Development of symbiont based approaches to pest and disease control in sugarcane. This project aims to develop a new approach to the control of insect damage to sugarcane in Australia. It focuses on the manipulation of bacteria that are intimately associated with insects that feed on sugarcane, so as to decrease their ability to cause crop damage both directly through feeding and indirectly through the transmission of disease
Development of solvent extraction systems for improved sugar quality and yield. The recent collapse in the international sugar price and increased competition amongst producers have highlighted the vulnerability of Australian sugar mills and the regional communities reliant on sugar cane growing to variation in the price of this commodity. Hence, the development of new, more efficient means to produce raw sugar of high quality is of paramount importance to maintain Australia as a low cost produ ....Development of solvent extraction systems for improved sugar quality and yield. The recent collapse in the international sugar price and increased competition amongst producers have highlighted the vulnerability of Australian sugar mills and the regional communities reliant on sugar cane growing to variation in the price of this commodity. Hence, the development of new, more efficient means to produce raw sugar of high quality is of paramount importance to maintain Australia as a low cost producer. This project aims to investigate the use of unique solvent extraction methods to remove deleterious impurities from the raw cane juice in sugar mills with the consequent improvement in both sugar yield and quality.Read moreRead less
Manipulation of carbon partitioning to enhance the value of sugarcane. Manipulation of carbon partitioning to enhance the value of sugarcane. This project aims to develop enhanced varieties of sugarcane, a highly efficient crop for capturing carbon in plant biomass. This project will use genomic and metabolomic tools to investigate the biochemical and molecular genetic control of carbon partitioning into the major components of sugarcane biomass; identify key genetic controls of sucrose, cellulo ....Manipulation of carbon partitioning to enhance the value of sugarcane. Manipulation of carbon partitioning to enhance the value of sugarcane. This project aims to develop enhanced varieties of sugarcane, a highly efficient crop for capturing carbon in plant biomass. This project will use genomic and metabolomic tools to investigate the biochemical and molecular genetic control of carbon partitioning into the major components of sugarcane biomass; identify key genetic controls of sucrose, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin biosynthesis; and establish strategies for genetic selection of sugarcane genotypes with desirable biomass components. Anticipated outcomes are an optimised industrial sugarcane crops with higher sugar content and other biomass components designed for high value end uses such as bio-energy or bio-material production.Read moreRead less
Multiscale Modelling and Thermal Design Optimisation of Large-Scale Biomass Stockpiles for Use in Renewable Energy Products. By minimising the risk of spontaneous combustion this project will significantly contribute to the ability of the Australian sugar industry to store wet bagasse (sugar cane fibre residue) in large stockpiles. This will facilitate the year-round availability of biomass as a feedstock in renewable energy production. The mathematical models developed in this project deliver a ....Multiscale Modelling and Thermal Design Optimisation of Large-Scale Biomass Stockpiles for Use in Renewable Energy Products. By minimising the risk of spontaneous combustion this project will significantly contribute to the ability of the Australian sugar industry to store wet bagasse (sugar cane fibre residue) in large stockpiles. This will facilitate the year-round availability of biomass as a feedstock in renewable energy production. The mathematical models developed in this project deliver an enabling mechanism for facilitating the diversification of the sugar industry with the potential to produce significant financial returns for the industry. This research has the potential to initiate considerable and extremely positive, down-stream environmental impacts for Australia by enhancing feedstock production for ecologically sustainable power generation systems.Read moreRead less
Developing a smart supervisory control system for pan stage operations in sugar factories. This project aims to develop a prototype smart supervisory control system for pan stage crystallisation operations in raw sugar processing. Intelligent systems technologies will be tailored to provide a standardised approach for pan operations by using key process measurements and combining them with the collective expertise and knowledge of pan operators. This project will lead to a significant advance in ....Developing a smart supervisory control system for pan stage operations in sugar factories. This project aims to develop a prototype smart supervisory control system for pan stage crystallisation operations in raw sugar processing. Intelligent systems technologies will be tailored to provide a standardised approach for pan operations by using key process measurements and combining them with the collective expertise and knowledge of pan operators. This project will lead to a significant advance in the development of intelligent systems techniques for industrial applications and provide a better decision making strategy for pan stage operations with the benefit of reduced costs of sugar manufacture and increased profitability of the Australian sugar industry.Read moreRead less
Next-generation technology for determining fitness-for-use of starches in cereal grains. The project will deliver a new methodology to characterize starch-containing materials such as grains. This will provide the first tools to readily measure the full size distribution of starch in industry laboratories, giving far more information than is currently accessible. The data will be extremely sensitive to structural characteristics associated with desirable end-use properties. The new process will ....Next-generation technology for determining fitness-for-use of starches in cereal grains. The project will deliver a new methodology to characterize starch-containing materials such as grains. This will provide the first tools to readily measure the full size distribution of starch in industry laboratories, giving far more information than is currently accessible. The data will be extremely sensitive to structural characteristics associated with desirable end-use properties. The new process will enable conventional instrumentation methodology to be re-engineered to better select starch-containing materials. This will enable superior targeting and processing of materials for improved products in human nutrition, animal feed and manufactured goods such as biodegradable plastics.Read moreRead less
Condition-based maintenance optimisation for Australian sugar industry. The aim of this project is to develop innovative methodologies for the implementation of condition-based maintenance in the sugar milling industry. This is designed to optimise the allocation of limited maintenance resources and to significantly reduce the $350 million spent on maintenance in the industry each year. New methodologies will account for the seasonality of production and the complexity of allocating limited main ....Condition-based maintenance optimisation for Australian sugar industry. The aim of this project is to develop innovative methodologies for the implementation of condition-based maintenance in the sugar milling industry. This is designed to optimise the allocation of limited maintenance resources and to significantly reduce the $350 million spent on maintenance in the industry each year. New methodologies will account for the seasonality of production and the complexity of allocating limited maintenance resources across numerous equipment items and different production sites. The intended outcome of the project will improve the efficiency of maintenance and hence the global competitiveness of the Australian sugar industry.Read moreRead less
Development of bagasse fly ash adsorbent for the removal of impurities in sugar process streams. High quality raw sugar attracts a premium and is important in maintaining market access in these times of increasing competition and excess production from overseas producers. Options that are in current use in Australia for the removal of colour and impurities are not very cost effective. This research will develop a sugarcane waste (fly ash) into an adsorbent for the removal of these impurities. Th ....Development of bagasse fly ash adsorbent for the removal of impurities in sugar process streams. High quality raw sugar attracts a premium and is important in maintaining market access in these times of increasing competition and excess production from overseas producers. Options that are in current use in Australia for the removal of colour and impurities are not very cost effective. This research will develop a sugarcane waste (fly ash) into an adsorbent for the removal of these impurities. This will enable the sugar industry and rural communities to become more sustainable through enhanced competitiveness and diversification through co-generation and value-added products. This project will also reduce the disposal costs ($2 M/y) for the sugar industry and minimize environmental pollution due to the use of a waste product.Read moreRead less
Effect of cane sugar juice composition on scaling rate and scale composition in sugar mills. The Australia sugar industry produces 1100 GWh of renewable electricity annually, abating ~1.1 M tonnes of CO2-equivalent of greenhouse gases. This can be increased if the juice evaporation performance, which largely determines the energy efficiency of the sugar factory, can be improved through reduced fouling of evaporators. This project will investigate the effect of juice composition on fouling of sug ....Effect of cane sugar juice composition on scaling rate and scale composition in sugar mills. The Australia sugar industry produces 1100 GWh of renewable electricity annually, abating ~1.1 M tonnes of CO2-equivalent of greenhouse gases. This can be increased if the juice evaporation performance, which largely determines the energy efficiency of the sugar factory, can be improved through reduced fouling of evaporators. This project will investigate the effect of juice composition on fouling of sugar factory evaporators so that a model to predict scale type and scale propensity can be developed. This will enable the development of better scale control strategies, resulting in reduced energy usage and reduced usage of the hazardous and polluting chemicals required to remove scale.Read moreRead less
Metabolic engineering of sugarcane: production of a biodegradable bioplastic as a test-case. The aim of this project is to produce a commercially valuable bioplastic called PHB in transgenic sugarcane. This bioplastic has similar properties to petrochemically produced polypropylene, but is fully biodegradable. PHB has been produced in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana at commercially viable levels. The expected outcome of high-level production of PHB in sugarcane would have significant ben ....Metabolic engineering of sugarcane: production of a biodegradable bioplastic as a test-case. The aim of this project is to produce a commercially valuable bioplastic called PHB in transgenic sugarcane. This bioplastic has similar properties to petrochemically produced polypropylene, but is fully biodegradable. PHB has been produced in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana at commercially viable levels. The expected outcome of high-level production of PHB in sugarcane would have significant benefits to the Australian sugar industry, the rural economy, and the Australian environment.Read moreRead less