Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0883080
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$490,000.00
Summary
Detection of Trace Concentrations of Chemical Contaminants in Urban Water Systems. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling is becoming more prevalent. The presence of chemical contaminants such as low concentrations (ng/L) of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disrupters (EDCs) and other organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment has received much attention around the world including Australia due to their ....Detection of Trace Concentrations of Chemical Contaminants in Urban Water Systems. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling is becoming more prevalent. The presence of chemical contaminants such as low concentrations (ng/L) of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disrupters (EDCs) and other organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment has received much attention around the world including Australia due to their potential biological impact in urban water systems. The proposed equipment aims to establish analytical techniques and instrumental capacity for the selective analysis of chemical contaminants in order to improve our understanding of the fate of these compounds through different urban water systems.Read moreRead less
Multi-Objective Planning and Operation of Water Supply Systems Subject to Climate Change. Water is precious, and increasingly scarce. Many Australians – householders, businesses, farmers, those concerned about sustainability and the environment, among others – have diverse preferences about water allocation. Yet the operating rules that water supply system managers currently use were designed when water was comparatively plentiful. This project will assist system managers to develop contemporary ....Multi-Objective Planning and Operation of Water Supply Systems Subject to Climate Change. Water is precious, and increasingly scarce. Many Australians – householders, businesses, farmers, those concerned about sustainability and the environment, among others – have diverse preferences about water allocation. Yet the operating rules that water supply system managers currently use were designed when water was comparatively plentiful. This project will assist system managers to develop contemporary rules for water allocation decision-making. A case study of the Grampians headworks system in Victoria will provide the opportunity to trial methods that account for diverse stakeholder preferences in the context of climate change and climate variability, including drought events. Read moreRead less
Optimising Decentralised Membrane Bioreactors for Water Reuse. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling has emerged as an important component of water management practises throughout Australia. Decentralised wastewater treatment systems (or package plants) offer opportunities for water recycling in regional communities; however this application is limited by our understanding on the removal of contaminants of concern through these tr ....Optimising Decentralised Membrane Bioreactors for Water Reuse. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling has emerged as an important component of water management practises throughout Australia. Decentralised wastewater treatment systems (or package plants) offer opportunities for water recycling in regional communities; however this application is limited by our understanding on the removal of contaminants of concern through these treatment systems. This project will assess the suitability and efficiency of decentralised membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for the removal of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and pathogens in accordance with the 2006 National Guidelines for Water Recycling.Read moreRead less
Understanding the fluid mechanics of unsteady friction. Unsteady fluids flows are common in the fields of technology, engineering and physiology. This project brings together a multi-disciplinary team to consider the issue of unsteady friction. The research will focus on understanding the behaviour of water in pipes when subject to very fast transient events (such as those which cause the common problem of water hammer in the home). The project will produce new results that will be used by water ....Understanding the fluid mechanics of unsteady friction. Unsteady fluids flows are common in the fields of technology, engineering and physiology. This project brings together a multi-disciplinary team to consider the issue of unsteady friction. The research will focus on understanding the behaviour of water in pipes when subject to very fast transient events (such as those which cause the common problem of water hammer in the home). The project will produce new results that will be used by water engineers to design improved techniques for the rapid non-invasive identification of leaks in underground pipelines. As such our research has the potential to contribute huge savings to Australia's increasingly valuable water resources. 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
Assessing willingness to pay for urban water, wastewater, gas and electricity delivery service standards. The utility industry is a substantial component of the Australian economy (2.2 % of GDP), underpinning national production. Recent infrastructure failures, costing up to $200 million per week, have been blamed largely on regulatory approaches that emphasise minimum price and cost solutions to utility service provision without any assessment or consideration of the willingness to pay for serv ....Assessing willingness to pay for urban water, wastewater, gas and electricity delivery service standards. The utility industry is a substantial component of the Australian economy (2.2 % of GDP), underpinning national production. Recent infrastructure failures, costing up to $200 million per week, have been blamed largely on regulatory approaches that emphasise minimum price and cost solutions to utility service provision without any assessment or consideration of the willingness to pay for service quality and the value people place on surety of supply. Research on the role of WTP for service standards in regulating price and service quality is required to prevent future infrastructure failures. This research will provide substantial economic benefits to Australia through improved regulation and better targeting of infrastructure investment.Read moreRead less
Monitoring Desalination Membrane Fouling using Sodium Magnetic Resonance. Seawater desalination using membrane modules is critical technology for potable water access, however it faces significant challenges due to fouling. Sodium magnetic resonance techniques will be developed to non-invasively detect and image salt accumulation in these opaque membrane modules due to fouling. These data will first be used to improve our understanding of the unexplored interplay between fouling and detrimental ....Monitoring Desalination Membrane Fouling using Sodium Magnetic Resonance. Seawater desalination using membrane modules is critical technology for potable water access, however it faces significant challenges due to fouling. Sodium magnetic resonance techniques will be developed to non-invasively detect and image salt accumulation in these opaque membrane modules due to fouling. These data will first be used to improve our understanding of the unexplored interplay between fouling and detrimental salt accumulation in the modules (known as cake-enhanced concentration polarisation) and thus validate 3D simulations of this phenomenon. The ability to unambiguously detect salt accumulation in membrane modules will then be extrapolated to a non-invasive monitoring tool for membrane fouling in desalination facilities.Read moreRead less
Passive biofiltration processes for nitrogen removal from polluted waters. Traditional urban wastewater treatment is energy and resource demanding. By combining principles of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) with advanced pollutant removal processes, we will create necessary knowledge to underpin development of novel sustainable urban water treatment systems. This project aims to understand and utilise Simultaneous Nitrification, Anammox and Denitrification (SNAD) processes within passive pla ....Passive biofiltration processes for nitrogen removal from polluted waters. Traditional urban wastewater treatment is energy and resource demanding. By combining principles of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) with advanced pollutant removal processes, we will create necessary knowledge to underpin development of novel sustainable urban water treatment systems. This project aims to understand and utilise Simultaneous Nitrification, Anammox and Denitrification (SNAD) processes within passive plant-soil-based biofilters for cost-effective removal of nitrogen from a range of polluted urban water sources. The project will open a potential for a new technological advancements in urban water management, while simultaneously providing benefits to the environment and community through greening and waterway protection.Read moreRead less
Continuous non-invasive assessment of the physical condition of water distribution systems. Water distribution systems represent the single most important part of a society's infrastructure yet there are no comprehensive methods for detecting or assessing their physical condition. A suite of techniques (including those adapted from radar and sonar) for pro-active condition assessment will be developed in this research. The objective is to add significant intelligent and sophisticated numerical m ....Continuous non-invasive assessment of the physical condition of water distribution systems. Water distribution systems represent the single most important part of a society's infrastructure yet there are no comprehensive methods for detecting or assessing their physical condition. A suite of techniques (including those adapted from radar and sonar) for pro-active condition assessment will be developed in this research. The objective is to add significant intelligent and sophisticated numerical modelling capability to enable the non-invasive analysis of the transient pressure data, and to enable real-world application. This research will enable the continuous assessment of the physical condition of the entire water distribution system from an operations room resulting in significant savings.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100437
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$417,237.00
Summary
Nanobubbles for effective and energy efficient water treatment. This project aims to produce new knowledge for developing ozone nanobubbles as a technological option for the water industry where commercially suitable technologies are unavailable. Australian water utilities have identified two key challenges: destruction of micropollutants and natural organic matter in recycled and reservoir water, respectively. New knowledge from the project will allow these water utilities to utilise the extrao ....Nanobubbles for effective and energy efficient water treatment. This project aims to produce new knowledge for developing ozone nanobubbles as a technological option for the water industry where commercially suitable technologies are unavailable. Australian water utilities have identified two key challenges: destruction of micropollutants and natural organic matter in recycled and reservoir water, respectively. New knowledge from the project will allow these water utilities to utilise the extraordinary properties of nanobubbles and the strong oxidation capability of ozone for effective and energy efficient water treatment. Tech-transfer to the industry is guaranteed through a scientifically designed pilot plant for benchmarking against the current state of the art ozonation process and reverse osmosis.Read moreRead less