Heat Transfer Mechanisms in an Indirectly Fired Rotary Kiln with Lifters and Its Role in Scaling. This project will apply heat transfer principles to improve and optimise the design and performance of ANSAC's innovative kiln technology for a wide range of process applications. By understanding the mechanisms of heat transfer involved in the working of the proprietary technology, major factors limiting the performance of the kiln can be identified, resulting in design criteria that link key opera ....Heat Transfer Mechanisms in an Indirectly Fired Rotary Kiln with Lifters and Its Role in Scaling. This project will apply heat transfer principles to improve and optimise the design and performance of ANSAC's innovative kiln technology for a wide range of process applications. By understanding the mechanisms of heat transfer involved in the working of the proprietary technology, major factors limiting the performance of the kiln can be identified, resulting in design criteria that link key operating parameters for the kiln scaling and performance forecast. The research outcomes will provide a scientific basis that underpins the development of an Australian technology and supports the growth of a new Australian small business, creating employment opportunities within Australia.Read moreRead less
Enhancing natural convection heat transfer using a single horizontal non-metallic fin. This project will develop the basis for a simple design to improve the energy efficiency of natural convection heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are widely adopted in many electronic devices and industrial processes as they require no external power input, additional space, and are quiet, reliable and economical. The research will exploit the interaction between two flows to trigger turbulence, and will result ....Enhancing natural convection heat transfer using a single horizontal non-metallic fin. This project will develop the basis for a simple design to improve the energy efficiency of natural convection heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are widely adopted in many electronic devices and industrial processes as they require no external power input, additional space, and are quiet, reliable and economical. The research will exploit the interaction between two flows to trigger turbulence, and will result in an increase of the overall capacity and performance of engineering systems. This will contribute significantly to reductions in power consumption and improvements in productivity and work environment, leading ultimately to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Investigation and optimisation of displacement ventilation and cooling systems. An accurate optimisation design tool for cooling and ventilation will be of considerable benefit to the Australian building/construction industry, and will lead to a reduction in energy consumption, thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand chall ....Investigation and optimisation of displacement ventilation and cooling systems. An accurate optimisation design tool for cooling and ventilation will be of considerable benefit to the Australian building/construction industry, and will lead to a reduction in energy consumption, thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand challenge areas of science, and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers trained in this area will be well placed to make a significant contribution to the new technologies needed to address the major environmental problems currently being faced.Read moreRead less
Turbulent fountains in stratified fluids with opposing buoyancy flux. Improved design tools will be developed for use in industries which must deal with turbulent fountains in stratified fluids. These tools will assist in the design of more efficient apparatus, reducing energy consumption and thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of ....Turbulent fountains in stratified fluids with opposing buoyancy flux. Improved design tools will be developed for use in industries which must deal with turbulent fountains in stratified fluids. These tools will assist in the design of more efficient apparatus, reducing energy consumption and thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand challenge areas of science, and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers trained in this will provide continuing service to Australia in many areas of advanced engineering and science. Read moreRead less
An Investigation Into Fountains Interacting With Both Free Surface and Solid Boundaries. This project will produce an improved understanding of the behavior of fountains interacting with both free surface and solid boundaries. Such flows occur in many environmental and industrial processes and, in particular, the interaction of fountain with boundaries will have a significant influence on the overall performance of the processes. This investigation will combine experiments, numerical simulations ....An Investigation Into Fountains Interacting With Both Free Surface and Solid Boundaries. This project will produce an improved understanding of the behavior of fountains interacting with both free surface and solid boundaries. Such flows occur in many environmental and industrial processes and, in particular, the interaction of fountain with boundaries will have a significant influence on the overall performance of the processes. This investigation will combine experiments, numerical simulations and scaling analysis to provide new insight into the physics governing the behavior of these impinging fountains. Turbulence models will be developed and validated and scaling formulae will be obtained providing relationships for the basic flow properties in terms of the control parameters.Read moreRead less
Development of a low emission, pulverised fuel rotary kiln burner utilising a low pressure-drop, oscillating jet nozzle. A low pressure-drop oscillating jet nozzle, developed recently by the investigators, will be applied to pulverised fuel combustion to provide an advanced, low emission burner for the cement industry. This design is expected to overcome the high pressure drop of the present design which limits its range of application. The program will apply advanced measurement techniques to ....Development of a low emission, pulverised fuel rotary kiln burner utilising a low pressure-drop, oscillating jet nozzle. A low pressure-drop oscillating jet nozzle, developed recently by the investigators, will be applied to pulverised fuel combustion to provide an advanced, low emission burner for the cement industry. This design is expected to overcome the high pressure drop of the present design which limits its range of application. The program will apply advanced measurement techniques to study the aerodynamic behaviour of particles, which control many aspects of the combustion. These will be used to advance understanding and for the development and validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. A preferred design will be assessed in FCT's model lab and then in full-scale trials.Read moreRead less
Investigation of a Novel Fan. Fans are very widely used for cooling and heating, thrust and mass transport and are one of the most common fluid mechanical devices. An optimal fan design will maximise flow velocity and pressure rise for minimum energy requirements and noise production. De Rolfe has recently developed a new fan that shows considerable promise in comparison to conventional designs on single point tests.
In this project experimental and computional fluid dynamics investigations o ....Investigation of a Novel Fan. Fans are very widely used for cooling and heating, thrust and mass transport and are one of the most common fluid mechanical devices. An optimal fan design will maximise flow velocity and pressure rise for minimum energy requirements and noise production. De Rolfe has recently developed a new fan that shows considerable promise in comparison to conventional designs on single point tests.
In this project experimental and computional fluid dynamics investigations of the new fan will be carried out to determine the basic fluid mechanics and to obtain performance curves. Scaling laws will be obtained and, if possible, the fan will be further optimised.Read moreRead less
Stability, transition and heat transfer in thermally coupled natural convection boundary layers. Thermally coupled natural convection systems occur when a conducting vertical wall separates two fluids at different temperatures. Such configurations occur, for example, at a window separating the interior of a room from the outside or when a container of fluid is placed in a refrigerator. Improved building heating/cooling and ventilation, and more efficient refrigeration systems, require a thoroug ....Stability, transition and heat transfer in thermally coupled natural convection boundary layers. Thermally coupled natural convection systems occur when a conducting vertical wall separates two fluids at different temperatures. Such configurations occur, for example, at a window separating the interior of a room from the outside or when a container of fluid is placed in a refrigerator. Improved building heating/cooling and ventilation, and more efficient refrigeration systems, require a thorough understanding and predictive capability for these flows. This project will develop experimental, numerical and analytic tools to predict these flows and provide simple scaling relations for bulk flow parameters such as the heat transfer across the wall, which will be of immediate use in the associated industries.Read moreRead less
Particle transport in turbulent non-Newtonian suspensions in self formed open channels. An improved understanding of the fundamentals of channel formation and the ability of channels to transport solids in either a natural or created environment will be of benefit to industries employing open channels (or flumes) or stacked tailings as part of their processes. This will lead to better design and operation with reduced water use and reduced volume of waste disposal. This research will build the ....Particle transport in turbulent non-Newtonian suspensions in self formed open channels. An improved understanding of the fundamentals of channel formation and the ability of channels to transport solids in either a natural or created environment will be of benefit to industries employing open channels (or flumes) or stacked tailings as part of their processes. This will lead to better design and operation with reduced water use and reduced volume of waste disposal. This research will build the scientific foundation for the design tools to more accurately predict the behaviour of tailings stacks. The mining industry will benefit from the improved management of their tailings disposal regimes, reduced water usage, lowered cost of disposal and reduced impact on the environment.Read moreRead less
Quantification of heat release, NOx emissions and soot from high temperature gaseous flames. The ongoing importance of Australia's minerals processing sector depends on advanced combustion technology to minimise the emission of NOx and other greenhouse gases. The heat release and NOx emissions from the high temperature flames used in such processes is known to depend strongly on the presence of soot. However their optimisation and design is limited by a lack of fundamental data under relevant c ....Quantification of heat release, NOx emissions and soot from high temperature gaseous flames. The ongoing importance of Australia's minerals processing sector depends on advanced combustion technology to minimise the emission of NOx and other greenhouse gases. The heat release and NOx emissions from the high temperature flames used in such processes is known to depend strongly on the presence of soot. However their optimisation and design is limited by a lack of fundamental data under relevant conditions. To address this need, new measurements and analysis will be performed to quantify the complex relationship between turbulent mixing, soot formation, heat release and NOx emissions under high temperature conditions of both fundamental and practical significance.
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