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
Defining Fundamental Principles for the Design and Operation of Membrane Systems from Time-Varying Performance Analysis. To date, much of the process improvement for industrial application of membrane technology has revolved around polymer science based development of membrane materials and process and module changes resulting from the application of basic (often simplistic) engineering principles. While some future improvements may still come from these areas, the most dramatic advances are li ....Defining Fundamental Principles for the Design and Operation of Membrane Systems from Time-Varying Performance Analysis. To date, much of the process improvement for industrial application of membrane technology has revolved around polymer science based development of membrane materials and process and module changes resulting from the application of basic (often simplistic) engineering principles. While some future improvements may still come from these areas, the most dramatic advances are likely to be derived from the application of advanced engineering principles to this complex system. This project will integrate advanced CFD modelling and control principles for the design and operation of membrane systems in order to develop fundamental understanding that should lead to significant process improvements.Read moreRead less
Harnessing renewable energy from low-carbon geothermal pavements. This project aims to investigate the extraction of renewable energy from new pavements constructed with low-carbon recycled demolition wastes. The proposed research will generate new knowledge on the thermo-geomechanical responses of pavements when harvesting heat energy under dynamic loads, using experimental and numerical approaches, including field trials. The outcomes and benefits will include strategic long-term collaboration ....Harnessing renewable energy from low-carbon geothermal pavements. This project aims to investigate the extraction of renewable energy from new pavements constructed with low-carbon recycled demolition wastes. The proposed research will generate new knowledge on the thermo-geomechanical responses of pavements when harvesting heat energy under dynamic loads, using experimental and numerical approaches, including field trials. The outcomes and benefits will include strategic long-term collaboration with industry to develop ‘Geothermal Pavements’, with potential for commercial applications. The translation of this research will contribute to meeting future energy needs, while significantly reducing carbon emissions and diverting demolition wastes from landfills.Read moreRead less
Novel Molecular Markers for the Historical Source Tracing of Faecal Contamination in Urban Water Catchments. Protection of the microbiological quality of raw water systems is imperative to maintaining the safety of drinking water. Monitoring of water samples for the presence of microbes that indicate the presence of faecal pollution can be used to assess the possible threats to human health. The objective of this research is to apply molecular genetic methods to determine their effectiveness as ....Novel Molecular Markers for the Historical Source Tracing of Faecal Contamination in Urban Water Catchments. Protection of the microbiological quality of raw water systems is imperative to maintaining the safety of drinking water. Monitoring of water samples for the presence of microbes that indicate the presence of faecal pollution can be used to assess the possible threats to human health. The objective of this research is to apply molecular genetic methods to determine their effectiveness as tools for the tracking and tracing of faecal bacteria within drinking water catchments. We have chosen the spore-former Clostridium perfringens as an indicator of both long and short-term sewage contamination. It will enable us to predict the origin of contamination and thus identify potential sources of faecal pollution that require remediation.Read moreRead less
Long-term acid rock and tailings drainage mitigation through source control. Effective long-term management of acid rock drainage (ARD) from sulfidic mine wastes in current, exhausted and legacy mine sites is of critical importance to communities and for sustainable mining. An optimised geochemical and microbial multi-barrier approach to long-term reduction of ARD to environmentally acceptable rates will be developed by this project.
Biological phosphorous removal for wastewater treatment. The aim is to provide a scientific basis for understanding how phosphorous can be removed in wastewater treatment plants, using environmentally safe biological methods rather than by using chemicals. This is expected to lead to improved performance in wastewater treatment plants, which will be of economic and environmental benefit, particularly to regional communities in inland Australia.
Unlocking the catalytic activity of metal oxides through hybrid catalysis. This project aims to understand the interaction of light responsive nano-metals and metal oxide supports in photo-thermal catalysis, and channel light and heat to efficiently drive catalytic reactions. From this understanding, it will develop principles to activate the active site of metal oxides and control catalytic activity with high selectivity and stability. It will use this knowledge to selectively oxidate methane a ....Unlocking the catalytic activity of metal oxides through hybrid catalysis. This project aims to understand the interaction of light responsive nano-metals and metal oxide supports in photo-thermal catalysis, and channel light and heat to efficiently drive catalytic reactions. From this understanding, it will develop principles to activate the active site of metal oxides and control catalytic activity with high selectivity and stability. It will use this knowledge to selectively oxidate methane and oxidative coupling of methane reactions. The expected outcome is an inexpensive green catalysis method for chemical manufacture. This should lower the amount of waste, decrease energy consumption and improve human health, finite global resources and quality of life.Read moreRead less
Two-stage ignition and flame stabilisation in engine-relevant conditions. This project aims to reveal the mechanisms of ignition and flame stabilisation in the temperature and pressure conditions that exist in diesel engines, understanding of which is currently very limited despite their significant bearing on pollutants and fuel efficiency. Using massively parallel supercomputing resources, the most detailed, direct numerical simulations of ignition and flame stabilisation to date will be perfo ....Two-stage ignition and flame stabilisation in engine-relevant conditions. This project aims to reveal the mechanisms of ignition and flame stabilisation in the temperature and pressure conditions that exist in diesel engines, understanding of which is currently very limited despite their significant bearing on pollutants and fuel efficiency. Using massively parallel supercomputing resources, the most detailed, direct numerical simulations of ignition and flame stabilisation to date will be performed - they will be three-dimensional and use a detailed chemistry model able to account for low-temperature kinetics and two-stage ignition. Analysis of these data aims to reveal how ignition and flame stabilisation depends on key turbulence and chemical kinetic parameters, thus contributing to developing low-emissions diesel engines.Read moreRead less
Development and modelling of dust suppression technology. Over 50 per cent of Australia's export income is derived from industries that rely on bulk materials handling and processing. With greater throughputs and increasing integration of transport routes, ports and residential communities, more pressure is being placed on industry to control its dust emissions. There is an urgent need for Australia to invest in a more unified and scientific approach to develop and optimise dust suppression tech ....Development and modelling of dust suppression technology. Over 50 per cent of Australia's export income is derived from industries that rely on bulk materials handling and processing. With greater throughputs and increasing integration of transport routes, ports and residential communities, more pressure is being placed on industry to control its dust emissions. There is an urgent need for Australia to invest in a more unified and scientific approach to develop and optimise dust suppression technology for mining and export infrastructure. This project will help secure the sustainability of Australia's bulk exports by ensuring that products can be handled, conveyed and loaded safely and reliably. It will also reduce the risk of exposing workers and the community to unsafe concentrations of airborne dust.Read moreRead less
Novel biodegradable starch/clay nanocomposites with enhanced strength and moisture resistance. The outcomes of the project will make an important contribution to a new technology of biodegradable polymer nanocomposites based on natural starch and clay. The project has direct environmental benefit due to the complete biodegradation of the resulting starch/clay nanocomposites which will be able to replace some non-biodegradable polymers in packaging and disposable bags, cups and boxes, etc. The re ....Novel biodegradable starch/clay nanocomposites with enhanced strength and moisture resistance. The outcomes of the project will make an important contribution to a new technology of biodegradable polymer nanocomposites based on natural starch and clay. The project has direct environmental benefit due to the complete biodegradation of the resulting starch/clay nanocomposites which will be able to replace some non-biodegradable polymers in packaging and disposable bags, cups and boxes, etc. The reduction in use of non-biodegradable polymers will be helpful to solve the "white pollution" and improve our living environments. This study will result in huge economic benefits for the national agriculture and plastic industries since Australia has a large starch production, and will enable Australia to be at the leading edge in this area.Read moreRead less