Breaking bad oilfield emulsions. This project aims to use a solution of natural oil resin extract in carbon dioxide to break problematic water-in-crude oil emulsions with no secondary environmental consequences. Extracted crude oil contains water, which can result in problematic water-in-crude oil emulsions. These can be difficult to break into separate water and oil phases with potentially severe economic and environmental consequences. In Australia, such oilfield emulsion problems are frequent ....Breaking bad oilfield emulsions. This project aims to use a solution of natural oil resin extract in carbon dioxide to break problematic water-in-crude oil emulsions with no secondary environmental consequences. Extracted crude oil contains water, which can result in problematic water-in-crude oil emulsions. These can be difficult to break into separate water and oil phases with potentially severe economic and environmental consequences. In Australia, such oilfield emulsion problems are frequently encountered in both the Bass Strait and across the Carnarvon Basin. The treatment option proposed will target both asphaltene and silt stabilised water-in-oil emulsions and will be readily deployable.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH170100009
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Energy-efficient Separation. The ARC Research Hub for Energy-efficient Separation aims to develop advanced separation materials, innovative products and smart processes to reduce the energy consumption of separation processes. The Research Hub will create a multi-disciplinary training platform, supplying a highly-trained workforce for the advanced manufacturing sector, particularly in separation technology–a growth area in which Australia can lead the world. The advancement ....ARC Research Hub for Energy-efficient Separation. The ARC Research Hub for Energy-efficient Separation aims to develop advanced separation materials, innovative products and smart processes to reduce the energy consumption of separation processes. The Research Hub will create a multi-disciplinary training platform, supplying a highly-trained workforce for the advanced manufacturing sector, particularly in separation technology–a growth area in which Australia can lead the world. The advancement of Australia’s capability as a world-leading technology provider in manufacturing advanced separation materials and equipment will enable Australian industry to become more energy-efficient and cost-competitive in a global economy.Read moreRead less
Unlocking Australia's offshore gas endowment. This project aims to develop practical new methods of predicting and detecting the formation of solids in gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Australia has large offshore reserves of natural gas and has made the investments necessary to help fuel the global transition to cleaner, reliable energy sources. However, conventional engineering approaches of producing gas from deep-water reserves have reached the limits of viability because of t ....Unlocking Australia's offshore gas endowment. This project aims to develop practical new methods of predicting and detecting the formation of solids in gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Australia has large offshore reserves of natural gas and has made the investments necessary to help fuel the global transition to cleaner, reliable energy sources. However, conventional engineering approaches of producing gas from deep-water reserves have reached the limits of viability because of the costs required to prevent solids forming in subsea pipelines or cryogenic LNG plants. The project’s expected outcome include sophisticated tools in open-access software based on these new predictive methods, and a step-change in Australia’s ability to access its offshore gas.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101043
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$413,482.00
Summary
Peculiar membrane structures for removing microplastics from water. Microplastic pollution can inflict irreparable damage to human health and the environment. This project aims to develop functional membrane structures specifically designed to remove microplastics from aquatic and wastewater treatment systems. The approach will utilise advanced techniques in material science, separation science and fluid mechanics. The expected outcomes include advanced membranes with high separation efficiency ....Peculiar membrane structures for removing microplastics from water. Microplastic pollution can inflict irreparable damage to human health and the environment. This project aims to develop functional membrane structures specifically designed to remove microplastics from aquatic and wastewater treatment systems. The approach will utilise advanced techniques in material science, separation science and fluid mechanics. The expected outcomes include advanced membranes with high separation efficiency for microplastics filtration. This will have significant benefits, including the efficient removal of microplastics from water sources securing cleaner potable, irrigation and recycled water, and contributing to a safer, healthier environment for all Australians.Read moreRead less
Does coevolution drive speciation? This project aims to connect micro-evolutionary processes with macro-evolutionary patterns to test the extent to which tightly coupled co-evolutionary interactions between species drive evolutionary diversification. The project will use techniques including the most recent phylogenetic modelling methods, field experiments and molecular genetics. Expected outcomes include advancing understanding of the mechanisms that generate biodiversity and developing new tec ....Does coevolution drive speciation? This project aims to connect micro-evolutionary processes with macro-evolutionary patterns to test the extent to which tightly coupled co-evolutionary interactions between species drive evolutionary diversification. The project will use techniques including the most recent phylogenetic modelling methods, field experiments and molecular genetics. Expected outcomes include advancing understanding of the mechanisms that generate biodiversity and developing new techniques for acquisition of DNA from museum specimens. The project is expected to provide significant benefits, such as insights into the processes that promote new species in nature.Read moreRead less
Characterising the transport and delivery of oligonucleotides . Short RNA and DNA molecules represent a class of macromolecules that have great potential, but to facilitate their trafficking across cellular and membrane barriers into specific sites of action is challenging. This project aims to develop and apply novel imaging approaches to track them in cells and tissues. Expected outcomes include better understanding of the trafficking across cellular and membrane barriers, and improved imaging ....Characterising the transport and delivery of oligonucleotides . Short RNA and DNA molecules represent a class of macromolecules that have great potential, but to facilitate their trafficking across cellular and membrane barriers into specific sites of action is challenging. This project aims to develop and apply novel imaging approaches to track them in cells and tissues. Expected outcomes include better understanding of the trafficking across cellular and membrane barriers, and improved imaging tools that could be used to further study the molecular mechanisms of accumulation, metabolism and trafficking of these molecules. This project should provide new strategies to target these molecules to specific cells and tissues, which have significant social and economic benefits to the Australian community.Read moreRead less
Understanding mosquito smell system: a new frontier in mosquito control. This project aims to identify and functionally investigate mosquito smell receptors, which are critical in detecting volatile compounds and locating their hosts from a considerable distance away. Mosquitoes display preferences for certain hosts over others, primarily determined by volatile chemicals produced by hosts. This study builds on recently discovered, novel, host-derived volatile compounds, which can elicit robust r ....Understanding mosquito smell system: a new frontier in mosquito control. This project aims to identify and functionally investigate mosquito smell receptors, which are critical in detecting volatile compounds and locating their hosts from a considerable distance away. Mosquitoes display preferences for certain hosts over others, primarily determined by volatile chemicals produced by hosts. This study builds on recently discovered, novel, host-derived volatile compounds, which can elicit robust responses and attractiveness from mosquitoes. Expected outcomes of the project are enhanced understanding of mosquito smell system and behaviours. This could provide significant benefits to how we can fight mosquitoes and mosquito-transmitted diseases in a more efficient and environmentally responsible way.Read moreRead less
Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and e ....Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and ecosystem function, making experiments that manipulate identical disturbances in ecosystems with different biodiversity essential. This project will use field experiments that manipulate disturbances in streams replicated in low and high biodiversity regions and across gradients of chronic background stress to show how biodiversity sustains functional ecosystems, and how much diversity can be lost before ecosystems collapse.Read moreRead less
Rare Earth Metal Separation by Polymer Inclusion Membranes. The project aims to develop a novel hydrometallurgical method for the separation of the rare earth metals dysprosium and terbium from mixed rare earth metal solutions using polymer inclusion membranes with a crosslinked or non-crosslinked polymer backbone. These metals are crucial for the manufacturing of advanced technology products. The membrane-based method is expected to offer significant advantages over the currently used solvent e ....Rare Earth Metal Separation by Polymer Inclusion Membranes. The project aims to develop a novel hydrometallurgical method for the separation of the rare earth metals dysprosium and terbium from mixed rare earth metal solutions using polymer inclusion membranes with a crosslinked or non-crosslinked polymer backbone. These metals are crucial for the manufacturing of advanced technology products. The membrane-based method is expected to offer significant advantages over the currently used solvent extraction methods by eliminating the use of solvents and conducting the separation as a continuous process where the extraction and back-extraction steps take place simultaneously. These advantages are expected to make the separation process more cost-effective and drastically reduce its environmental impact.Read moreRead less
Next generation gas separations via innovative adsorption technologies. This project aims to develop new gas separation technologies that combine novel materials and pressure swing adsorption cycles to deliver inexpensive industrial processes capable of both high recovery and high purity products. The project will advance our ability to manipulate the phenomenon of regulated guest admission into microporous materials, and integrate such materials within new types of dual-reflux adsorption cycles ....Next generation gas separations via innovative adsorption technologies. This project aims to develop new gas separation technologies that combine novel materials and pressure swing adsorption cycles to deliver inexpensive industrial processes capable of both high recovery and high purity products. The project will advance our ability to manipulate the phenomenon of regulated guest admission into microporous materials, and integrate such materials within new types of dual-reflux adsorption cycles that deliver multiple refined gas products. Successful implementation of these industrial developments will increase Australia's access to cheap supplies of natural gas, encourage the broader use of biomass, lower the carbon emissions of industrial processes, and efficiently recover high-value compounds only present at trace concentrations.Read moreRead less