Plasma-Catalytist Hybrid Process for Simultaneous Removal of NOx and SOx. Coal combustion provides over 80% of the electricity produced in Australia, with the power stations being major emitters of the pollutants NOx and SOx. This project will potentially lead to a new technology to simultaneously remove NOx and SOx in a single and economical process, eliminating the secondary waste streams that disadvantage current competing technologies. This will provide: significant environmental benefits f ....Plasma-Catalytist Hybrid Process for Simultaneous Removal of NOx and SOx. Coal combustion provides over 80% of the electricity produced in Australia, with the power stations being major emitters of the pollutants NOx and SOx. This project will potentially lead to a new technology to simultaneously remove NOx and SOx in a single and economical process, eliminating the secondary waste streams that disadvantage current competing technologies. This will provide: significant environmental benefits for Australia in reducing these dangerous atmospheric pollutants; economic advantage to our power stations by enabling cheaper, more efficient technologies and consolidate Australia's leading position in the world in air pollution control. Read moreRead less
Quantum Induced Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in Nanoporous Materials. This research addresses a key challenge in gas separation; that of separation of deuterium from hydrogen, while advancing the molecular science of adsorption and transport of light gases in molecularly confined spaces. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, not only because of the economic potential of deuterium, but because it will see a new generation of Australian researchers trained in mu ....Quantum Induced Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in Nanoporous Materials. This research addresses a key challenge in gas separation; that of separation of deuterium from hydrogen, while advancing the molecular science of adsorption and transport of light gases in molecularly confined spaces. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, not only because of the economic potential of deuterium, but because it will see a new generation of Australian researchers trained in multidisciplinary cutting-edge research while addressing several areas of national priority, including breakthrough sciences, and development of frontier technologies, and thereby creating new opportunities for industry.Read moreRead less
Improved Nanoscale and Molecular Models for Nanostructured Carbons, and their Applications in Simulation of Confined Fluids. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, a key one of which is the promotion of cross-disciplinary interaction and collaboration to conduct leading edge research in a technologically important area. In addition the project will utilize two PhD students who will be trained in research, and gain a broad range of skills in this multifaceted project involving t ....Improved Nanoscale and Molecular Models for Nanostructured Carbons, and their Applications in Simulation of Confined Fluids. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, a key one of which is the promotion of cross-disciplinary interaction and collaboration to conduct leading edge research in a technologically important area. In addition the project will utilize two PhD students who will be trained in research, and gain a broad range of skills in this multifaceted project involving theory, simulation and experiment. The research, grounded in molecular fundamentals, will also lead to the development of advanced tools for adsorption process modelling, useful in process design and scale-up, and contribute to Goal 1 of National Priority Area 3: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.Read moreRead less
Modelling of Adsorption Dynamics in Microporous Solids based on Molecular Dynamics Computations. This project seeks to incorporate non-equilibrium molecular dynamics calculations into particle scale models for adsorption kinetics. Molecular dynamics calculations will be performed for hydrocarbon molecules in small pores to obtain transport coefficients in pores of various sizes, at various bulk gas pressures and temperatures. These transport coefficients will be used in particle scale models t ....Modelling of Adsorption Dynamics in Microporous Solids based on Molecular Dynamics Computations. This project seeks to incorporate non-equilibrium molecular dynamics calculations into particle scale models for adsorption kinetics. Molecular dynamics calculations will be performed for hydrocarbon molecules in small pores to obtain transport coefficients in pores of various sizes, at various bulk gas pressures and temperatures. These transport coefficients will be used in particle scale models to obtain a dynamic model, which will be utilised to interpret experimental data from the literature as well as that being obtained in our laboratory. Such first principles-based modelling has not been performed before at the particle scale, and will mitigate the empiricism in existing approaches.Read moreRead less
Development of smart material for the adsorption of oil spills on roads. The cost of road fuel spills in both Australia and worldwide is enormous. The research objective is to develop an admixture suitable for the absorption/adsorption of fuel and oil from road spills. The material will be designed to be contained within a fabric. The innovation is the application of the admixture in the form of a carpet, which is designed as easily used, non-toxic, recyclable and environmentally friendly. T ....Development of smart material for the adsorption of oil spills on roads. The cost of road fuel spills in both Australia and worldwide is enormous. The research objective is to develop an admixture suitable for the absorption/adsorption of fuel and oil from road spills. The material will be designed to be contained within a fabric. The innovation is the application of the admixture in the form of a carpet, which is designed as easily used, non-toxic, recyclable and environmentally friendly. The application is rapid. The successful development of the material has enormous economic benefits to Australia, providing a new industry with many employees. This new industry has the potential to bring great wealth to Australia.Read moreRead less
Development of a Novel One Step Process for Gas Conversion to Liquid. Australia has a rich natural gas reserve, most of which is in remote locations. This project will lead to a new technology to use the remote gas that would be flared into the atmosphere, thus benefiting both Australian economy and green house gas reduction. It will also reduce the risk of relying on importing oil from Overseas thus contributing to Australia's energy security. In addition, while crude-based oil emits SOx, NOx a ....Development of a Novel One Step Process for Gas Conversion to Liquid. Australia has a rich natural gas reserve, most of which is in remote locations. This project will lead to a new technology to use the remote gas that would be flared into the atmosphere, thus benefiting both Australian economy and green house gas reduction. It will also reduce the risk of relying on importing oil from Overseas thus contributing to Australia's energy security. In addition, while crude-based oil emits SOx, NOx and particulates etc into air, the liquid fuels from gas are pure and burns cleanly thus also contributing to air pollution control. Read moreRead less
Food structure design. Food structure design. This project aims to use fundamental studies in multi-scale rheology and biotribology, surface sciences, soft matter physics and protein chemistry to develop new measurement capabilities and knowledge for rational food structure design. This research is intended to enable researchers and industry to quantify how oral processing (including saliva) transforms food during consumption, and to provide new instrumental measurements and know-how that assist ....Food structure design. Food structure design. This project aims to use fundamental studies in multi-scale rheology and biotribology, surface sciences, soft matter physics and protein chemistry to develop new measurement capabilities and knowledge for rational food structure design. This research is intended to enable researchers and industry to quantify how oral processing (including saliva) transforms food during consumption, and to provide new instrumental measurements and know-how that assists in defining sensory percepts in dairy foods and beverages such as creaminess in full, reduced or non-fat systems and grittiness in high protein systems.Read moreRead less
University of Queensland/Arizona State University partnership to design industrially suitable zeolite membranes for desalination. For desalination, the highest costs are organic-based membrane replacement (lasting ~1 year) and energy requirement. Functionalised zeolitic membranes are low-cost, high performing, chemically tolerant and thermally stable. New zeolite membranes in principle could perform the separation outlasting their organic counterparts, while at the same time offering major energ ....University of Queensland/Arizona State University partnership to design industrially suitable zeolite membranes for desalination. For desalination, the highest costs are organic-based membrane replacement (lasting ~1 year) and energy requirement. Functionalised zeolitic membranes are low-cost, high performing, chemically tolerant and thermally stable. New zeolite membranes in principle could perform the separation outlasting their organic counterparts, while at the same time offering major energy reductions from higher fluxes. Current zeolite membrane research for desalination however is lacking. The proposed team offers experience in bringing highly significant lab scale technologies to industrial scales. The outcomes will address mutual priorities between Australia and USA for reliable low cost supply of fresh water.Read moreRead less
Hydrogen Production by Non-thermal Plasma Assisted Catalytic Pyrolysis of Natural Gas. This project aims to develop a cost effective technology for hydrogen production using catalytic pyrolysis of natural gas assisted by non-thermal plasma. The mechanism and kinetics of catalytic hydrocarbon decomposition on carbons produced in situ will be systematically studied. Based on the fundamental understanding of carbon nanostructures and their catalytic activities and stabilities, the non-thermal plasm ....Hydrogen Production by Non-thermal Plasma Assisted Catalytic Pyrolysis of Natural Gas. This project aims to develop a cost effective technology for hydrogen production using catalytic pyrolysis of natural gas assisted by non-thermal plasma. The mechanism and kinetics of catalytic hydrocarbon decomposition on carbons produced in situ will be systematically studied. Based on the fundamental understanding of carbon nanostructures and their catalytic activities and stabilities, the non-thermal plasma and the catalytic reactions will be optimized to achieve high conversion and catalytic stability. The project will lead to a new process combining effective carbon catalyst and low temperature plasma to produce pure hydrogen with high energy efficiency and no CO2 emissions.Read moreRead less
Development of Superflux Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Gas Separation. The project seeks to develop gas separation membranes displaying superfluxes - throughputs 10 to 100 times higher than current systems, with lower operating costs. There is compelling evidence that very high flow rates are achievable and they have been shown for single gas transport. Theory predicts that highly selective separations are possible, but this has not yet been experimentally shown - a key outcome from this proje ....Development of Superflux Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Gas Separation. The project seeks to develop gas separation membranes displaying superfluxes - throughputs 10 to 100 times higher than current systems, with lower operating costs. There is compelling evidence that very high flow rates are achievable and they have been shown for single gas transport. Theory predicts that highly selective separations are possible, but this has not yet been experimentally shown - a key outcome from this project. The applications are widespread and include separation of carbon dioxide from power station flue gas for sequestration, purification of natural gas and provision of pure component gases such as oxygen and nitrogen amongst others.Read moreRead less