Mechanisms of nucleation with special emphasis on gas hydrates. Successful recovery of natural gas from hydrate reservoirs, flow assurance in natural gas pipelines, prevention of undesirable dissociation of methane hydrates in deep ocean sediments, sequestration of carbon dioxide and high density gas storage, all depend on timely formation and dissociation of gas hydrates. Controlled extraction of methane hydrates from, and simultaneous sequestration of carbon dioxide to, deep ocean sediments ha ....Mechanisms of nucleation with special emphasis on gas hydrates. Successful recovery of natural gas from hydrate reservoirs, flow assurance in natural gas pipelines, prevention of undesirable dissociation of methane hydrates in deep ocean sediments, sequestration of carbon dioxide and high density gas storage, all depend on timely formation and dissociation of gas hydrates. Controlled extraction of methane hydrates from, and simultaneous sequestration of carbon dioxide to, deep ocean sediments have been considered to be the 'next big thing' in energy and environment sectors. Sequestration of carbon dioxide is necessary not only for reducing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere but also to stabilise the sediments once methane is extracted.Read moreRead less
The conversion of remote location natural gas to fuels and chemicals. The objectives of the research programme will be to develop novel science, engineering and technology that will allow cost efficient conversion of remote gas reserves to liquid fuels and/or chemicals with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. The significance of the proposal rests in the fact that Australia has large remote location gas fields that cannot be exploited but faces, within ten years, trillion dollars a year balance of ....The conversion of remote location natural gas to fuels and chemicals. The objectives of the research programme will be to develop novel science, engineering and technology that will allow cost efficient conversion of remote gas reserves to liquid fuels and/or chemicals with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. The significance of the proposal rests in the fact that Australia has large remote location gas fields that cannot be exploited but faces, within ten years, trillion dollars a year balance of payments deficits due to a shortgae of liquid fuels. The development of new processes for gas to liquids conversion and new technology for existing processes is the essential aim of the proposed research.Read moreRead less
Exploring deep Australia: 3-D imaging of the lithosphere beneath south-east Australia using multiple high density seismic arrays. The successful completion of this project will significantly improve our knowledge of the seismic structure of the Australian lithosphere, and hence improve our understanding of how the Australian continent came to be formed. In addition, the tomographic imaging methods that will be developed and applied to the individual and combined seismic arrays have a direct rele ....Exploring deep Australia: 3-D imaging of the lithosphere beneath south-east Australia using multiple high density seismic arrays. The successful completion of this project will significantly improve our knowledge of the seismic structure of the Australian lithosphere, and hence improve our understanding of how the Australian continent came to be formed. In addition, the tomographic imaging methods that will be developed and applied to the individual and combined seismic arrays have a direct relevance to the seismic imaging techniques used by the exploration industry. Finally, the creation of a combined dataset comprising records from ~300 stations will help keep Australia at the leading edge of observational seismology, as other countries (e.g. U.S.) begin to deploy very large seismic arrays.Read moreRead less
Large-scale three dimensional deformation of the lithosphere by subduction and mantle flow. We will be modelling of the dynamics of the Earth's crust and shallow lithosphere in response to the huge stresses created by plate motions. For Australia these stresses are transmitted from the distant plate boundaries, but they have a direct controlling influence on the evolution of the petroleum rich basins of Australia. These basins have reached maturity; further exploration will be in deep water wher ....Large-scale three dimensional deformation of the lithosphere by subduction and mantle flow. We will be modelling of the dynamics of the Earth's crust and shallow lithosphere in response to the huge stresses created by plate motions. For Australia these stresses are transmitted from the distant plate boundaries, but they have a direct controlling influence on the evolution of the petroleum rich basins of Australia. These basins have reached maturity; further exploration will be in deep water where geophysical prospecting methods are unreliable. Model-driven "exploration geodynamics" methods such as those we are developing will be needed to support traditional exploration techniques in these areas.Read moreRead less
Southern gateways - the icehouse cometh: Eocene to Oligocene evolution of southeast Australia. The 50 to 30 million years old strata of southeastern Australia have great economic importance for Australia. Most of the gas and oil extracted in the region comes from strata of this age. The research will lead to better age constraints on these reserves, thus enhancing petroleum prospectivity in the area. The global environment changes from 50 to 30 million years charted in this project will lead ....Southern gateways - the icehouse cometh: Eocene to Oligocene evolution of southeast Australia. The 50 to 30 million years old strata of southeastern Australia have great economic importance for Australia. Most of the gas and oil extracted in the region comes from strata of this age. The research will lead to better age constraints on these reserves, thus enhancing petroleum prospectivity in the area. The global environment changes from 50 to 30 million years charted in this project will lead to a better understanding of the geological record of greenhouse-icehouse change. Knowledge of the nature of this change in the past is critical to predicting how our climate is going to behave in the future.Read moreRead less
Pore scale characterisation of the wettability of petroleum reservoir core material: Towards optimised recovery of hydrocarbon reserves. In most oil reservoirs more than 50% of original oil in place remains unrecovered. A major factor contributing to suboptimal recovery is insufficient knowledge of the rock wettability. Even a small improvement in recovery will have substantial economic benefit. The proposed project aims to characterise wettability in hydrocarbon bearing rocks using advanced 3D ....Pore scale characterisation of the wettability of petroleum reservoir core material: Towards optimised recovery of hydrocarbon reserves. In most oil reservoirs more than 50% of original oil in place remains unrecovered. A major factor contributing to suboptimal recovery is insufficient knowledge of the rock wettability. Even a small improvement in recovery will have substantial economic benefit. The proposed project aims to characterise wettability in hydrocarbon bearing rocks using advanced 3D imaging hardware and understand implications to oil displacement and recovery via state-of-the-art computational tools. Scientifically, this will be a leading edge research achievement enhancing Australian competitiveness in petroleum engineering research and will help Australia become a world leader in the export-oriented petroleum research services industry.Read moreRead less
Application of Double and Triple Dating of Zircons to Sediment Provenance Studies and to Quantifying Recycling in Sedimentary Rocks. Double and triple dating are exciting new ANU-Yale breakthroughs that can be used to more accurately identify the source of sediment in rivers and sedimentary rocks than is possible using existing techniques. They have fundamental applications in the study of erosion, tracing the source of heavy minerals in titanium deposits and in determining the source of sedi ....Application of Double and Triple Dating of Zircons to Sediment Provenance Studies and to Quantifying Recycling in Sedimentary Rocks. Double and triple dating are exciting new ANU-Yale breakthroughs that can be used to more accurately identify the source of sediment in rivers and sedimentary rocks than is possible using existing techniques. They have fundamental applications in the study of erosion, tracing the source of heavy minerals in titanium deposits and in determining the source of sedimentary sequences that host oil. Under favourable circumstances double dating can be used also to date sediments that are devoid of fossils, which has direct application in oil exploration.Read moreRead less
Three dimensional computational models of geological basin and hinterland evolution incorporating lithospheric mantle and surface processes. Petroleum exploration in deepwater areas offshore Australia is becoming increasingly important as more accessible, shallow water oil reserves near exhaustion. Geological simulation is an important tool for understanding deep water basins where geophysical imaging techniques are less effective. This project will develop 3D computational models relevant to un ....Three dimensional computational models of geological basin and hinterland evolution incorporating lithospheric mantle and surface processes. Petroleum exploration in deepwater areas offshore Australia is becoming increasingly important as more accessible, shallow water oil reserves near exhaustion. Geological simulation is an important tool for understanding deep water basins where geophysical imaging techniques are less effective. This project will develop 3D computational models relevant to understanding the development and evolution of geological basins and the sediments that fill them. The models will be integrated with available offshore data for potentially prospective Australian basins in the Northwest Shelf and the Southern Australian margin.Read moreRead less
Computational Rock Physics. Knowledge of the quantitative relationships between rock and fluid properties, and seismic characteristic is necessary to improve the determination of fluid saturation and accurately monitor recovery of oil and gas. The proposed project aims to develop these relationships by teaming up two Australian-based experts in 3D seismic image analysis and theoretical rock physics, with a global company at the forefront of the industry. Developing these relationships will be a ....Computational Rock Physics. Knowledge of the quantitative relationships between rock and fluid properties, and seismic characteristic is necessary to improve the determination of fluid saturation and accurately monitor recovery of oil and gas. The proposed project aims to develop these relationships by teaming up two Australian-based experts in 3D seismic image analysis and theoretical rock physics, with a global company at the forefront of the industry. Developing these relationships will be a cutting edge research achievement, will directly impact on exploration, interpretation and production decisions within the oil and gas industry in Australia and globally, and greatly advance Australia's reputation as a leader in petroleum research services and training.Read moreRead less
Fundamental studies of the packing and compaction of fine particles. This project will investigate the fundamentals of the packing and compaction of fine particles at both microscopic and macroscopic levels through a combined theoretical and experimental program. It involves the use of advanced techniques to generate particle scale information, so that a packing and compaction process can be assessed at various time and length scales. It will produce a comprehensive understanding of the underlyi ....Fundamental studies of the packing and compaction of fine particles. This project will investigate the fundamentals of the packing and compaction of fine particles at both microscopic and macroscopic levels through a combined theoretical and experimental program. It involves the use of advanced techniques to generate particle scale information, so that a packing and compaction process can be assessed at various time and length scales. It will produce a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physics, computer models capable of predicting the micromechanic and transport properties of porous media, and an effective means to solve many packing and compaction problems widely encountered in minerals and materials processing industries.Read moreRead less