Sources, sinks and processes of faecal contamination in urban estuaries: a case study of the lower Yarra River estuary. The Yarra River estuary is highly contaminated with faecal pollution, reducing the useability of Melbourne’s most iconic feature. This project will provide the necessary understanding to help mitigate faecal sources, with the ultimate aim of reducing the risks to users of this estuary.
Advancing water pollution emissions modelling in cities of the future. Advancing water pollution emissions modelling in cities of the future. This project aims to advance stormwater pollution modelling and enhance its link with urban development. Management of stormwater pollution by industry often results in inadequate strategies and, crucially, sub-optimal financial investments. Since this is unlikely to improve in light of urban growth and climate change, addressing decade-old pollution model ....Advancing water pollution emissions modelling in cities of the future. Advancing water pollution emissions modelling in cities of the future. This project aims to advance stormwater pollution modelling and enhance its link with urban development. Management of stormwater pollution by industry often results in inadequate strategies and, crucially, sub-optimal financial investments. Since this is unlikely to improve in light of urban growth and climate change, addressing decade-old pollution modelling knowledge gaps and the lack of a multidisciplinary approach to stormwater pollution management is urgent. The anticipated outcome is a modelling tool which industry can use to manage stormwater pollution in changing cities through smarter and economic technology and policy.Read moreRead less
Mitigating the risk of cyanobacterial blooms in wastewater ponds. Cyanobacterial blooms in wastewater treatment plants impact on effluent quality and the utility of recycled water, posing a significant risk to the economy, the environment and public health. To understand the causes of cyanobacterial blooms in pond-based wastewater treatment plants and the risk they pose, this project will use the latest molecular techniques to examine how the microbial communities within these systems interact w ....Mitigating the risk of cyanobacterial blooms in wastewater ponds. Cyanobacterial blooms in wastewater treatment plants impact on effluent quality and the utility of recycled water, posing a significant risk to the economy, the environment and public health. To understand the causes of cyanobacterial blooms in pond-based wastewater treatment plants and the risk they pose, this project will use the latest molecular techniques to examine how the microbial communities within these systems interact with each other and their surrounding environment to form blooms and produce toxins and other harmful metabolites. Such knowledge will inform risk assessment and provide strategies for the mitigation of future bloom events, improving the security of our increasingly valuable recycled water resources.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100042
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Virtual reality for planning of green urban water infrastructure. This project aims to research the planning-technical-social dynamics of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) infrastructure. WSUD management has become financially and logistically unsustainable due to major urban growth and a rapid uptake in WSUD assets. Solving this problem is, however, complex, as stakeholders have conflicting needs and tacit knowledge that is difficult to quantify. Using emerging virtual reality technology, par ....Virtual reality for planning of green urban water infrastructure. This project aims to research the planning-technical-social dynamics of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) infrastructure. WSUD management has become financially and logistically unsustainable due to major urban growth and a rapid uptake in WSUD assets. Solving this problem is, however, complex, as stakeholders have conflicting needs and tacit knowledge that is difficult to quantify. Using emerging virtual reality technology, participatory planning and operational models, this project intends to improve WSUD modelling science through integrated modelling. The anticipated outcome is more holistic and economically efficient planning of WSUD layouts in future cities. This is expected to address growing concerns about adequately managing these systems and ensure that they deliver intended environmental protection, liveability and public health benefits.Read moreRead less
Sustainability of water and wastewater treatment chemicals. In recent years, the environmental design and management of water and wastewater treatment facilities has broadened from consideration of water quality outcomes to include the environmental consequences of energy and material inputs. This has produced nationally agreed approaches to estimating greenhouse gas emissions from power consumption, but for important chemical additives analysts are forced to work with low-quality estimated dat ....Sustainability of water and wastewater treatment chemicals. In recent years, the environmental design and management of water and wastewater treatment facilities has broadened from consideration of water quality outcomes to include the environmental consequences of energy and material inputs. This has produced nationally agreed approaches to estimating greenhouse gas emissions from power consumption, but for important chemical additives analysts are forced to work with low-quality estimated data. In a time when society wants to account for the 'carbon-footprint' of decisions and more broadly consider the resources used and emissions produced by industry, this research will make this quantitatively possible for chemicals used in water and wastewater treatment.Read moreRead less
Three-dimensional printing of structures using fibre reinforced geopolymer concrete. This project aims to investigate geopolymer binders for cement. Three-dimensional printing using concrete can eliminate expensive formwork but is hampered by a lack of underpinning theoretical material and structural research. Conventional Portland cement’s setting characteristics limit its use for three-dimensional (3D) printing. The project will develop a theoretical framework for the structural properties of ....Three-dimensional printing of structures using fibre reinforced geopolymer concrete. This project aims to investigate geopolymer binders for cement. Three-dimensional printing using concrete can eliminate expensive formwork but is hampered by a lack of underpinning theoretical material and structural research. Conventional Portland cement’s setting characteristics limit its use for three-dimensional (3D) printing. The project will develop a theoretical framework for the structural properties of the 3D printed concrete and flow of geopolymer binder through aggregate bed, and design a fibre reinforcement system. This project is expected to improve construction, reduce injury rates and create high-end technology-based jobs.Read moreRead less
Additive manufacturing of functionally graded geopolymers. This project aims to use contour crafting for three-dimensional printing of functionally graded geopolymer concrete. Contour crafting has been touted for producing uniform structural members made of conventional concrete mixtures. This project will develop the existing technique to produce microstructurally graded geopolymer structures and include functionally graded placement of fibre within a geopolymer matrix. It will investigate mech ....Additive manufacturing of functionally graded geopolymers. This project aims to use contour crafting for three-dimensional printing of functionally graded geopolymer concrete. Contour crafting has been touted for producing uniform structural members made of conventional concrete mixtures. This project will develop the existing technique to produce microstructurally graded geopolymer structures and include functionally graded placement of fibre within a geopolymer matrix. It will investigate mechanical, thermal and durability properties of printed composite structures. The outcome of this research could lead to cost-effective automated production of specialised structural components.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101587
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,446.00
Summary
Three-dimensional printable geo-polymer with orientable fibres for construction application. This project aims to develop a fibre-reinforced geo-polymer for three-dimensional concrete printing (3DCP). 3DCP allows freeform construction without the use of expensive formwork, but is limited by the range of printable concretes and reinforcing methods. Geo-polymer is a sustainable material and has adjustable setting characteristics and better fibre-matrix interface properties than conventional cemen ....Three-dimensional printable geo-polymer with orientable fibres for construction application. This project aims to develop a fibre-reinforced geo-polymer for three-dimensional concrete printing (3DCP). 3DCP allows freeform construction without the use of expensive formwork, but is limited by the range of printable concretes and reinforcing methods. Geo-polymer is a sustainable material and has adjustable setting characteristics and better fibre-matrix interface properties than conventional cement. This project is expected to improve construction safety and costs.Read moreRead less
Will geopolymer concretes stand the test of time? In developing new 'green' materials to replace traditional, high-carbon dioxide cements and concretes, it is essential to show that the new materials will be at least as durable as the traditional options. This project will enable prediction of the durability of low-carbon dioxide geopolymer concrete, using laboratory tests, cutting-edge structural analysis and computations.
Evaluating potential static liquefaction of tailings to prevent failures. This project aims to reduce risk in the mining industry from failing mine tailings by producing a methodology for predicting the susceptibility of these tailings to static liquefaction. The impact of a mine tailing failure is catastrophic to the downstream community. The project brings together a number of industry partners committed to assisting with verification and adoption of characterisation and designed tools develop ....Evaluating potential static liquefaction of tailings to prevent failures. This project aims to reduce risk in the mining industry from failing mine tailings by producing a methodology for predicting the susceptibility of these tailings to static liquefaction. The impact of a mine tailing failure is catastrophic to the downstream community. The project brings together a number of industry partners committed to assisting with verification and adoption of characterisation and designed tools development in this project. This proposal will integrate results from laboratory element, centrifuge and calibration chamber tests with numerical modelling and in-situ tests to produce a methodology for predicting the susceptibility to static liquefaction.Read moreRead less