Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100127
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
Controlled radiation facility to investigate turbulence-radiation-chemistry interactions in high-flux solar reactors. This project's facility will support the transition of Australia’s energy intensive industries, including minerals and resources, to a much lower carbon intensity. It will also underpin collaborations with internationally leading partners to develop novel solar-combustion hybrid reactors for the production of solar fuels and for minerals processing.
Thermal transport in multi-phase flows for concentrating solar applications. This project seeks to advance the field of heat transfer in high-temperature systems involving liquid metals, with emphasis on energy storage and solar power technologies. The concept couples a tubular sodium boiler with a sodium chloride phase-change storage system for continuous energy supply. Sodium chloride is low cost and has a melting temperature suitable for a wide range of industrial processes. The project plans ....Thermal transport in multi-phase flows for concentrating solar applications. This project seeks to advance the field of heat transfer in high-temperature systems involving liquid metals, with emphasis on energy storage and solar power technologies. The concept couples a tubular sodium boiler with a sodium chloride phase-change storage system for continuous energy supply. Sodium chloride is low cost and has a melting temperature suitable for a wide range of industrial processes. The project plans to address the challenge of sodium stability in highly irradiated tubes by investigating mass, momentum, energy and radiative transport in liquid metals. It is intended that this will inform the design and testing of novel sodium boilers to provide stable and isothermal process heat for continuous or on-demand production of power, chemical fuels and commodities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101253
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$396,000.00
Summary
Artificial tornados enhance updraft in natural draft cooling towers. This project aims to investigate and develop a novel air flow enhancement concept, induced plume swirl, and its engineering approaches to boost the cooling capacity of natural draft cooling towers (NDCTs). These towers are widely used in thermal power plants due to their low operating costs. The project will explore why and how the artificial natural convective air swirls (vortices) significantly increase the updraft inside NDC ....Artificial tornados enhance updraft in natural draft cooling towers. This project aims to investigate and develop a novel air flow enhancement concept, induced plume swirl, and its engineering approaches to boost the cooling capacity of natural draft cooling towers (NDCTs). These towers are widely used in thermal power plants due to their low operating costs. The project will explore why and how the artificial natural convective air swirls (vortices) significantly increase the updraft inside NDCTs and identify effective, low-energy cost swirl inducement methods to increase the efficiency of operation. A wide application of this technology will result in economic and environmental benefits, including increases in overall energy conversion efficiencies, cuts in operational costs in the order of billions, and reductions in carbon emissions in the thermal power sector.Read moreRead less
Surf sounds: predicting the valuable data of bubble sound emissions. This project aims to predict natural bubble sounds. These audio signals contain data on the bubble size, which controls oxygen absorption, and thus product quality, in minerals, food, pharmaceuticals and water industries. Bubbles also control ocean carbon-dioxide absorption. Such gas absorption is almost impossible to monitor with laboratory sensors. In the ocean, sensors are quickly blocked by algae. In industry, liquids are o ....Surf sounds: predicting the valuable data of bubble sound emissions. This project aims to predict natural bubble sounds. These audio signals contain data on the bubble size, which controls oxygen absorption, and thus product quality, in minerals, food, pharmaceuticals and water industries. Bubbles also control ocean carbon-dioxide absorption. Such gas absorption is almost impossible to monitor with laboratory sensors. In the ocean, sensors are quickly blocked by algae. In industry, liquids are opaque or too hot. However, the easily-measured sounds get through. Experiments and computer simulations would allow the sound volume as well as frequencies emitted by bubbles to be predicted. This would enable valuable data to be interpreted from complex sounds, transforming industrial and environmental measurements.Read moreRead less