In situ microbial conversion of coal to methane: Biotechnology development for clean use of Australian coal. We will develop a biotechnology that uses native microorganisms to accelerate the underground conversion of coal to methane. Approximately 90% of Australia’s coal resources cannot be accessed economically using traditional mining technologies. A technology that converts coal to methane could generate an energy supply worth an estimated $60 billion, foster the development of an energy indu ....In situ microbial conversion of coal to methane: Biotechnology development for clean use of Australian coal. We will develop a biotechnology that uses native microorganisms to accelerate the underground conversion of coal to methane. Approximately 90% of Australia’s coal resources cannot be accessed economically using traditional mining technologies. A technology that converts coal to methane could generate an energy supply worth an estimated $60 billion, foster the development of an energy industry now in its infancy, and generate numerous new employment opportunities. Environmentally, methane is a cleaner burning fuel than coal, uses much less water for processing and generates the same quantity of electricity with lower CO2 emissions. This project highlights the fact that Australia’s microbial diversity is a resource we cannot afford to ignore.Read moreRead less
A study of high temperature transformation of oil shale - In-situ mineral reactions and structure analysis. In the current energy market, non-traditional fuels like oil shale are becoming more economically important. Australia has >33 billion tonnes of oil shales resources with potential for >1800 million tonnes of recoverable oil. This potential multi-billion dollar industry depends upon development of an efficient technology leading to economical oil production and much cleaner organic liquid ....A study of high temperature transformation of oil shale - In-situ mineral reactions and structure analysis. In the current energy market, non-traditional fuels like oil shale are becoming more economically important. Australia has >33 billion tonnes of oil shales resources with potential for >1800 million tonnes of recoverable oil. This potential multi-billion dollar industry depends upon development of an efficient technology leading to economical oil production and much cleaner organic liquid fuels. Retorting and combustion, which are core parts of oil shale conversion technology, would benefit from improved process conditions. This research proposal intends to investigate the in-situ complex oil shale thermal conversion reactions that occur during the retorting and combustion processes. Improved understanding of these complex reactions could lead to substantial economic and environmental improvements in oil shale processing.Read moreRead less
Low Temperature Catlytic Wet Oxidation of Organics from Strippped Sour Water. The commercialisation of a ~$3billion Australian oil shale industry heavily depends upon environmental sustainability of its technology. One key environmental issue of this technology is a need to remove organics from an aqueous industrial stream (stripped sour water). This proposal aims to develop a method based on catalytic wet oxidation for removing organics from stripped sour water. Research will be focused to deve ....Low Temperature Catlytic Wet Oxidation of Organics from Strippped Sour Water. The commercialisation of a ~$3billion Australian oil shale industry heavily depends upon environmental sustainability of its technology. One key environmental issue of this technology is a need to remove organics from an aqueous industrial stream (stripped sour water). This proposal aims to develop a method based on catalytic wet oxidation for removing organics from stripped sour water. Research will be focused to develop and study potential catalytic systems to lower the activation energy of the rate-determining step and to increase the rate of organics oxidation. The development of such a method would be a substantial technology achievement with many applications in pollution control for wastewater treatment in many other industries.Read moreRead less