Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR180100040
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$381,468.00
Summary
Efficient PFAS removal from urban wastewater using a novel two-step approach. This project aims to enhance the removal of per- and poly-fluroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds from municipal wastewater by making two simple amendments to standard wastewater treatment plants. Magnetite nanoparticles will be added to the treatment process, which adsorb PFAS compounds and reduce them to acceptable environmental levels. The resulting sludge will be dried and ashed in a simple and novel self-sustaining ....Efficient PFAS removal from urban wastewater using a novel two-step approach. This project aims to enhance the removal of per- and poly-fluroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds from municipal wastewater by making two simple amendments to standard wastewater treatment plants. Magnetite nanoparticles will be added to the treatment process, which adsorb PFAS compounds and reduce them to acceptable environmental levels. The resulting sludge will be dried and ashed in a simple and novel self-sustaining smoldering process which will render the captured PFAS to small ash, condensate and gaseous streams suitable for established destruction technologies. The project is expected to provide support to water utilities in achieving sustainable water treatment and result in environmental and social benefits to the community.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100531
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,000.00
Summary
Circular clean energy regulation to solve the PV solar waste crisis. This project aims to design a new analytical framework, circular clean energy regulation, to fundamentally re-orient renewable energy law from the accelerated uptake of new technologies to a lifecycle approach. This re-orientation is urgently needed because while Australia is world leading in its uptake of rooftop solar, 90% of used panels go to landfill as hazardous waste. This project will explore how circular clean energy re ....Circular clean energy regulation to solve the PV solar waste crisis. This project aims to design a new analytical framework, circular clean energy regulation, to fundamentally re-orient renewable energy law from the accelerated uptake of new technologies to a lifecycle approach. This re-orientation is urgently needed because while Australia is world leading in its uptake of rooftop solar, 90% of used panels go to landfill as hazardous waste. This project will explore how circular clean energy regulation can improve the management of solar waste to reap the significant environmental, security and health benefits associated with solar recycling and critical mineral recovery. Expected outcomes include a new circular model of regulating renewable technologies, and better regulation and recovery of solar waste.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH230100011
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,955,854.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Value-Added Processing of Underutilised Carbon Waste. This Hub aims to advance upcycling technologies and associated regulatory and social engagement for processing underutilised carbon waste within Australia. Its anticipated goal is to deliver value-added products, and improved technology readiness levels for full exploitation of carbon wastes from agriculture, tyres and plastics. It will also train a large talent pool providing interdisciplinary knowledge and entrepreneuri ....ARC Research Hub for Value-Added Processing of Underutilised Carbon Waste. This Hub aims to advance upcycling technologies and associated regulatory and social engagement for processing underutilised carbon waste within Australia. Its anticipated goal is to deliver value-added products, and improved technology readiness levels for full exploitation of carbon wastes from agriculture, tyres and plastics. It will also train a large talent pool providing interdisciplinary knowledge and entrepreneurial skills for post-hub commercialisation. The Hub will benefit rural Australia by transforming local job markets and manufacturing capability. Ultimately, this Hub will make a significant contribution towards achieving Australia’s National Waste Action Plan goal by 2030, and a circular economy for a sustainable future. Read moreRead less
Reducing plate waste in hotels - which interventions are most effective? This project aims to quantify the comparative effectiveness of belief-based and choice-architecture-based interventions in reducing food waste generated by tourists at hotel buffets. Expected outcomes include: new insights into effective triggers of pro-environmental tourist behaviour; the first empirical data on carbon emissions caused by plate waste in tourism; an automatic plate waste measurement system and benchmarking ....Reducing plate waste in hotels - which interventions are most effective? This project aims to quantify the comparative effectiveness of belief-based and choice-architecture-based interventions in reducing food waste generated by tourists at hotel buffets. Expected outcomes include: new insights into effective triggers of pro-environmental tourist behaviour; the first empirical data on carbon emissions caused by plate waste in tourism; an automatic plate waste measurement system and benchmarking app for monitoring and comparison; and effective practical measures to reduce avoidable food leftovers generated by tourists. This should provide significant benefits by: lowering food cost for the struggling tourism industry, reducing carbon emissions, and contributing to Australia’s aim of halving food waste by 2030.Read moreRead less
Chemicals in compostable food contact paper packaging materials. The aim of this project is to understand the presence of persistent chemicals in recyclable and compostable food contact materials (FCMs). These types of products are destined for recycling or biowaste streams that bridge the gap from take-make-dispose and into a circular economy. Currently, the knowledge of the chemicals in these products is limited but we need to ensure that they are safe and do not unnecessarily contaminate reso ....Chemicals in compostable food contact paper packaging materials. The aim of this project is to understand the presence of persistent chemicals in recyclable and compostable food contact materials (FCMs). These types of products are destined for recycling or biowaste streams that bridge the gap from take-make-dispose and into a circular economy. Currently, the knowledge of the chemicals in these products is limited but we need to ensure that they are safe and do not unnecessarily contaminate resource recovery streams. It is expected that this project will develop a framework that could be used by industry and government to prevent chemicals of concern persisting in a circular economy, providing environmental and economic benefits through reduced risk of chemical exposure and unnecessary remediation costs.Read moreRead less
Analytics to predict anaerobic codigestion & downstream process performance. This project aims to develop management approaches to enable the use of anaerobic co-digestion — the conversion of organic wastes and wastewater sludge to biogas for electricity production. Anaerobic co-digestion has the potential to bring significant economic savings to water stakeholders and environmental benefits to communities. However, full-scale deployment faces fundamental challenges in terms of managing impacts ....Analytics to predict anaerobic codigestion & downstream process performance. This project aims to develop management approaches to enable the use of anaerobic co-digestion — the conversion of organic wastes and wastewater sludge to biogas for electricity production. Anaerobic co-digestion has the potential to bring significant economic savings to water stakeholders and environmental benefits to communities. However, full-scale deployment faces fundamental challenges in terms of managing impacts on downstream processes (e.g. odour, dewaterability, biogas quality, and nutrient build-up). The analytical framework and analytics tool to be developed in this project by an interdisciplinary team with expertise in process engineering, biochemistry, analytical chemistry and analytics, is expected to enable water stakeholders to cost-effectively manage these impacts and thus realise the benefits of co-digestion.Read moreRead less
Maximising Bioenergy Recovery from Sewage Sludge. Sewage treatment is producing large amounts of sewage sludge, which represents a substantial, but largely untapped, energy source. This project aims to develop and demonstrate an innovative, economically attractive and environmentally friendly technology, and the underpinning science, to maximize bioenergy recovery from sewage sludge. The technology is based on the treatment of sludge using free ammonia, a by-product of sewage treatment. This pro ....Maximising Bioenergy Recovery from Sewage Sludge. Sewage treatment is producing large amounts of sewage sludge, which represents a substantial, but largely untapped, energy source. This project aims to develop and demonstrate an innovative, economically attractive and environmentally friendly technology, and the underpinning science, to maximize bioenergy recovery from sewage sludge. The technology is based on the treatment of sludge using free ammonia, a by-product of sewage treatment. This project is expected to benefit Australia by substantially reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and accelerating a shift to affordable renewable energy. The outcomes of the project would provide significant energy, economic, environmental and social benefits for Australians. Read moreRead less
The use of chiral pharmaceutical compounds to characterise sewage treatment processes and sewage contamination of surface waters. Contamination by poorly treated and untreated sewage can severely degrade the quality of Australian surface waters. However, the behaviour of organic chemicals during conventional sewage treatment processes remains poorly understood. Furthermore, raw sewage pollution is generally not distinguishable from properly discharged treated sewage effluent by current analytica ....The use of chiral pharmaceutical compounds to characterise sewage treatment processes and sewage contamination of surface waters. Contamination by poorly treated and untreated sewage can severely degrade the quality of Australian surface waters. However, the behaviour of organic chemicals during conventional sewage treatment processes remains poorly understood. Furthermore, raw sewage pollution is generally not distinguishable from properly discharged treated sewage effluent by current analytical methods. The proposed research will provide a chemical marker for characterising treatment processes and identifying untreated sewage pollution. This will help to identify sources of such pollution so that they may be corrected. A principal outcome of the research will be the improved ability to protect Australia's valuable surface waters from sewage pollution.Read moreRead less
Overcoming microplastics induced inhibition on waste-to-energy conversion . This project aims to develop an innovative technology and the underpinning science to achieve stable and efficient mitigation of emerging microplastics induced inhibition that is becoming a key barrier hindering waste-to-energy conversion in anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is a low-cost technology widely used to divert sewage sludge to renewable energy production. However, the increasing levels of microplastics ....Overcoming microplastics induced inhibition on waste-to-energy conversion . This project aims to develop an innovative technology and the underpinning science to achieve stable and efficient mitigation of emerging microplastics induced inhibition that is becoming a key barrier hindering waste-to-energy conversion in anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is a low-cost technology widely used to divert sewage sludge to renewable energy production. However, the increasing levels of microplastics captured in sludge leads to low methane yield and process failure due to their small size and specific characteristics. The outcome of the project will remove the emerging barrier to enhance energy recovery that can be applied in existing anaerobic digestion infrastructure for addressing Australia’s increasing energy demand.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100530
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$459,350.00
Summary
Directly Transforming Sewage Sludge into High-value Liquid Bioenergy. This project aims to develop an innovative technology and the underpinning science to gain renewable liquid bioenergy from sewage sludge and realise sludge reduction on an economical and safe platform, by directly transforming sewage sludge into high-value medium chain fatty acids, allowing for easy collection, storage and transportation. Wastewater treatment is generating an increasing quantity of carbon-rich sewage sludge, w ....Directly Transforming Sewage Sludge into High-value Liquid Bioenergy. This project aims to develop an innovative technology and the underpinning science to gain renewable liquid bioenergy from sewage sludge and realise sludge reduction on an economical and safe platform, by directly transforming sewage sludge into high-value medium chain fatty acids, allowing for easy collection, storage and transportation. Wastewater treatment is generating an increasing quantity of carbon-rich sewage sludge, which typically represents a substantial, but largely untapped, renewable resource. The intended outcome of the project will transform sewage sludge from a troublesome waste stream to a valuable resource that can be applied in existing sludge treatment infrastructure for addressing Australia’s increasing energy demand.Read moreRead less