Novel water treatment processes. The objective of this project is the discovery of novel methods for the treatment and reuse of water for both industrial and household applications. Improved treatment systems with the potential for water reuse offer significant improvements to our overall water management potential. The first part of the project is designed to focus on the study of hot bubble column evaporators for solute decomposition, sterilisation and the de-watering of heavily contaminated i ....Novel water treatment processes. The objective of this project is the discovery of novel methods for the treatment and reuse of water for both industrial and household applications. Improved treatment systems with the potential for water reuse offer significant improvements to our overall water management potential. The first part of the project is designed to focus on the study of hot bubble column evaporators for solute decomposition, sterilisation and the de-watering of heavily contaminated industrial wastewater. The second part would be based on the study of a suitable depth filter medium for the treatment of partially treated household sewage water. This is designed to form part of an on-site household sewage water treatment and reuse system which is currently being developed.Read moreRead less
Nanometrology of laser-trapped airborne particles. This project aims to develop a new concept of touch-free measuring of physical characteristics of nanoparticles using specially designed optical vortex beams. The new concept will be of direct importance in developing new nanotechnologies demanding ever-increasing purity of every element in the industrial environment and production processes.
Seeing the good from the trees: remotely sensing the urban forest. Urban forests provide a range of ecosystem services including temperature regulation and rainfall capture, but measuring these benefits is currently prohibitively costly and inaccurate. This project aims to develop a new model of urban forest ecosystem services that uses remotely sensed three dimensional data to map canopy cover. A model using this data, which is being collected by an increasing number of governments, represents ....Seeing the good from the trees: remotely sensing the urban forest. Urban forests provide a range of ecosystem services including temperature regulation and rainfall capture, but measuring these benefits is currently prohibitively costly and inaccurate. This project aims to develop a new model of urban forest ecosystem services that uses remotely sensed three dimensional data to map canopy cover. A model using this data, which is being collected by an increasing number of governments, represents a novel advance on the established methodology that requires expensive and time-consuming fieldwork. The advancements expected to be made in this project will mean that environmental planners will be able to better plan the urban forest so that cities are more liveable and resilient in the face of climate change.Read moreRead less
Transistor-based sensor technology for fast, reliable and accurate in situ monitoring of recycled wastewater. Water recycling is becoming critical for water supplies worldwide, due to declining natural supplies of fresh water, combined with increasing demand. The greatest community and industry concerns over recycled water are quality assurance and relative cost. Ensuring quality requires monitoring of contaminants, yet no single real-time technology exists to measure the myriad of potential con ....Transistor-based sensor technology for fast, reliable and accurate in situ monitoring of recycled wastewater. Water recycling is becoming critical for water supplies worldwide, due to declining natural supplies of fresh water, combined with increasing demand. The greatest community and industry concerns over recycled water are quality assurance and relative cost. Ensuring quality requires monitoring of contaminants, yet no single real-time technology exists to measure the myriad of potential contaminants. This project will develop technology using AlGaN/GaN-based transistors, sensitised to different contaminants, enabling multi-analyte real-time sensor arrays. In situ monitoring systems based on such arrays will be fast, accurate, reliable, low-cost, and applicable to a broad variety of water recycling projects.Read moreRead less
Plutonium - A new tracer of sediment transport into the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. This work will quantify one of the most controversial threats to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, namely the amount of sediment reaching the reef as a consequence of human activities. It will have economic implications for this major Australian tourist attraction, as well as the commercial fishing and agricultural and horticultural industries in the region. The direct economic value associated with these indust ....Plutonium - A new tracer of sediment transport into the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. This work will quantify one of the most controversial threats to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, namely the amount of sediment reaching the reef as a consequence of human activities. It will have economic implications for this major Australian tourist attraction, as well as the commercial fishing and agricultural and horticultural industries in the region. The direct economic value associated with these industries exceeds $1 billion per annum, and around 1 million people visit the inshore areas every year. Management of the park will benefit through improved understanding of the transport of sediment from the rivers to the lagoon and inner reef areas, and the fraction of the sediment attributable to anthropogenic practices. Read moreRead less
Managing Australian landscapes to reduce house loss during bushfires. The number of houses destroyed by bushfires in Australia is increasing. This project aims to undertake the first comprehensive analysis of links between land management practices and house loss during bushfires across Australia. Results from this research are expected to improve the ability of authorities, industry and individual home owners to quantify risk from bushfires, and to identify ways that Australian landscapes can b ....Managing Australian landscapes to reduce house loss during bushfires. The number of houses destroyed by bushfires in Australia is increasing. This project aims to undertake the first comprehensive analysis of links between land management practices and house loss during bushfires across Australia. Results from this research are expected to improve the ability of authorities, industry and individual home owners to quantify risk from bushfires, and to identify ways that Australian landscapes can be managed to reduce house losses during bushfires. Results from this research will be communicated directly to key stakeholders including government agencies, industry and home owners.Read moreRead less
Hydraulic Properties of Swelling Clay-Gel Soils: Electrolyte and Temperature Effects. We seek to understand the impacts of electrolytes and temperature on the equilibrium and water flow properties of swelling, clay-gel soils. These soils are important in cropping, the environment and industrial processes. Their hydraulic properties govern dewatering rates, rheology, and solute movement. Double layer theory (DLVO) successfully describes the equilibrium behaviour of model, parallel-plate clay syst ....Hydraulic Properties of Swelling Clay-Gel Soils: Electrolyte and Temperature Effects. We seek to understand the impacts of electrolytes and temperature on the equilibrium and water flow properties of swelling, clay-gel soils. These soils are important in cropping, the environment and industrial processes. Their hydraulic properties govern dewatering rates, rheology, and solute movement. Double layer theory (DLVO) successfully describes the equilibrium behaviour of model, parallel-plate clay systems in laboratories. However, equilibrium and water transport properties of less-ideal, clay slurries are poorly described by theory. Field clay-gels are therefore problematic. Outcomes will be better understanding of swelling clays, improved and more cost effective management techniques for gel soils and trained graduates.Read moreRead less
Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely ....Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely collected in Australia's catchments and thereby better predict water quality behaviour. Proposed field studies aim to support this development. The outcomes sought are improved planning and management of water quality in our rivers, lakes and estuaries, improved health of these water bodies and improved water supplies.Read moreRead less
The composition and transport of Australian air-borne dust: critical to continental and marine environments. This project will determine the composition of Australian airborne dust and effects on the environment and in particular soils, rainforests and the marine realm, including reefs. 'Fingerprinting' the chemical and microbiological content of aeolian dust is of particular relevance to determining its impact on the health of the Australian people and environment. Atmospheric conditions propit ....The composition and transport of Australian air-borne dust: critical to continental and marine environments. This project will determine the composition of Australian airborne dust and effects on the environment and in particular soils, rainforests and the marine realm, including reefs. 'Fingerprinting' the chemical and microbiological content of aeolian dust is of particular relevance to determining its impact on the health of the Australian people and environment. Atmospheric conditions propitious for dust entrainment and transport will be determined, and in particular atmospheric exchanges between Indonesia, southern Africa and Australia will be established. The relevance of aeolian dust to climate, ecosystems and biosecurity in our region will be established through the study of marine and lacustrine cores.Read moreRead less
New generation functional materials for 21st century applications: exploiting the properties of naphthalene diimides. This project melds the expertise of several research groups in the area of fluorescent material development. Based on a family of highly fluorescent molecules, the project will focus on designing new sensors, polymeric materials and molecular switching devices.