Mechanism and Control of In-situ Minerals Extraction. By introducing the theory of coupled hydraulic-mechanical-thermal-chemical processes and the well technology in petroleum engineering into in-situ minerals extraction, mineral values will be extracted directly from ore deposits without the need for mining. This work will have the potential to convert the known sub-economic mineral resources (about 37 million tonnes in Australia alone) into reserves. The five-year project will lead to a comput ....Mechanism and Control of In-situ Minerals Extraction. By introducing the theory of coupled hydraulic-mechanical-thermal-chemical processes and the well technology in petroleum engineering into in-situ minerals extraction, mineral values will be extracted directly from ore deposits without the need for mining. This work will have the potential to convert the known sub-economic mineral resources (about 37 million tonnes in Australia alone) into reserves. The five-year project will lead to a computer simulation assisted in-situ minerals extraction methodology for application in mining industry.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
WAVELET-BASED MODELLING AND MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF COMPLEX MULTIDIMENSIONAL CRYSTALLISATION PROCESSES. The results of this project will directly contribute to a better understanding of crystallisation which is an important unit operation to achieve high purity separations. Many Australian industries for example, mineral processing, sugar processing, pharmaceuticals, etc will benefit from the results in order to enhance optimal operation and control to ensure globally competitive production ....WAVELET-BASED MODELLING AND MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF COMPLEX MULTIDIMENSIONAL CRYSTALLISATION PROCESSES. The results of this project will directly contribute to a better understanding of crystallisation which is an important unit operation to achieve high purity separations. Many Australian industries for example, mineral processing, sugar processing, pharmaceuticals, etc will benefit from the results in order to enhance optimal operation and control to ensure globally competitive production which is on time, minimize wastes and raw materials and inventories. The leading edge results will increase the contributions of these industries to the Australian economy and our global competitiveness necessary to maintain our culture and the beauty of our environment. Read moreRead less
Continuum Damage Mechanics in Geotechnical Engineering. Mining and oil exploration are amongst the major industries in Australia and must address geotechnical problems in which growth in damage plays a central role. For example, failure of an offshore platform can occur under cyclic environmental loading, due to accumulated damage to the seabed soils. Design tools are therefore needed that incorporate continuum damage mechanics in modelling the response of geomaterials. The project will place Au ....Continuum Damage Mechanics in Geotechnical Engineering. Mining and oil exploration are amongst the major industries in Australia and must address geotechnical problems in which growth in damage plays a central role. For example, failure of an offshore platform can occur under cyclic environmental loading, due to accumulated damage to the seabed soils. Design tools are therefore needed that incorporate continuum damage mechanics in modelling the response of geomaterials. The project will place Australia at the forefront in this field through the development of rigorous yet simple numerical models that achieve this, and thus underpin safe but economic geotechnical engineering solutions in the mineral resource industries.Read moreRead less
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
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
Fracture propagation through fragmented solids. This project investigates fracture propagation in heavily fractured (fragmented) solids such as rock masses, ice covers, fractured coatings, mortar-free structures. It introduces new ideas and methods and has potential to result in a breakthrough science to achieve better understanding of the fundamental processes of fracturing fragmented materials that will advance knowledge and develop technological innovations. A particular outcome of the projec ....Fracture propagation through fragmented solids. This project investigates fracture propagation in heavily fractured (fragmented) solids such as rock masses, ice covers, fractured coatings, mortar-free structures. It introduces new ideas and methods and has potential to result in a breakthrough science to achieve better understanding of the fundamental processes of fracturing fragmented materials that will advance knowledge and develop technological innovations. A particular outcome of the project will be in developing tools for designing new materials with enhanced failure resistance. Another application is in Resource Engineering and Earth and Planetary Science; the project will contribute to understanding of fracture propagation in the Earth's (and generally, planetary) crust.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354778
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000.00
Summary
Deep Earth Resource Characterisation and Extraction - An Integrated Geoscience Approach. Sustainability, economy and safety in resource recovery require a high level of understanding of the mechanics of geomaterials in their natural conditions and a multidisciplinary approach to the geotechnical issues involved. This initiative aims to bridge gaps between geotechnical disciplines, to combine the testing, analytical skills and experience of the research groups and to incorporate expertise and ide ....Deep Earth Resource Characterisation and Extraction - An Integrated Geoscience Approach. Sustainability, economy and safety in resource recovery require a high level of understanding of the mechanics of geomaterials in their natural conditions and a multidisciplinary approach to the geotechnical issues involved. This initiative aims to bridge gaps between geotechnical disciplines, to combine the testing, analytical skills and experience of the research groups and to incorporate expertise and ideas from the cognate disciplines of geology and geophysics so that innovative engineering practice will develop. This approach should achieve breakthroughs in understanding the behaviour of, and the safe economic extraction from deep resources including minerals, coal, gas drainage, petroleum and geothermal energy.Read moreRead less