Economic Operability Assessment of Leaching Process at Kwinana Nickel Refinery. Process operability is concerned with systematic analysis and improvement of process performance in the face of variable operating conditions. This project will develop a rigorous methodology for analysis of process operability with respect to short-term and transient disturbances. The proposed technique will be applied to the Kwinana Nickel Refinery Leach section, in order to reduce the plant variability and increas ....Economic Operability Assessment of Leaching Process at Kwinana Nickel Refinery. Process operability is concerned with systematic analysis and improvement of process performance in the face of variable operating conditions. This project will develop a rigorous methodology for analysis of process operability with respect to short-term and transient disturbances. The proposed technique will be applied to the Kwinana Nickel Refinery Leach section, in order to reduce the plant variability and increase nickel throughput and plant availability. This can be considered as significant move by a process industry to embrace advanced theoretical developments and will act as a benchmark to promote future links between Australian industry and academia.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882357
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
A Computational Facility for Multi-scale Modelling in Bio and Nanotechnology. Bio- and nanotechnology have the potential to transform Australian industry and research, and to bring significant benefits for consumers. The scope will include materials for energy storage, medical diagnostics and cellular imaging, bioengineering, drug and gene delivery, improved foods by molecular design, novel materials for electronics, improved techniques for particle processing, and molecular sieves for filtering ....A Computational Facility for Multi-scale Modelling in Bio and Nanotechnology. Bio- and nanotechnology have the potential to transform Australian industry and research, and to bring significant benefits for consumers. The scope will include materials for energy storage, medical diagnostics and cellular imaging, bioengineering, drug and gene delivery, improved foods by molecular design, novel materials for electronics, improved techniques for particle processing, and molecular sieves for filtering/purifying water and gases. The dedicated computing facility will enable a fast interactive cycle between simulation and experiment in these areas, accelerating the pace of research and applications.Read moreRead less
Platinum-Carborane Complexes as New Agents for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy. The development of new drugs and treatments for cancer is highly important to human health and the well-being of the community. This research has the potential to lead to new anticancer pharmaceuticals that will expand the clinical efficacy of current drugs and generate significant export income through future IP development and possible commercialization. The innovative nature of this research will also contribute t ....Platinum-Carborane Complexes as New Agents for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy. The development of new drugs and treatments for cancer is highly important to human health and the well-being of the community. This research has the potential to lead to new anticancer pharmaceuticals that will expand the clinical efficacy of current drugs and generate significant export income through future IP development and possible commercialization. The innovative nature of this research will also contribute to Australia's science knowledge base, a key element in its future economic prosperity, and it will provide excellent training of young researchers for employment in the rapidly expanding field of biotechnology.Read moreRead less
Molecular probes for pancreatic cancer. Cancer has overtaken heart disease as the main cause of premature death in Australia. Currently one in two men and one in three women are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in Australia, and the current lack of effective therapies results in a 1 year survival of just over 10%, and a 5 year survival of less than 5%. This project aims to identify and produce new compounds with novel mech ....Molecular probes for pancreatic cancer. Cancer has overtaken heart disease as the main cause of premature death in Australia. Currently one in two men and one in three women are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in Australia, and the current lack of effective therapies results in a 1 year survival of just over 10%, and a 5 year survival of less than 5%. This project aims to identify and produce new compounds with novel mechanisms of action that will facilitate our understanding of pancreatic carcinogenesis and provide the basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Australians diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the future may directly benefit from the results of this work.Read moreRead less
Rational Optimisation of the Uptake of Metal-Based Anti-Cancer Agents by Tumours. In this project will develop an understanding of how anticancer drugs are taken up, distributed and modified in tumours. The information gathered will be of value to all those developing new anticancer drugs and we will then use it to develop new drugs that more selectively target tumours and therefore have reduced side effects. Successful development of less toxic anticancer agents would lead to less debilitating ....Rational Optimisation of the Uptake of Metal-Based Anti-Cancer Agents by Tumours. In this project will develop an understanding of how anticancer drugs are taken up, distributed and modified in tumours. The information gathered will be of value to all those developing new anticancer drugs and we will then use it to develop new drugs that more selectively target tumours and therefore have reduced side effects. Successful development of less toxic anticancer agents would lead to less debilitating treatment, more effective treatment, and an increase in the number of patients effectively treated. Effective anticancer drugs can also be very large income earners for Australia.Read moreRead less
Dynamic CFD Simulations and Scale-Up of Three-Phase Slurry Reactors for Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) Technology. The gas-liquid-solid flow patterns in three-phase slurry bubble column reactors will be studied using experiments and CFD. The effect of various reactor parameters will be studied to develop the scale-up heuristic for the slurry bubble column reactor. The Findings of this study will be used to optimise the reactor system for the offshore natural gas locations of Australia. A successful impleme ....Dynamic CFD Simulations and Scale-Up of Three-Phase Slurry Reactors for Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) Technology. The gas-liquid-solid flow patterns in three-phase slurry bubble column reactors will be studied using experiments and CFD. The effect of various reactor parameters will be studied to develop the scale-up heuristic for the slurry bubble column reactor. The Findings of this study will be used to optimise the reactor system for the offshore natural gas locations of Australia. A successful implementation of this project will bring a huge economic benefit to Australia by utilising the vast amount of remotely located and otherwise unusable stranded natural gas reserves. The project falls within one of National Research Priorities: An Environmentally Sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Fine Structured Optical Fibre Fabrication - Soot, Rheology and Nanostructure in Modified Chemical Vapour Deposition. For 30 years photonics and telecommunications have relied heavily on optical fibres made by Modified Chemical Vapour Deposition (MCVD), a complex, highly dynamic process with many interacting variables, which is still more art than science. The results are good enough for most purposes but the next generation of photonics demands fibres with intricate, precisely defined internal s ....Fine Structured Optical Fibre Fabrication - Soot, Rheology and Nanostructure in Modified Chemical Vapour Deposition. For 30 years photonics and telecommunications have relied heavily on optical fibres made by Modified Chemical Vapour Deposition (MCVD), a complex, highly dynamic process with many interacting variables, which is still more art than science. The results are good enough for most purposes but the next generation of photonics demands fibres with intricate, precisely defined internal structures. A multi-disciplinary team will elucidate and quantify the exact nature of the fundamental science underlying MCVD - of silicate soot formation, deposition and heat treatment - and translate this into reproducibly fabricated fine structured fibres with high optical and mechanical performance.Read moreRead less
Differential Isotope Proteome Mapping of Transforming Growth Factor Beta Cell Signalling. Our research will capitalise on Australia's expertise and prior infrastructure investments in frontier, proteomic technologies to elucidate novel intracellular signalling pathways that contribute to the development of cancer. New approaches will be developed using isotopes to provide sensitive and accurate measurements of changes in protein expression levels. This technology will allow us to define complex ....Differential Isotope Proteome Mapping of Transforming Growth Factor Beta Cell Signalling. Our research will capitalise on Australia's expertise and prior infrastructure investments in frontier, proteomic technologies to elucidate novel intracellular signalling pathways that contribute to the development of cancer. New approaches will be developed using isotopes to provide sensitive and accurate measurements of changes in protein expression levels. This technology will allow us to define complex intracellular signalling networks. This is an important step towards identifying new drug targets that are responsible for tumour growth. Australian science will benefit from the training of new scientists in modern, post-genome technologies where there is currently a world shortage of experienced personnel.Read moreRead less
New Strategies for Monitoring DNA-Anticancer Drug Interactions. The highly successful cisplatin works by binding to DNA and partially unwinding or bending the DNA. As a consequence of the success if cisplatin, alternative anticancer drugs are being developed with reduced side effects for patients. One of the bottom necks in the development of alternative drugs is rapid screening of the efficacy on new leads. The proposed research will develop new technologies for monitoring DNA-drug binding, ....New Strategies for Monitoring DNA-Anticancer Drug Interactions. The highly successful cisplatin works by binding to DNA and partially unwinding or bending the DNA. As a consequence of the success if cisplatin, alternative anticancer drugs are being developed with reduced side effects for patients. One of the bottom necks in the development of alternative drugs is rapid screening of the efficacy on new leads. The proposed research will develop new technologies for monitoring DNA-drug binding, DNA damage and DNA repair using novel DNA biosensors. the novelty of the biosensor technology will be to use the modulation of charge transfer through DNA as a method for determining the structural changes that occur in DNA due to these events occurring.Read moreRead less
Synthesis of the pyrrolo[2,1-c][1,4]benzodiazepines: potent DNA binders. Chemicals that bind to DNA have a long history of use as anticancer drugs. In recent times, the biotechnology revolution has greatly expanded our understanding of how these drugs work and the genetic basis of a wide range of other diseases. The aim of this project is to discover novel compounds that selectively bind to DNA. Starting from a class of naturally occurring compounds (called the pyrrolobenzodiazepines) as a templ ....Synthesis of the pyrrolo[2,1-c][1,4]benzodiazepines: potent DNA binders. Chemicals that bind to DNA have a long history of use as anticancer drugs. In recent times, the biotechnology revolution has greatly expanded our understanding of how these drugs work and the genetic basis of a wide range of other diseases. The aim of this project is to discover novel compounds that selectively bind to DNA. Starting from a class of naturally occurring compounds (called the pyrrolobenzodiazepines) as a template, it will develop powerful new methods to supply wholly new DNA interactive molecules with great potential as new drugs to treat cancer or other genetic diseases.Read moreRead less