Multiphase flows in microchannels. This project will improve our understanding of how multiphase fluids (such as a gas and a liquid or two liquids) flow in very small passages. Such flows are at the heart of almost all chemical processing and miniaturisation of chemical processes depends on our ability to design for and control them. There is a worldwide interest in microplant for chemicals manufacture and the international partner investigators are leaders in this field. The particular benefit ....Multiphase flows in microchannels. This project will improve our understanding of how multiphase fluids (such as a gas and a liquid or two liquids) flow in very small passages. Such flows are at the heart of almost all chemical processing and miniaturisation of chemical processes depends on our ability to design for and control them. There is a worldwide interest in microplant for chemicals manufacture and the international partner investigators are leaders in this field. The particular benefit to Australia lies in the possibility that miniaturised, microsctructured chemical plant could become the basis for remote, distributed manufacture that could, for example, allow natural gas processing on ocean platforms directly located at the point of production. 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
Enhancement of Heat Transfer by Stimulated Transition to Turbulence in Natural Convection Boundary Layers on Heated Walls. The aim of this project is to increase the heat transfer from heated vertical surfaces to an ambient fluid by stimulating an early transition to turbulence. Such passive heat transfer occurs in heat transfer devices, natural ventilation systems and in many environmental settings. Enhanced heat transfer will greatly improve the performance of these systems. The project will ....Enhancement of Heat Transfer by Stimulated Transition to Turbulence in Natural Convection Boundary Layers on Heated Walls. The aim of this project is to increase the heat transfer from heated vertical surfaces to an ambient fluid by stimulating an early transition to turbulence. Such passive heat transfer occurs in heat transfer devices, natural ventilation systems and in many environmental settings. Enhanced heat transfer will greatly improve the performance of these systems. The project will provide the length scales, frequency and amplification rate for the occurence of the secondary spanwise mode that is the primary mechanism for turbulent transition. This will provide guidance for the development of appropriate roughness elements and heating length and time scales.Read moreRead less
Lattice Boltzmann method based simulation of complex microchannels and mixing at micro-scales. The proposed study explores fundamental aspects of microfluidics using new tools, which will enhance the country's database of knowledge. It will lead to the development of a low-cost versatile software package, an important tool for solving microfluidics problems of interest to industries and academics, and will facilitate development and optimization of future microdevices. Further, it will improve A ....Lattice Boltzmann method based simulation of complex microchannels and mixing at micro-scales. The proposed study explores fundamental aspects of microfluidics using new tools, which will enhance the country's database of knowledge. It will lead to the development of a low-cost versatile software package, an important tool for solving microfluidics problems of interest to industries and academics, and will facilitate development and optimization of future microdevices. Further, it will improve Australia's competitiveness in the areas of LBM and MEMS both of which are new techniques with promising applications in their respective areas. The project falls under the National Research Priorities areas of Breakthrough Science and Frontier Technology. The potential applications of the technology encompass several key areas.Read moreRead less
Research into techniques for enhancing the heat transfer performance of finned-tube heat exchangers. This project explores several methods for enhancing the heat transfer performance of mechanically bonded finned tube heat exchangers. The methods would be analysed experimentally, and using finite elements, numerically. Any increase in heat transfer efficiency would contribute to the conservation of energy, and therefore, of natural resources. An improved design of heat exchangers would give a de ....Research into techniques for enhancing the heat transfer performance of finned-tube heat exchangers. This project explores several methods for enhancing the heat transfer performance of mechanically bonded finned tube heat exchangers. The methods would be analysed experimentally, and using finite elements, numerically. Any increase in heat transfer efficiency would contribute to the conservation of energy, and therefore, of natural resources. An improved design of heat exchangers would give a definite competitive edge to the Australian manufacturer. An equally significant outcome would be the training of a research person in industry-related research and skilled both in experimental and numerical procedures.Read moreRead less
Application of tuneable nanofluids in regenerative supercritical power generation. The proposed project combines the simplicity, flexibility, robustness and thermodynamic effectiveness of GRANEXTM cycle with the advances recently made in nanotechnology. If deployed across Australia to recover even 50 per cent of the 11,000 Gigawatt hour annual bioenergy potential, it will generate a revenue stream of approximately $550 million per annum while reducing greenhouse emissions by 14 mega tonne, which ....Application of tuneable nanofluids in regenerative supercritical power generation. The proposed project combines the simplicity, flexibility, robustness and thermodynamic effectiveness of GRANEXTM cycle with the advances recently made in nanotechnology. If deployed across Australia to recover even 50 per cent of the 11,000 Gigawatt hour annual bioenergy potential, it will generate a revenue stream of approximately $550 million per annum while reducing greenhouse emissions by 14 mega tonne, which is about 2.5 per cent of the annual national emissions. The proposed research will place Australia within the forefront of the research and development activities in the field of low grade heat recovery and will clearly contribute the Australian Government's National Research Priority an environmentally sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Gravity Current Driven Smoke Dispersion In a Stratified Ambient. Smoke from bushfires transported by gravity currents, and known to occur nationwide, caused the shutdown of businesses, education and events in Canberra in 2019. Recent scientific investigations have shown that the speed of propagation and concentration of smoke in these three-dimensional gravity currents have a long term ‘memory’ of their initial configuration. In this project, high-fidelity computational and experimental techniq ....Gravity Current Driven Smoke Dispersion In a Stratified Ambient. Smoke from bushfires transported by gravity currents, and known to occur nationwide, caused the shutdown of businesses, education and events in Canberra in 2019. Recent scientific investigations have shown that the speed of propagation and concentration of smoke in these three-dimensional gravity currents have a long term ‘memory’ of their initial configuration. In this project, high-fidelity computational and experimental techniques will be used to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of gravity current entrainment and propagation. This knowledge will set a strong foundation to improve operational forecasts of smoke transport that will allow government agencies to better respond to the negative impact of these complicated flows.Read moreRead less
On the mechanism of boiling instability in microchannels. This project will enable designers to create highly efficient miniaturised devices based on the boiling of fluids such as water or organics. These devices include micro-power generation systems, coolers for computer chips and solar collectors, and micro-chemical process systems. Such devices provide environmental, safety and economic benefits.
Conjugate natural convection boundary layers. Conjugate natural convection systems occur when a conducting vertical wall separates fluids at different temperatures (that is at a window separating the interior of a room from the outside or when a container of fluid is placed in a refrigerator). This project will provide accurate predictions of such flows together with scaling relations.
Enhancing passive cooling using flexible baffles. The project aims to develop a novel passive strategy using fluid-structure-thermal interactions to enhance passive cooling by natural convection and improve the energy efficiency of engineering systems. Comparing to the existing strategies, the new strategy does not require driving fan or pump and is quiet, reliable, self-adaptive and economical. The Multiphysics embodied in the proposal is at the leading edge of the field. Expected outcomes incl ....Enhancing passive cooling using flexible baffles. The project aims to develop a novel passive strategy using fluid-structure-thermal interactions to enhance passive cooling by natural convection and improve the energy efficiency of engineering systems. Comparing to the existing strategies, the new strategy does not require driving fan or pump and is quiet, reliable, self-adaptive and economical. The Multiphysics embodied in the proposal is at the leading edge of the field. Expected outcomes include advanced understanding of the complex Multiphysics and design rules for enhancing passive cooling by natural convection using flexible baffles. The research is expected to bring direct economic benefit to relevant industry and significant environmental and social benefit to the general public.Read moreRead less