Novel hybrid silica membranes for desalination. This project aims to produce high flux, highly stable ceramic membranes for use in desalination. This will result in novel, low energy desalination processes, delivering potable water at a greatly reduced cost.
Optimisation of nutrient removal, membrane fouling and sludge dewatering in hybrid coagulation/submerged membrane bioreactor treatment of wastewaters. Submerged membrane bioreactor technology for the treatment of wastewaters is now a competitive technology with small footprint and generally high quality of treated effluent. Despite this, challenges remain in ensuring low effluent nutrient concentrations, minimal membrane fouling and acceptable excess sludge dewaterability. Addition of iron or a ....Optimisation of nutrient removal, membrane fouling and sludge dewatering in hybrid coagulation/submerged membrane bioreactor treatment of wastewaters. Submerged membrane bioreactor technology for the treatment of wastewaters is now a competitive technology with small footprint and generally high quality of treated effluent. Despite this, challenges remain in ensuring low effluent nutrient concentrations, minimal membrane fouling and acceptable excess sludge dewaterability. Addition of iron or aluminium-based coagulant chemicals can assist but many uncertainties with regard to choice of chemical, optimal dosing arrangements and membrane bioreactor operating conditions remain. Experimental and computational studies targeted at improving understanding and optimising performance will be undertaken through collaborative studies by the UNSW and Tsinghua University (Beijing) research team.Read moreRead less
Adsorption on activated alumina: mitigating fouling of water treatment processes caused by deposition of silica, organics and hardness ions. Coal seam gas offers tremendous economic potential but development of gas reserves will generate considerable quantities of saline water. This project will develop activated alumina technology for the removal of silica and organics from these waters to enable the industry to use evaporative technologies to reduce water volumes.
Mitigation of silica nanoparticle scaling in water treatment. This project aims to develop strategies to mitigate silica scaling at coal seam gas (CSG) water treatment facilities. CSG is adsorbed to the surface of coal along fractures and cleats and released when pressure is reduced by removal of groundwater, which has chemistry specific to the region from which it is extracted. Desalination of produced water is severely impacted by mineral scaling on reverse osmosis membranes. This project will ....Mitigation of silica nanoparticle scaling in water treatment. This project aims to develop strategies to mitigate silica scaling at coal seam gas (CSG) water treatment facilities. CSG is adsorbed to the surface of coal along fractures and cleats and released when pressure is reduced by removal of groundwater, which has chemistry specific to the region from which it is extracted. Desalination of produced water is severely impacted by mineral scaling on reverse osmosis membranes. This project will consider silica and silica-rich nanoparticles in concert with cations and organics, with the aim of better managing cations so to facilitate nanoparticle lubrication. Project outcomes may include more productive use of assets, improved pre-treatment infrastructure to support reverse osmosis operation, and the environmental benefits of reduced chemical waste and increased water recovery.Read moreRead less
Engineered Inorganic Membranes for Novel Mineral Brine Processing. This project aims to synthesise a new generation of engineered hierarchical membranes for novel brine processing. The key concept of the research is the precise tailoring of pores of inorganic films, forming functional meso-structures for separating salts from water. Salt crystallises perpendicular to the surface of the membrane, whilst easily removed by air, a process that can be repeated many times leading to high production ra ....Engineered Inorganic Membranes for Novel Mineral Brine Processing. This project aims to synthesise a new generation of engineered hierarchical membranes for novel brine processing. The key concept of the research is the precise tailoring of pores of inorganic films, forming functional meso-structures for separating salts from water. Salt crystallises perpendicular to the surface of the membrane, whilst easily removed by air, a process that can be repeated many times leading to high production rates. The hierarchical membranes will be studied to elucidate the relationships between structure, composition, surface properties and transport phenomena. The outcomes should advance brine processing separation technologies for the mineral industry (lithium, potassium, and magnesium).Read moreRead less
Measurement and Prevention of Membrane Fouling for Water Reuse in Biorefineries. The effluent streams from molasses based fermentation contain dark-coloured melanoidins (recalcitrant COD) which limit discharge options and make water recovery via membrane technology challenging. Understanding membrane fouling to a level where its behaviour can be reliably predicted is a vital step in gaining widespread acceptance of this technology. Advances made here have a built-in multiplier effect, as insight ....Measurement and Prevention of Membrane Fouling for Water Reuse in Biorefineries. The effluent streams from molasses based fermentation contain dark-coloured melanoidins (recalcitrant COD) which limit discharge options and make water recovery via membrane technology challenging. Understanding membrane fouling to a level where its behaviour can be reliably predicted is a vital step in gaining widespread acceptance of this technology. Advances made here have a built-in multiplier effect, as insights from yeast production (core business for our industrial partner A B Mauri) can be readily applied to large-scale fermentation producing fuel alcohol from molasses as well as the emerging use of lignocellulosics. This project will contribute significantly to sustainability by reducing industrial water consumption.Read moreRead less
Improving the Durability and Performance of Hollow Fibre Membranes with Nanocomposite and Inorganic/organic Hybrid Materials. Water is a critical resource for societies worldwide and Australia is one of the driest nations on Earth. Options to treat ‘used’ or lower quality waters for reuse are becoming a necessity. This project aims to implement advanced nanotechnology solutions to improve performance characteristics of widely adopted water treatment membranes, which have the potential to reduce ....Improving the Durability and Performance of Hollow Fibre Membranes with Nanocomposite and Inorganic/organic Hybrid Materials. Water is a critical resource for societies worldwide and Australia is one of the driest nations on Earth. Options to treat ‘used’ or lower quality waters for reuse are becoming a necessity. This project aims to implement advanced nanotechnology solutions to improve performance characteristics of widely adopted water treatment membranes, which have the potential to reduce water treatment costs in Australia. This is made possible by the collaboration with Australia's largest manufacturer of water treatment membranes. The outcomes will lead towards a lower maintenance water treatment technology available to communities, at lower cost. The application of such a technology will span from local small scale to major installations worldwide.Read moreRead less
Novel high retention membrane bioreactors for sustainable water reuse: Process performance and optimization. The protection of public health from chemicals of emerging concern is of paramount priority. This research aims to establish a design framework for the development of high retention membrane bioreactor systems for water reuse applications. Fundamental aspects underlying the performance of such systems including removal efficiencies of chemicals of emerging concern, effects of salinity bui ....Novel high retention membrane bioreactors for sustainable water reuse: Process performance and optimization. The protection of public health from chemicals of emerging concern is of paramount priority. This research aims to establish a design framework for the development of high retention membrane bioreactor systems for water reuse applications. Fundamental aspects underlying the performance of such systems including removal efficiencies of chemicals of emerging concern, effects of salinity build-up, membrane fouling and membrane stability will be systematically elucidated. The research will result in novel treatment processes with enhanced performance in the removal of chemicals of emerging concern and substantial economic savings in both operating and capital costs.Read moreRead less
Ultrathin membranes of novel structures for highly efficient water reuse. This project aims to develop a new generation of reverse osmosis membranes to enable significantly more efficient water reuse. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of membrane technology and wastewater reclamation using innovative designs of membrane structures and new techniques for membrane synthesis. Expected outcomes of the project include the development of highly permeable and high selective reve ....Ultrathin membranes of novel structures for highly efficient water reuse. This project aims to develop a new generation of reverse osmosis membranes to enable significantly more efficient water reuse. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of membrane technology and wastewater reclamation using innovative designs of membrane structures and new techniques for membrane synthesis. Expected outcomes of the project include the development of highly permeable and high selective reverse osmosis membranes. This project should provide significant benefits to water reuse by greatly improving product water quality and dramatically reducing its energy consumption by over 50 per cent, which in turn addresses the challenges of water scarcity and water-energy nexus.Read moreRead less
Understanding Droplet Interactions in Solvent Extraction. The aim of this project is to develop an understanding of how organic drops behave in a water phase. This would enable a new generation of more detailed mechanistic models to be used to optimise the performance of Australia’s large investment in solvent extraction technology. The solvent extraction industry is undergoing a transformation with the introduction of short-contact-time contactors to reduce solvent inventory and a change to mor ....Understanding Droplet Interactions in Solvent Extraction. The aim of this project is to develop an understanding of how organic drops behave in a water phase. This would enable a new generation of more detailed mechanistic models to be used to optimise the performance of Australia’s large investment in solvent extraction technology. The solvent extraction industry is undergoing a transformation with the introduction of short-contact-time contactors to reduce solvent inventory and a change to more sustainable solvents. The project aims to develop efficient and innovative contactors for this industry and to develop confidence in the application of new contactor technology offering enhanced competitive performance to Australia's minerals industry.Read moreRead less