic transport presents the ideal method for transporting delicate biomass feedstocks. However, without the fundamental understanding of the compactive and dilative response of biomass ensembles, pn ....Modelling and characterisation of biomass materials for pneumatic transport. This project aims to develop a particle scale microprobe to capture the transient dynamics of biomass compaction, dilation and associated airflow for pneumatic conveying and potentially beyond. Low velocity, dense phase pneumatic transport presents the ideal method for transporting delicate biomass feedstocks. However, without the fundamental understanding of the compactive and dilative response of biomass ensembles, pneumatic conveyors will be over-designed and energy intensive. This project will enable accurate measurement of the motion, inertia and force information at the particle scale, to produce more accurate design protocols for dense phase biomass pneumatic transport.Read moreRead less
Modelling of particle-fluid reactive flows coupled with phase changes. This project aims to develop an integrated mathematical model for reliably describing multiphase reactive flow coupled with phase change. Particle-fluid reactive flows with phase changes are widely encountered in many energy-intensive industries, yet process design and optimization are hindered by the lack of understanding of complex phenomena governing particularly multiphase flow, phase change and their interactions. The m ....Modelling of particle-fluid reactive flows coupled with phase changes. This project aims to develop an integrated mathematical model for reliably describing multiphase reactive flow coupled with phase change. Particle-fluid reactive flows with phase changes are widely encountered in many energy-intensive industries, yet process design and optimization are hindered by the lack of understanding of complex phenomena governing particularly multiphase flow, phase change and their interactions. The model will be achieved by means of combining advanced particle-scale numerical techniques with pre-database-based thermodynamic model, supported by physical experiments. The outcomes will be applied across a range of industries of vital importance to Australian economic and technological future. It will help transform Australian pyrometallurgy and chemical industries, open new markets for a range of Australian minerals like low-grade coal and iron/copper ore, and ultimately enhance competitiveness of Australian economy.Read moreRead less
Developing novel aerosol inhalers for pulmonary drug delivery from the fundamental understanding of powder dispersion mechanisms. The project seeks to understand how powder aerosol inhalers can be significantly improved. The outcome will provide therapeutic benefits to the Australian community for better treatment of respiratory diseases and facilitate environmentally friendly technology since these inhalers do not require any harmful organic solvents to operate.
Use of Gas Expanded Liquids to Facilitate Process Intensification. The aim of this research is the utilisation of gas expanded liquids (GXLs) in technology platforms based on the principles of process intensification (PI). In order to facilitate the attainment of project objectives a comprehensive investigation of the fundamental properties of GXLs, and their interactions is proposed. A significant component of the programme is expected to be to use the knowledge obtained to facilitate the devel ....Use of Gas Expanded Liquids to Facilitate Process Intensification. The aim of this research is the utilisation of gas expanded liquids (GXLs) in technology platforms based on the principles of process intensification (PI). In order to facilitate the attainment of project objectives a comprehensive investigation of the fundamental properties of GXLs, and their interactions is proposed. A significant component of the programme is expected to be to use the knowledge obtained to facilitate the development of scale-up protocol for PI based methodologies, with particular emphasis on the production of biomaterials. GXLs technology is frontier technology with regard to the biomaterials sector.Read moreRead less
An investigation of granular stress fields and permeability interactions in gas-solid flow. This project will provide the fundamental theoretical basis for a completely new approach to the design of dense phase pneumatic conveying systems. This will lead to improved energy efficiency, significantly greater operational reliability and reduced wear of system components for the transport of bulk solids in the resource and process industries.
Modelling of polydisperse particle-fluid reacting flows. Complex polydisperse particle-fluid reacting flows are widely practised in many industries where particle size distribution is wide and particle number is huge, yet the process design and optimisation are hindered by the lack of fundamental understanding of the complex reacting flows, particularly polydispersity and interactions. The project will tackle this specific challenge by developing a novel particle-scale mathematical model by inco ....Modelling of polydisperse particle-fluid reacting flows. Complex polydisperse particle-fluid reacting flows are widely practised in many industries where particle size distribution is wide and particle number is huge, yet the process design and optimisation are hindered by the lack of fundamental understanding of the complex reacting flows, particularly polydispersity and interactions. The project will tackle this specific challenge by developing a novel particle-scale mathematical model by incorporating new numerical techniques of interphase heat/mass transfers, polydispersity and computation speed-up; and applying it to two typical industry processes for demonstration. The outcomes will be applied across a range of industries of vital importance to Australian economic and technological future.Read moreRead less
Enabling aerosol delivery of phages to defeat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This project aims to explore the use of bacteriophages towards producing a safe, natural, and highly effective alternative to traditional antibiotics. Respiratory infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are a major health problem worldwide, and cost Australia over $150 million annually. Some 5,000 Australians die each year from antibiotic resistant infections. The project aims to produce efficac ....Enabling aerosol delivery of phages to defeat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This project aims to explore the use of bacteriophages towards producing a safe, natural, and highly effective alternative to traditional antibiotics. Respiratory infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are a major health problem worldwide, and cost Australia over $150 million annually. Some 5,000 Australians die each year from antibiotic resistant infections. The project aims to produce efficacious and stable formulations of bacteriophages for easy delivery by inhalation as aerosols with a long shelf-life, making them a commercially viable product. The expected research outcome can lead to an economic and efficient technology to produce phage powders for novel treatment strategies of infections by inhalation.Read moreRead less
The role of electrostatic charge in airway deposition of aerosols. This project aims to unravel the importance of electrostatic charge in controlling deposition of aerosols in the respiratory tract. The expected outcome is a validated mathematical model for accurately predicting deposition behaviour of charged aerosol particles in human airways. Findings may ultimately be used to underpin novel prevention measures to reduce lung deposition of inhaled hazardous airborne particles to significantly ....The role of electrostatic charge in airway deposition of aerosols. This project aims to unravel the importance of electrostatic charge in controlling deposition of aerosols in the respiratory tract. The expected outcome is a validated mathematical model for accurately predicting deposition behaviour of charged aerosol particles in human airways. Findings may ultimately be used to underpin novel prevention measures to reduce lung deposition of inhaled hazardous airborne particles to significantly reduce health risks and costs. They may also be used to enable the development of new inhalation technologies based on electrostatic charge to improve aerosol drug delivery to the lungs of patients with respiratory diseases.Read moreRead less