Flotation separation of nanoparticles. This project deals with the separation of fine nanoparticles suspended in water, by attachment to small gas bubbles. It aims to find a way of removing nanoparticles from water, or of separating one species from another. The process could be used for simple solids such as metal oxides, and for biological materials such as large molecules, viruses and small bacteria. The work will be both theoretical and experimental. This ground-breaking project will build u ....Flotation separation of nanoparticles. This project deals with the separation of fine nanoparticles suspended in water, by attachment to small gas bubbles. It aims to find a way of removing nanoparticles from water, or of separating one species from another. The process could be used for simple solids such as metal oxides, and for biological materials such as large molecules, viruses and small bacteria. The work will be both theoretical and experimental. This ground-breaking project will build upon past successes of the applicant, whose invention in the field of resource recovery is contributing close to $1 billion a year to Australia's exports.Read moreRead less
Development of High Performance Nanocomposite Filtration Membranes: Fabrication and Fouling Mechanisms. This project will develop high performance membranes for the filtration of water and wastewater using novel nanotechnology processes. This will reduce the costs and environmental impact of water treatment and risk from low-level chemical contaminants such as micropollutants. The project will also provide an enhanced technology base for producing low cost, hybrid inorganic-organic materials fo ....Development of High Performance Nanocomposite Filtration Membranes: Fabrication and Fouling Mechanisms. This project will develop high performance membranes for the filtration of water and wastewater using novel nanotechnology processes. This will reduce the costs and environmental impact of water treatment and risk from low-level chemical contaminants such as micropollutants. The project will also provide an enhanced technology base for producing low cost, hybrid inorganic-organic materials for widespread environmental, agricultural and food applications.Read moreRead less
Optimising Fouling Control in Membrane Bioreactors. Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are growing in importance for wastewater treatment because they offer an alternative for producing higher effluent quality wastewater within a more compact space compared to conventional processes. However, due to the pumping and bubbling used to keep the membranes clear of foulants resulting from the biological processes in MBR's, controlling fouling incurs significant energy usage and costs. The proposal aims to red ....Optimising Fouling Control in Membrane Bioreactors. Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are growing in importance for wastewater treatment because they offer an alternative for producing higher effluent quality wastewater within a more compact space compared to conventional processes. However, due to the pumping and bubbling used to keep the membranes clear of foulants resulting from the biological processes in MBR's, controlling fouling incurs significant energy usage and costs. The proposal aims to reduce the costs of fouling control by understanding the optimal conditions to remove these depositions and improve the design of MBR modules, operating conditions and shear delivery in the membrane system.Read moreRead less
Macromolecular Fouling in Membrane Bioreactors. As the demands for domestic and industrial water increasing in Australia and overseas, membrane bioreactors (MBR) offer an alternative for producing higher effluent quality wastewater compared to conventional processes. However, aeration costs used to remove fouling deposits (which reduce the operating performance) need to be further minimised. The proposal aims to study fundamental mechanisms involve in the deposition of foulant components by usin ....Macromolecular Fouling in Membrane Bioreactors. As the demands for domestic and industrial water increasing in Australia and overseas, membrane bioreactors (MBR) offer an alternative for producing higher effluent quality wastewater compared to conventional processes. However, aeration costs used to remove fouling deposits (which reduce the operating performance) need to be further minimised. The proposal aims to study fundamental mechanisms involve in the deposition of foulant components by using model systems of polysaccharides, proteins and microbial cells and comparing these with real MBR systems. The effect of bubbling varied gas compositions (air/H2S ratios) a novel approach in this study will be investigated to prevent or remove foulants in MBR systems. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882388
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$130,000.00
Summary
Advanced characterisation of organics and biopolymers in water and wastewater treatment. Although membrane technology is increasingly used for water production, wastewater treatment and reclamation, fouling by complex bio-organics is a major limitation. The liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection and the Flow FFF equipments give detailed analyses of the complex organics, thereby helping to understand the fouling and organic removal mechanisms allowing process optimisation. The availabilit ....Advanced characterisation of organics and biopolymers in water and wastewater treatment. Although membrane technology is increasingly used for water production, wastewater treatment and reclamation, fouling by complex bio-organics is a major limitation. The liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection and the Flow FFF equipments give detailed analyses of the complex organics, thereby helping to understand the fouling and organic removal mechanisms allowing process optimisation. The availability of these equipments will ramatically improve the quality of a number of research projects currently funded and being developed in Australia. This equipment would provide necessary infrastructure to keep Australian researchers world leaders in this research field (one of Australian top research priorities) and attract national and international collaborations.Read moreRead less