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 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 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
Bubble Dynamics in Fine Droplets: Behaviour and Control. The principal vision in this project is to gain a deeper understanding of the formation, growth and collapse of bubbles within micron-size droplets and, in doing so, provide the technical underpinning necessary to advance the development of a range of emerging technologies in the light alloys manufacturing, atomisation, non-invasive medical therapy, drug delivery, and nucleation / solidification in thermal energy storage systems. Expected ....Bubble Dynamics in Fine Droplets: Behaviour and Control. The principal vision in this project is to gain a deeper understanding of the formation, growth and collapse of bubbles within micron-size droplets and, in doing so, provide the technical underpinning necessary to advance the development of a range of emerging technologies in the light alloys manufacturing, atomisation, non-invasive medical therapy, drug delivery, and nucleation / solidification in thermal energy storage systems. Expected outcomes include new experimental evidence and validated mathematical models for the analysis of bubbles encapsulated by fine droplets. The outcomes should significantly enhance Australia’s research and innovation capacity in the field of confined space bubble dynamics and related industrial applications. Read moreRead less
Unravelling the mechanics of particle deposition at the micro-scale. This project aims to discover the mechanisms responsible for the interactions between aerosol particles and surfaces in a range of air flow conditions. The project expects to transform our understanding of particle deposition through a combination of novel laser-based diagnostic techniques, optical coherence tomography, and state of the art particle formulation methodologies. Expected outcomes of the project include delivery of ....Unravelling the mechanics of particle deposition at the micro-scale. This project aims to discover the mechanisms responsible for the interactions between aerosol particles and surfaces in a range of air flow conditions. The project expects to transform our understanding of particle deposition through a combination of novel laser-based diagnostic techniques, optical coherence tomography, and state of the art particle formulation methodologies. Expected outcomes of the project include delivery of new methods to optimise particle deposition, development of tunable powder formulations, as well as definition of particle-surface interaction mechanisms in flows. The project should provide significant benefits to particle systems for applications ranging from additive manufacturing to aerosol delivery.Read moreRead less
Supercritical-microfluidics technology for targeted delivery to the colon. This research will develop nanosystems to target delivery of drugs to the colon. Our nanosystems will permit the combination of clinically used chemotherapy drugs within a single dosage form. This will improve the efficiency of delivery to the colon while reducing unwanted side-effects. A novel supercritical microfluidics system will be developed to produce therapeutic nano-carriers in a continuous mode with lower labour ....Supercritical-microfluidics technology for targeted delivery to the colon. This research will develop nanosystems to target delivery of drugs to the colon. Our nanosystems will permit the combination of clinically used chemotherapy drugs within a single dosage form. This will improve the efficiency of delivery to the colon while reducing unwanted side-effects. A novel supercritical microfluidics system will be developed to produce therapeutic nano-carriers in a continuous mode with lower labour requirement, higher production rate and better quality control than conventional production methods. The new process will combine benefits from both supercritical fluid technology (green process) and microfluidics (high mass & heat transfer).Read moreRead less
Biomass-derived Carbon Dots Enable Flexible, On-Demand Hydrogen Delivery . Methanol is a promising liquid hydrogen carrier for long distance H2 transportation and exportation, because it is rich in hydrogen content, cheap, recyclable between methanol-formaldehyde and easier to manufacture from renewable resources including biomass waste. The critical bottleneck in adopting methanol as the carrier is the demanding dehydrogenation process. The project aims to create a new class of photocatalyst ba ....Biomass-derived Carbon Dots Enable Flexible, On-Demand Hydrogen Delivery . Methanol is a promising liquid hydrogen carrier for long distance H2 transportation and exportation, because it is rich in hydrogen content, cheap, recyclable between methanol-formaldehyde and easier to manufacture from renewable resources including biomass waste. The critical bottleneck in adopting methanol as the carrier is the demanding dehydrogenation process. The project aims to create a new class of photocatalyst based on biomass-derived carbon nanodots grown on transition metal (di)chalcogenide nanosheets that can effectively enable a light-controlled methanol H2 release of desired quantity. The key outcomes will be a new class of photocatalysts and flexible, on-demand hydrogen delivery technology for liquid hydrogen carriers.Read moreRead less
Unravelling the rules on particle assembly into superstructures. Nanoparticle superstructures are assemblies of particles that exhibit high surface-to-volume ratio, periodicity and large packing density useful for drug delivery, photonics, sensing and energy storage. To realise the potential of these materials requires a predicative understanding of how interparticle forces control superstructure formation. This project will create a one-of-its-kind multiscale simulation framework to tailor the ....Unravelling the rules on particle assembly into superstructures. Nanoparticle superstructures are assemblies of particles that exhibit high surface-to-volume ratio, periodicity and large packing density useful for drug delivery, photonics, sensing and energy storage. To realise the potential of these materials requires a predicative understanding of how interparticle forces control superstructure formation. This project will create a one-of-its-kind multiscale simulation framework to tailor the assembly of anisotropic engineered nanoparticles into superstructures in liquids. Nanoparticle assembly simulation will be validated with a novel particle tracking microscopy in solution-based studies. This will enable the design and large-scale production of nanomaterials with controlled properties and functions.Read moreRead less
Counting neutrinos to per-mill accuracy. This Project aims to supply the most precise to-date calculation of a critical parameter in cosmology, the effective number of neutrinos, in the context of the standard model of particle physics. Crucial to the correct interpretation of cosmological observations, this parameter enables the reconstruction of the universe's timeline from which to infer its properties. The expected outcome is a number of 4-digit significance that can be used in all future co ....Counting neutrinos to per-mill accuracy. This Project aims to supply the most precise to-date calculation of a critical parameter in cosmology, the effective number of neutrinos, in the context of the standard model of particle physics. Crucial to the correct interpretation of cosmological observations, this parameter enables the reconstruction of the universe's timeline from which to infer its properties. The expected outcome is a number of 4-digit significance that can be used in all future cosmological computations/analyses. Besides raising Australia's international profile in basic science research, this project expects to provide significant societal benefits via the training of HDRs in advanced mathematical modelling and computing, transferable skills across many sectors.Read moreRead less
Extracting subtle hints for new phenomena at the Large Hadron Collider. This project aims to investigate the detailed nature of the Higgs theory which underpins the mass of elementary particles. The project aims to increase the understanding of particle interactions in the context of precise measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson that will come out of the experimental program at the large hadron collider. Expected outcomes include the development and application of methods to address ....Extracting subtle hints for new phenomena at the Large Hadron Collider. This project aims to investigate the detailed nature of the Higgs theory which underpins the mass of elementary particles. The project aims to increase the understanding of particle interactions in the context of precise measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson that will come out of the experimental program at the large hadron collider. Expected outcomes include the development and application of methods to address existing gaps in the framework that confronts theory and experiment and to efficiently explore its high dimensionality. The benefits of conducting this research in Australia include the development of intellectual culture and the training of early-career researchers as flexible problem solvers in academia or beyond. Read moreRead less