Energy from microalgae: industrial scale development and downstream processing of co-products. In this project Australian researchers will develop processes to produce renewable energy and commodity chemicals from microalgae grown in open saline ponds, enabling sustainable production of commercial quantities of clean biofuels and commodity products for the future. Renewable energy is an essential part of Australia's low greenhouse gas emissions energy target and is central to energy security. Th ....Energy from microalgae: industrial scale development and downstream processing of co-products. In this project Australian researchers will develop processes to produce renewable energy and commodity chemicals from microalgae grown in open saline ponds, enabling sustainable production of commercial quantities of clean biofuels and commodity products for the future. Renewable energy is an essential part of Australia's low greenhouse gas emissions energy target and is central to energy security. The development of microalgal energy will help Australia's determination to meet its Kyoto target. Additional benefits will include the development of value-added co-products from microalgal biomass, which is one route to commercial success of the novel technology.Read moreRead less
High purity formaldehyde production from carbon oxides. This project aims to investigate the detailed reaction mechanism of a green chemistry route of producing formaldehyde by reducing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in liquid phase. Formaldehyde is a widely used feedstock for chemical industries, but is not considered a green chemical because it is produced using natural gas as the feed, which loses over 61 per cent of energy. This project will maximise the yield and purity of the product, ....High purity formaldehyde production from carbon oxides. This project aims to investigate the detailed reaction mechanism of a green chemistry route of producing formaldehyde by reducing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in liquid phase. Formaldehyde is a widely used feedstock for chemical industries, but is not considered a green chemical because it is produced using natural gas as the feed, which loses over 61 per cent of energy. This project will maximise the yield and purity of the product, making it commercially viable. This project’s method for producing formaldehyde is expected to reduce the capital cost and energy losses.Read moreRead less
Optimal Ethylene Oxide Manufacturing via Advanced Process Modelling and Control. This project aims at improving plant efficiency and safety to a world's best level for the Ethylene Oxide (EO) plant of Huntsman Corporation Australia (HCA). EO is a key chemical intermediate for making polyesters (clothing, PET bottles, insulation) and surfactants. To remain globally competitive, it is essential to improve the efficiency of the plant, which has a small capacity and supports important Australian mar ....Optimal Ethylene Oxide Manufacturing via Advanced Process Modelling and Control. This project aims at improving plant efficiency and safety to a world's best level for the Ethylene Oxide (EO) plant of Huntsman Corporation Australia (HCA). EO is a key chemical intermediate for making polyesters (clothing, PET bottles, insulation) and surfactants. To remain globally competitive, it is essential to improve the efficiency of the plant, which has a small capacity and supports important Australian markets. The goals will be achieved by developing advanced operational and control strategies (through computer modeling, process optimisation and intelligent systems approach), which will assist in better understanding the process and in providing optimal HCA plant operation.Read moreRead less
An Intelligent/Smart Framework for Total Process Monitoring And Supervision. Operator failures have an adverse effect on product quality, process safety, occupational health and environmental impact. The management of abnormal operating conditions is a major responsibility and depends critically on information management. A recent report indicates that the total cost attributable to preventable losses in petrochemical companies in U.S. amounts to twenty billion dollars per year. The objective o ....An Intelligent/Smart Framework for Total Process Monitoring And Supervision. Operator failures have an adverse effect on product quality, process safety, occupational health and environmental impact. The management of abnormal operating conditions is a major responsibility and depends critically on information management. A recent report indicates that the total cost attributable to preventable losses in petrochemical companies in U.S. amounts to twenty billion dollars per year. The objective of this project is to develop the theoretical framework and implementation of an Advanced Integrated Support System (ISS) for process monitoring, data analysis and interpretation, event detection and diagnosis, and operations support in chemical and petrochemical processes manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Novel inkjet-printed organic solvent nanofiltration membranes. The pharmaceutical industry is one of fastest growing industries in Australia. Manufacturing pharmaceutical products requires the use of hazardous and expensive organic solvents, which are toxic for the environment and expensive to recover due to the energy intensive thermal process required. This project aims to discover and manufacture a novel, low-cost, chemically robust nanomaterial-based membrane using an industry scalable inkje ....Novel inkjet-printed organic solvent nanofiltration membranes. The pharmaceutical industry is one of fastest growing industries in Australia. Manufacturing pharmaceutical products requires the use of hazardous and expensive organic solvents, which are toxic for the environment and expensive to recover due to the energy intensive thermal process required. This project aims to discover and manufacture a novel, low-cost, chemically robust nanomaterial-based membrane using an industry scalable inkjet printing process. The membrane will be resistant to organic solvents while efficiently recovering valuable and hazardous organic solvents with minimum environmental footprint. It will effectively provide for the future growth of the Australian pharmaceutical industry while also having global applications.Read moreRead less
Flow process and visible-light driven reactions for polymer manufacturing. This project aims to develop rapid, scalable light-driven continuous flow processing techniques that allow the production of value-added synthetic polymers that cannot be achieved by existing technologies. The project will take advantage of the spatio-temporal control of the light mediated polymerisation with flow process to achieve control over the primary structure, the sequential arrangement of monomer units in a polym ....Flow process and visible-light driven reactions for polymer manufacturing. This project aims to develop rapid, scalable light-driven continuous flow processing techniques that allow the production of value-added synthetic polymers that cannot be achieved by existing technologies. The project will take advantage of the spatio-temporal control of the light mediated polymerisation with flow process to achieve control over the primary structure, the sequential arrangement of monomer units in a polymer chain and the molecular weight distribution. The project will result in the preparation of functional polymers containing a specific arrangement of monomers in the polymer chain and a precise distribution of polymer chains. The development of such process will result in the development of advanced materials.Read moreRead less
Advanced separators for lithium-sulphur batteries. This project aims to develop new membranes for use as separators in lithium-sulphur batteries. Currently diffusion of polysulphides within these batteries reduces battery power and lifetime. The new membranes are intended to block polysulphide diffusion over an extended lifetime, while transporting the other ions needed for the battery to function. The project is expected to generate new membrane materials and further knowledge about the design, ....Advanced separators for lithium-sulphur batteries. This project aims to develop new membranes for use as separators in lithium-sulphur batteries. Currently diffusion of polysulphides within these batteries reduces battery power and lifetime. The new membranes are intended to block polysulphide diffusion over an extended lifetime, while transporting the other ions needed for the battery to function. The project is expected to generate new membrane materials and further knowledge about the design, synthesis and larger-scale production of membranes for electrochemical applications. This project will provide significant benefits by producing potentially lighter, longer-lasting and cheaper batteries than existing lithium-ion technologies, with the potential to accelerate the adoption of electric cars.Read moreRead less
Synthesis of oligomers in dense carbon dioxide. The aim of the project is to develop a novel technique for the synthesis of low molecular weight polymers (oligomers) using dense carbon dioxide as a polymerisation solvent. The use of elevated pressure is the major impediment to the commercialisation of such technology. The technique proposed in this project will enable oligomers to be produced at greatly reduced operating pressures and may lead to a more general procedure for conducting other t ....Synthesis of oligomers in dense carbon dioxide. The aim of the project is to develop a novel technique for the synthesis of low molecular weight polymers (oligomers) using dense carbon dioxide as a polymerisation solvent. The use of elevated pressure is the major impediment to the commercialisation of such technology. The technique proposed in this project will enable oligomers to be produced at greatly reduced operating pressures and may lead to a more general procedure for conducting other types of polymer synthesis in dense carbon dioxide.Read moreRead less
Process for treatment of fluorine-containing synthetic greenhouse gases. It is generally agreed that increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are leading to higher average atmospheric temperatures. This research pursues the development of an energy-efficient, non-destructive process for transforming fluorine-containing greenhouse gases (GHGs) into valuable and environmentally benign products. The application of research will lead to the development of a new non-destructive proce ....Process for treatment of fluorine-containing synthetic greenhouse gases. It is generally agreed that increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are leading to higher average atmospheric temperatures. This research pursues the development of an energy-efficient, non-destructive process for transforming fluorine-containing greenhouse gases (GHGs) into valuable and environmentally benign products. The application of research will lead to the development of a new non-destructive process and will benefit Australia, socially by reducing emission of GHGs and thus protecting the environment, and economically through licensing of the technology for treatment of the growing stockpiles of synthetic GHGs.
Read moreRead less
Particle motion and particle-convective heat transfer near the walls of fluidized beds. Background: Fluidized bed technology has important industrial applications ranging from petrol production to mineral processing for metal production. Such processes take advantage of the high rates of heat transfer in gas-fluidized beds.
Objective of project: To improve understanding and modelling of heat transfer in gas fluidized beds through the application of state-of-the-art experimental (Positron Emiss ....Particle motion and particle-convective heat transfer near the walls of fluidized beds. Background: Fluidized bed technology has important industrial applications ranging from petrol production to mineral processing for metal production. Such processes take advantage of the high rates of heat transfer in gas-fluidized beds.
Objective of project: To improve understanding and modelling of heat transfer in gas fluidized beds through the application of state-of-the-art experimental (Positron Emission Particle Tracking) and modelling (Discrete Element Method simulation) techniques.
Expected outcomes of project: New knowledge of the mechanisms of fluidized bed heat transfer. Improved the prediction of heat transfer coefficients with consequent improvements in the design and operation of fluidized bed processes.
Read moreRead less