Bachelor of Engineering & Master of Professional Engineering - Final Year Project Descriptions

ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Bachelor of Engineering & Master of Professional Engineering Final Year Project Descriptions Semester 2, 2017 To find a project description, search (Ctrl + F) using the Supervisors surname The project title and description are listed below each Academic’s name Please ensure that the project is applicable to your discipline FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Aman, Zach, Assoc/Prof May, Eric, Prof Johns, Mike, Prof Stanwix, Paul, Dr Graham, Brendan, Dr Flow Assurance and Natural Gas Hydrates Disciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & Gas Natural gas hydrates are ice-like solids that form and can often suddenly stop the flow during oil and gas production The cost of their prevention during design and production is high and the removal of hydrate plugs is expensive and dangerous Today hydrates are still a major flow assurance concern especially as production moves to deeper water, and many of Australia’s major new gas field developments are considering innovative approaches to this long-standing problem These projects aim to provide the knowledge needed for a risk-based approach to hydrate management by establishing quantitative model to assess plugging potential, optimize inhibitor doses, and develop methods to detect hydrate formation and location The outcomes will help reduce chemical use by the industry, provide better methods to locate plugs and provide safer methods for their remediation, ultimately allowing for the reliable and economic development of marginal oil and gas fields Students working on these projects will measure and/or model hydrate formation, agglomeration and dissociation processes Naturally-occurring gas hydrates also represent a tremendous energy reserve: in 2013, first production was reported from a naturally occurring hydrate reserve located offshore the coast of Japan Projects will also be available in which various properties of these natural hydrates are quantified, such that more informed decisions regards the exploitation of natural hydrates can be made An, Hongwei, Dr Hydrodynamic force on a inline cylinder group Pre-requisite skills: Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical A group of inline cylinders is often seen in offshore strictures The flow field around the cylinder group involves a wide range of interesting flow mechanics features A series of physical model tests will be conducted using the O-tube facility to measure the hydrodynamic force and flow velocity on the cylinder The force coefficients and vortex shedding frequency will be examined FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES This project gives students an opportunity to access to multi-awards winning research facility (the O-tube) and to gain experience on research about hydrodynamics of offshore structures Antoszewski, Jarek, A/Prof Gu, Renjie, Dr Synchronization of IR Ellipsometer with Molecular Beam Epitaxy growth process Pre-requisite skills: Solid background in electronic hardware interfacing and software design Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Software Microelectronics Research Group (MRG) has been established in 1975 and today has about 35 research personnel including academics, researchers and postgraduate students The main focus of the group is R&D in the field of Infrared based (IR) optoelectronics carried out in collaboration with a number of leading university and industry based Australian and oversees (USA, Europe, China) research institutions MRG provides top class research and experience environment for students, with all facilities needed for the full cycle of optoelectronic device design (computer simulators), growth/deposition of semiconductor, metal, and dielectric materials (Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition, Ebeam), full device processing (class 1000 clean room, sub-micron lithography), and characterization (x-ray, SEM, FTIR, I-V, C-V, advanced Hall effect, and many more) This project is related to the semiconductor material growth process with the aim to design and implement a PC based software interface allowing for synchronization of the data acquisition from existing IR ellipsometer (measuring substrate surface quality) with the substrate rotation during the growth process The software interface will include two modules: first, for control of existing substrate rotation hardware, and the second for interfacing/synchronization with ellipsometer software The project will require collaboration with original hardware and software manufacturers as well as efficient team work with other researchers from MRG It will provide opportunity for gaining experience in the design and development of the real, fully functional (not a prototype), user friendly software module Antoszewski, Jarek, A/Prof Gu, Renjie, Dr FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Software interface for automatic characterization of photodetector arrays Pre-requisite skills: Solid background in electronic hardware interfacing and software design Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Software Microelectronics Research Group (MRG) has been established in 1975 and today has about 35 research personnel including academics, researchers and postgraduate students The main focus of the group is R&D in the field of Infrared based (IR) optoelectronics carried out in collaboration with a number of leading university and industry based Australian and oversees (USA, Europe, China) research institutions MRG provides top class research and experience environment for students, with all facilities needed for the full cycle of optoelectronic device design (computer simulators), growth/deposition of semiconductor, metal, and dielectric materials (Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition, Ebeam), full device processing (class 1000 clean room, sub-micron lithography), and characterization (x-ray, SEM, FTIR, I-V, C-V, advanced Hall effect, and many more) At MRG we are moving from fabrication of single PV photodetectors to arrays including up to one hundred of these devices Consequently, a systematic measurement of basic I-V characteristics becomes laborious and time consuming if not automated Therefore, the aim of this project is to design and implement a PC based software interface for existing data acquisition hardware which will allow automatic I-V data collection from all connected photodetectors and its analysis providing graphs showing basic trends like current density vs detector size, or statistical analysis providing information about uniformity between devices important for imaging arrays applications The project will require collaboration with original hardware and software manufacturers (mostly Agilent) as well as efficient team work with future users of the system at MRG It will provide opportunity for gaining experience in the design and development of the real, fully functional (not a prototype), user friendly software module Aslani, Farhad, Dr Liu, Yinong, Prof Bakhtiari, Reza, Mr (PhD Student) Superelastic SMA reinforced concrete beams Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical The use of superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) as a reinforcing material in concrete structures is gradually gaining interest among researchers Because of SMAs’ different mechanical properties compared to regular steel, use of SMA as reinforcement in concrete may change FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES responses of structures under seismic and repeating loads The objective of this study is to investigate the structural performance of superelastic SMA reinforced concrete beams under repeating loads and to develop a preliminary understanding of these beams Aslani, Farhad, Dr Gunawardena, Yas, Mr (PhD Student) Behaviour of reinforced concrete bridge beam joints Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical Bridge beam joints or 'half-joints', which are located away from the bridge supports , are typically used in pre-cast concrete bridge construction This project proposes to investigate the behaviour of a unique reinforced concrete half-joint located on an in-service bridge, through an experimental programme using scaled test specimens, which will be the first time the joint detail of interest will be investigated experimentally Aslani, Farhad, Dr Dight, Phil, Prof Manca, Mirko, Mr (PhD Student) Mechanical behaviour of fibre reinforcing Pre-requisite skills: Disciplines: Civil There is little available in the literature about the mechanical behaviour of steel and poly macros fibres and their response to a simple pull-out test Factors that would influence the behaviour include material specification, surface characteristics, fibre geometry, fibre strength and embedment length This project will examine these factors for a range of commercially available fibres The results will be compared with a simple model to compare the outcome If the behaviours can be shown to be largely controlled by known factors, then the behaviour can be incorporated into beam and slab design Aslani, Farhad, Dr Chakrabortty, Anup, Dr FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES New types of self-compacting concrete (SCC) Disciplines: Civil Self-compacting concrete (SCC) can be placed and compacted under its own weight with little or no compaction It is cohesive enough to be handled without segregation or bleeding Modifications in the mix design of SCC may significantly influence the material’s mechanical properties Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed hypotheses about conventional concrete also hold true for SCC structures This project is particularly examining the effect of fly ash, ground granulated blastfurnace slag and micro silica content on strength and the durability of the concrete Basarir, Hakan, Assoc/Prof Karrech, Ali, Assoc/Prof The analysis of stresses around longwall face: A parametric study Disciplines: Civil, Mining advancing Longwall mining is a widely used method in underground coal mines The assessment of the stresses around the advancing longwall face is very important not only for designing safe main and tail gate support systems but also for maintaining the overall stability of underground coal panel Traditionally empirical and semi empirical methods are used for the prediction of stresses (Whitttaker and Singh 1979; Hudson, 1993; Wilson, 1983) But such methods are restricted by simplifying assumptions (Basarir et al., 2014) The purpose of this project is to analyze the effect of different parameters such as coal seam thickness, inclination, production sequences on stress distribution around longwall panel For this purpose 2D and/or 3D finite element (FE) method based software will be used The results of numerical modeling will be analyzed in detail and the conclusions about the effect of aforementioned parameters will be derived Wilson, A 1983 The stability of underground workings in the soft rocks of the coal Int J Min Eng ; 1:91-187 Whittaker, B., Singh, R 1979 Design and stability of pillars in longwall mining Min Eng; 139:59-70 Hudson, JA (ed) 1993 Comprehensive Rock Engineering Oxford: Pergamon Press Basarir, H., Oge, I F., Aydin, O., 2015 Prediction of the stresses around main and tail gates during top coal caving by 3D numerical analysis International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 76, 88-97 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Basarir, Hakan, Assoc/Prof Hsieh, Ariel, Dr Use of different techniques for evaluating the damage during uniaxial compressive strength test Disciplines: Civil, Mining One of the most interesting discussions regarding the conventional laboratory rock material testing is the determination of damage level or onset failure during uniaxial compressive strength test So far different researchers used different techniques and sensors such as volumetric strain, acoustic emission, for this purpose (Asadi et al., 2013; Chen et al., 2016) The aim of this thesis is to analyze the possibility of improvement of a method combining different techniques for damage evaluation or onset failure A series of laboratory tests will be conducted on different rock samples (or concrete samples) using variety of sensors Using the test results different modeling techniques will be applied for the development of the models to be used for damage evaluation Asadi, M., Bagheripour, MH., Eftekhari, M., 2013 Development of optimal fuzzy models for predicting the strength of intact rocks Computers and geotechnics, 54, 107-112 Chen, W., Konietzky, H., Tan, X., Frühwirt, T., 2016 Pre-failure damage analysis for brittle rocks under triaxial compression Computers and geotechnics, 74, 45-55 Basarir, Hakan, Assoc/Prof Elchalakani, Mohamed, Dr Production of high early strength, sustainable concrete for underground mining applications Disciplines: Civil, Mining Underground mines in Australia continue to go deeper to access viable ore bodies This results in increased mining costs and safety concerns because rock instability becomes more likely as mining depths increase One of the solutions for the issues is the production of early strength gaining sustainable concrete to be used for different mining applications i.e backfilling applications, bulkhead construction In this thesis different concrete samples will be prepared using alternative cement replacement materials i.e mine tailings, fly ash, slag The necessary quality assurance test will be conducted on prepared samples Using the results of the FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES experiments the models will be constructed for the prediction of the strength of concrete depending on the content and curing time Beemer, Ryan, Dr Chow, Shiao Huey, Dr Probabilistic Analysis of Soil Testing Disciplines: Civil The main focus of this research is to understand the variability in soil strength tests What is the likelihood that measured strength of soil is higher tor lower than average? These statistics are needed for probabilistic design of geotechnical structures, but statistics for many soils are not readily available to practicing engineers We are specifically interested in the variability of Direct Shear and Direct Simple Shear experiments when testing fine sands This will involve repetitive testing of identical soil samples to measure its variability Of specific interest are the statistics of samples with different dry densities, vertical effective stresses, and grain size This is a continuation of research from a previous final year student who studied the statistics of coarse sand Bekki, Kenji, Dr Wu, Chen, Dr Vinsen, Kevin, Mr Deciphering galaxy evolution with deep learning Pre-requisite skills: Interest in deep learning (If possible, python programming) Disciplines: Software It has been a longstanding mystery how galaxies formed over the past 13.8 billion years history of the Universe In this project, we try to understand the details of galaxy formation processes using computer simulations and deep learning Recently, deep neural networks have been used in a variety of artificial intelligent tasks such as: image/speech recognition We will be applying the latest advance of this technology Bennamoun, Mohammed, Winthrop Professor Dwivedi, Girish, Wesfarmers Chair in Cardiology Rybicki, Frank, Professor of Cardiology (University of Ottawa, Canada) FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES A deep-learning-based approach for noninvasive computation of coronary fractional flow reserve (FFR) from computed tomography Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic and Software A deep-learning-based approach for noninvasive computation of coronary fractional flow reserve (FFR) from computed tomography of heart images will be developed The deep-learning model will be trained on a large database of synthetic vessel trees, followed by verification and validation against an existing physics-based model, as well as invasive measurements Bennamoun, Mohammed, Winthrop Professor Dwivedi, Girish, Wesfarmers Chair in Cardiology Diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (heart attack) with deep learning Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic and Software Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a serious and patients typically present with chest pain Electrocardiography (ECG) and laboratory tests are used in diagnosis The aim of the study will be to diagnose ACS and help the physicians with the decision making i.e when to discharge or to hospitalize using machine learning techniques by using patient data including age, sex, risk factors, and cardiac enzymes (CK-MB, Troponin I) of patients presenting to emergency department with chest pain Bennamoun, Mohammed, Winthrop Professor Dwivedi, Girish, Wesfarmers Chair in Cardiology Detection of nonobstructive and obstructive coronary arterial lesions from computed tomography angiography by machine learning Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic and Software Visual identification of coronary arterial lesion from three-dimensional coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) remains challenging We aimed to develop a robust automated algorithm for computer detection of coronary artery lesions by machine learning techniques FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Bennamoun, Mohammed, Winthrop Professor Dwivedi, Girish, Wesfarmers Chair in Cardiology Prediction of risk factors of atherosclerosis using machine learning techniques Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic and Software In this project we aim to develop machine learning techniques for predicting the risk factors of atherosclerosis based on a longitudinal study of patients taking part in the Busselton cohort of WA Blair, David, Winthrop Professor Ju, Li, Professor Zhao, Chunnong, Professor Research in vibration isolation for gravitational wave detectors Pre-requisite skills: Practical skills, understanding of basic concepts of resonance and vibration Interest in physics and black holes Helpful to have experience in finite element modelling and Mathematica or Matlab Disciplines: Mechanical The first successful detection of gravitational waves recently gave humanity the opportunity to listen to gravitational sounds from across the universe Detectors are masterworks of optical and mechanical engineering but there is enormous opportunity for improvements These projects relate to one of the key technologies: vibration isolation They involve testing of new concepts in vibration isolation based on Euler springs Some of the project work could involve visits to UWA's Gingin Gravity Precinct The projects are part of the research for the Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery Braunl, Thomas, Prof Boeing, Adrian, Dr Electric Jetski Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic 10 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Disciplines: Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software Overview: It is an exciting time for gravitational wave research The first gravitational wave signal from merging binary black holes was detected in September 2015 during the first science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in the United States This not only confirmed Einstein’s theory on gravitational waves but also marked the beginning of a new era in gravitational wave astronomy The second LIGO science run is ongoing Many more are expected in the next few years We are leading one of the online detection pipelines for gravitational waves from coalescing binaries of black holes and neutron stars using LIGO detector data Our group was actively searching for gravitational waves online using the LIGO data during the first science run where the first discovery was made The group is currently actively search for new gravitational wave signals in the ongoing 2nd science run of LIGO This part of the project includes, - Directly involve in the online real-time searches for gravitational wave signals in LIGO/Virgo detector data, and offline processing for detected signals - Algorithm design and implementation for coherent detection and localization of gravitational wave sources by combining data from 3+ detectors - Develop and test new strategies to identify glitches from real signal including using machine learning and apply them to real detector data - Compute IIR filter coefficients to best detect gravitational waves from merging binaries of neutron stars and black holes Wen, Linqing, Prof Bosveld, Joel (PhD student) Chu, Qi, Ms Supercomputing for Gravitational Wave Search Pre-requisite skills: Strong computer skills with C or Python Disciplines: Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software Overview (same as Topic 1): It is an exciting time for gravitational wave research The first gravitational wave signal from merging binary black holes was detected in September 2015 during the first science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in the United States This not only confirmed Einstein’s theory on gravitational waves 75 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES but also marked the beginning of a new era in astronomy The second LIGO science run is ongoing Many more are expected in the next few years We are leading one of the online detection pipelines for gravitational waves from coalescing binaries of black holes and neutron stars using LIGO detector data Our group was actively searching for gravitational waves online using the LIGO data during the first science run where the first discovery was made The group will continue to be actively involved in detecting gravitational waves in science runs of LIGO as well as the Virgo detector in Europe This part of projects include : - Speed up the search pipeline by applying supercomputing technique, including the use of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) - Identify and reduce the latency (delay) of the pipeline - Test and optimize the gravitational wave search pipeline using latest GPUs - design and implement web interface for gravitational wave event triggers Wittek, Adam, Prof Singh, Surya, Dr (University of QLD) Evaluation of Biomechanical Simulations for Remote (Robotic) Surgery: Determining Deformations Within the Organ (Brain) Phantom Pre-requisite skills: Mechanical and Civil Engineering students need to have sound background in Solid Mechanics (ENSC3004) and feel confident in working with electronic circuits All students involved in the project need to have sound background in Numerical Methods (GENG4405) Disciplines: Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic Integration of computing and robotics has been recognised as one of the key elements of “the wave of third industrial revolution” (a term used in the article in “The Economist” from October 4th, 2014) that affects not only traditional engineering applications but also health care delivery (e.g surgery) So far application of surgical robots has been limited Surgical tool placement/insertion in the body organs (such as e.g needle insertion when conducting biopsy) is a challenging task that requires to account for changes in the target position caused by organ deformation due to 76 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES interactions between a surgical tool and the tissue One may attempt to track a surgical target (e.g tumour) and tool using medical imaging However, intraoperative 3D imaging (magnetic resonance imaging MRI, computed tomography, ultrasound US) for surgical tracking is limited using the equipment in standard operating theatres Predicting the intraoperative organ/tissue deformations using biomechanical can augment the currently used imaging techniques for surgical tracking Such predictions need to be validated Although the final validation needs be done against the data obtained using the actual organs/tissue, there are numerous technical (postmortem tissue decay, specimens cannot be moved between different sites) and ethical constraints/challenges when acquiring such data Therefore, it is not uncommon to use mechanical phantoms of the body organs in the initial validation stage The validation involves measuring of the forces acting on surgical tools and determining deformations within the body organ (phantom) caused by the tool Although numerous wellestablished methods for determining such deformation exist, many of them (including MRI and X-ray/CT) impractical (high cost, strong electromagnetic field, radiation risk) in the context of research on surgical robots This project focuses on creating/development of robust and cost effective method/methods for determining deformations within the brain phantom subjected to loads compatible with those occurring during neurosurgical procedures.The project will be conducted as a part of collaboration between the Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory at the University of Western Australia and Robotics Design Laboratory at the University of Queensland Note: The study may involve manufacturing of the brain phantom Wittek, Adam, Prof Open-Source Finite Element Meshes of the Brain for Neurosurgical Simulation and Brain Injury Analysis and Prevention Pre-requisite skills: Some experience in computer programming Experience/background in computational mechanics/finite element analysis would an advantage Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Software Construction of computational grids (finite element meshes when finite element analysis is used) for computational biomechanics models of the brain and other human body organs tend to be a tedious and time consuming task It typically start from segmentation of the Magnetic Resonance Images (MRIs) – a process in which the boundaries between different anatomical structures within the organ are distinguished From the segmentation the discretised surfaces are created and then used to build a 77 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES finite element mesh 8-noded hexahedral elements are often preferred in computational biomechanics as they are well-suited for incompressible continua, such as soft tissues High-quality meshes of the brain and head are often offered as commercial products However, open-source digital atlases of then brain (and other organs) provide the computational biomechanics community with the opportunity to create open-source meshes that can be used free-of-charge by the research community In this project such meshes will be created from the open-source multi-modality brain atlas created at Surgical Planning Laboratory (SPL) at Harvard Medical School (http://www.spl.harvard.edu/publications/item/view/2037 and https://dev.openanatomy.org/atlases/nac/brain-2016-09/viewer/-/state/53d745398edb-4a34-8014-6e13c146b6bd) Your task is not only to create meshes of the selected anatomical structures of the brain, but, more importantly, to formulate and verify process/processes that would facilitate replacing meshes of the specific anatomical structures to fit specific needs of the analysed problems (e.g meshes for neurosurgical simulations tend to be more detailed than for injury analysis/prevention) This may include mesh parametrisation, creating specific data structures to handle meshes with different resolution etc It is expected that your results will be incorporated into the SPL brain atlas and made publically available to the research community Wittek, Adam, Prof Biomechanical Simulations for Remote (Robotic) Surgery: Needle–Tissue Interactions and RealTime Computations Pre-requisite skills: Mechanical and Civil Engineering students need to have sound background in Solid Mechanics (ENSC3004) Prior experience with finite element analysis is helpful, but is not a requirement All students involved in the project need to have sound background in Numerical Methods (GENG4405) Disciplines: Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software Integration of computing and robotics has been recognised as one of the key elements of “the wave of third industrial revolution” (a term used in the article in “The Economist” from October 4th, 2014) that affects not only traditional engineering applications but also health care delivery (e.g surgery) So far application of surgical robots has been limited Surgical tool placement/insertion in the body organs (such as e.g needle insertion when conducting biopsy) is a challenging task that requires to account for changes in the target position caused by organ deformation due to interactions between a surgical tool and the tissue One may attempt to track a surgical target (e.g tumour) and tool using medical imaging However, intraoperative 3D imaging (magnetic resonance imaging MRI, 78 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES computed tomography, ultrasound US) for surgical tracking is limited using the equipment in standard operating theatres Predicting the intraoperative organ/tissue deformations using biomechanical can augment the currently used imaging techniques for intraoperative surgical tracking This project focuses on: • Fast (“real-time”) biomechanical algorithms and models for predicting intraoperative organ/tissue deformations due to interactions with a surgical tool; • Integration of biomechanical models with medical image processing software; • Integration of biomechanical models with robotic systems; • Evaluation of the proposed modelling and hardware solutions using experiments on mechanical phantoms of body tissues/organs The project will be conducted as a part of collaboration between the Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory at the University of Western Australia and Robotics Design Laboratory at the University of Queensland Note: The study may involve manufacturing of the brain phantom Xiao, James, Dr Graham, Brendan, Dr May, Eric, Prof Advanced Gas Separations Disciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & Gas Carbon dioxide capture, whether from natural gas streams or from flue gases, is an important and increasing area of research with significant implications for our economy and environment N2 capture from natural gas is increasingly important in the development of LNG projects where this component is energetically parasitic These projects will look at the use of novel materials for improved capture efficiency that are either solid adsorbents, including carbons, zeolites and calixarenes, or liquid solvents, such as transition metal complexes In addition, the production of high value zeolites from waste materials such as fly ash will be investigated Students working on these projects will help develop and characterise the separation performance of new materials synthesized in our laboratory over a wide range of temperature, pressure and mixture compositions, and/or use the results of such experiments to develop numerical models of advanced industrial separation processes Zhang, Dongke, Prof Zhu, Mingming, Dr Zhang, Zhezi, Mr 79 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Pyrolysis of spent tyres Pre-requisite skills: Passion, enthusiasm, commitment and dedication Disciplines: Chemical, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Oil & Gas, Petroleum Spent tyres discarded in Australia amounts to more than 400,000 tonnes per annum Being highly flammable, rich in sulphur and capable of releasing polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and other toxins if burnt uncontrolledly, spent tyres in landfills and stockpiles pose serious environmental hazards and health risks Pyrolysis is a simple, robust, and scalable approach for simultaneous production of gas, liquid and char The overall aim of this project is to investigate the operation conditions on the yield, composition and properties of pyrolysis products including gas, liquid and solid residue Sub-project 1: Effect of temperature on the yield and composition of pyrolysis gas and solid The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of pyrolysis temperature on the yield and composition of pyrolysis gas, liquid and solid residue The pyrolysis experiments will be performed in a fixed bed reactor The pyrolysis products will be collected for further analysis The compositions of pyrolysis gas will be analysed using GC-MS The solid residue will be characterised for its proximate and ultimate analyses and reactivity Sub-project 2: Effect of temperature on the yield and composition of pyrolysis liquid The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of pyrolysis pressure on the yield and compositions of pyrolysis gas, liquid and solid residue The pyrolysis experiments will be performed in a fixed bed reactor and pyrolysis liquid will be collected for further analysis The compositions of pyrolysis liquid will be analysed using GC-MS Sub-project 3: Effect of vapour residence time on the yield and properties of pyrolysis gas and solid residue The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of vapour residence time on the yield and composition of pyrolysis gas, liquid and solid residue The pyrolysis experiments will be performed in a fixed bed reactor and the pyrolysis products will be collected for further analysis The compositions of pyrolysis gas will be analysed using GC-MS The solid residue will be characterised for its proximate and ultimate analyses and reactivity Sub-project 4: Effect of vapour residence time on the yields and composition of pyrolysis liquid The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of particle size on the yield and composition of pyrolysis gas, liquid and solid residue The pyrolysis experiments will be performed in a fixed bed reactor and the pyrolysis liquid products will be collected for further analysis The compositions of pyrolysis liquid will be analysed using GC-MS 80 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Zhang, Dongke, Prof Zhang, Zhezi, Mr Hernandez, Jorge E Preciado, Mr Preparation of activated carbon residue of spent tyre pyrolysis from solid Pre-requisite skills: Passion, enthusiasm, commitment and dedication Disciplines: Chemical, Materials, Mechanical The disposal of biomass and industrial wastes, such as forestry byproducts, agriculture residue, municipal wastes, spent tyre, represents a major environmental issue throughout the world Pyrolysis is a simple, robust, and scalable approach for simultaneous production of gas, liquid and solid residue Pyrolysis solid residue has a high potential to be upgraded into various high value carbon materials (activated carbon, carbon black, metallurgical reductant, soil conditioner etc.), this project will focus on the upgrading of the spent tyre pyrolytic solid residue for activated carbon production Sub-project 1: activation using CO2/N2 mixture as the activation agent The objective of this sub-project is to produce activated carbon form the solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysis using CO2/N2 mixture Activation experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor The effect of activation temperature, particle size, activation time and molar ratio of CO2 to N2 on the product yield, physical and chemical properties of the activated carbon products will be investigated The physical and chemical properties will include: BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution, particle size distribution, reactivity, mineral form and content, surface functional groups, etc Sub-project 2: activation using steam/N2 mixture as the activation agent The objective of this sub-project is to produce activated carbon form the solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysis using steam/N2 mixture Activation experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor The effect of activation temperature, particle size, activation time and molar ratio of steam to N2 on the product yield, physical and chemical properties of the activated carbon products will be investigated The physical and chemical properties will include: BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution, particle size distribution, reactivity, mineral form and content, surface functional groups, etc Sub-project 3: activation using CO2/steam/N2 mixture as the activation agent The objective of this sub-project is to produce activated carbon form the solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysis using CO2/steam/N2 mixture Activation experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor The effect of activation temperature, particle size, activation time and molar ratio of 81 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES CO2 to steam on the product yield, physical and chemical properties of the activated carbon products will be investigated The physical and chemical properties will include: BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution, particle size distribution, reactivity, mineral form and content, surface functional groups, etc Sub-project 4: activation using alternating CO2/steam/N2 mixture as the activation agent The objective of this sub-project is to produce activated carbon form the solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysis using alternating CO2/steam/N2 mixture Activation experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor The alternating CO2/steam/N2 mixture activation experiments will start with CO2/N2 activation for a period of time, followed by steam/N2 activation for a period time and the combinations of the two activation agents thereafter The effect of activation temperature, particle size, and activation time on the product yield, physical and chemical properties of the activated carbon products will be investigated The physical and chemical properties will include: BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution, particle size distribution, reactivity, mineral form and content, surface functional groups, etc Zhang, Dongke, Prof Zhu, Mingming, Dr Setyawan, Hendrix Y Mr Manufacturing of specialty carbon black by partial combustion of heavy fraction of spent tyre pyrolysis liquid Pre-requisite skills: Passion, enthusiasm, commitment and dedication Disciplines: Chemical, Environmental, Oil & Gas, Petroleum The disposal of biomass and industrial wastes, such as forestry byproducts, agriculture residue, municipal wastes, spent tyre, represents a major environmental issue throughout the world Pyrolysis is a simple, robust, and scalable approach for simultaneous production of gas, liquid and char After desulphurisation and extraction of high value chemicals, the remaining heavy residue of the pyrolysis liquid still contains a high amount of PAHs, a great source material for carbon black production This project will focus on the manufacturing of specialty carbon black by partial oxidation of the heavy liquid residue Sub-project 1: effect of temperature on the yield of carbon black The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of temperature on the yield and properties of carbon black produced The experiments will be conducted using the flat burner system simulating industrial channel back manufacturing process The burner will burn pyrolysis gas with air to provide high temperature flame The heavy 82 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES pyrolysis liquid fraction will be injected into the burner and pass through the high temperature flame to make carbon black The carbon black will be produced at various flame temperatures and then characterised for its physical and chemical properties In this sub-project, the yield of carbon black will be evaluated and the carbon black will be characterised for proximate and ultimate analysis and BET surface areas Sub-project 2: effect of temperature on the properties of carbon black The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of temperature on the yield and properties of carbon black produced The experiments will be conducted using the flat burner system simulating industrial channel back manufacturing process The burner will burn pyrolysis gas with air to provide high temperature flame The heavy pyrolysis liquid fraction will be injected into the burner and pass through the high temperature to make carbon black The carbon black will be produced at various flame temperatures and then characterised for its physical and chemical properties In this sub-project, the carbon black will be characterised for its pH value, loss on heating and particle size distribution Sub-project 3: effect of residence time on the yield of carbon black The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of temperature on the yield and properties of carbon black produced The experiments will be conducted using the flat burner system simulating industrial channel back manufacturing process The burner will burn pyrolysis gas with air to provide high temperature flame The heavy pyrolysis liquid fraction will be injected into the burner and pass through the burner in the high temperature to make carbon black The carbon black will be produced with various residence times by varying the gas velocity and then characterised for its physical and chemical properties In this subproject, the yield of carbon black will be evaluated and the carbon black will be characterised for its proximate and ultimate analysis and BET surface areas Sub-project 4: effect of residence time on the properties of carbon black The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of temperature on the yield and properties of carbon black produced The experiments will be conducted using the flat burner system The flat burner will burn natural gas with air to provide high temperature flue gas The heavy pyrolysis liquid fraction will be injected at precise locations in the high temperature to make carbon black The carbon black will be produced with various residence times by varying the gas velocity and then characterised for its physical and chemical properties In this sub-project, the carbon black will be characterised for its pH value, loss on heating and particle size distribution Zhang, Dongke, Prof Zhu, Mingming, Dr Sunyoto, Nimas M S, Ms 83 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Two-phase anaerobic digestion Pre-requisite skills: Passion, enthusiasm, commitment and dedication Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental Two-phase anaerobic digestion (TPAD) is expected to produce hydrogen enriched biogas has higher quality and more ideal combustion properties than biogas produced from conventional single phase anaerobic digestion Biochar addition in single phase anaerobic digestion has been proven to enhance the methane production by 32% However, the effect of biochar addition on TPAD has never been explored This project will investigate the effect of biochar addition on TPAD using different feedstock and under different operational conditions Sub-project 1: The effect of biochar addition and operation condition on the hydrogen production from cheese whey The aim of the study is to examine the effect of biochar addition and operation condition (initial pH and temperature) on hydrogen production from the first phase of bench scale two phase anaerobic digestion of cheese whey The gas volume and compositions will be measured daily using water displacement methods and GC, respectively Volatile fatty acid and pH as a function of time will also be monitored periodically Sub-project 2: The effect of biochar addition and operation condition on the methane production from cheese whey The aim of the study is to examine the effect of biochar addition and operation condition (initial pH and temperature) on methane production from the second phase of bench scale two phase anaerobic digestion of cheese whey The gas volume and compositions will be measured daily using water displacement methods and GC TCD, respectively Volatile fatty acid (VFA) and pH changing will also be monitored periodically Sub-project 3: The effect of biochar addition and operation condition on the hydrogen production from wastewater sludge The aim of the study is to examine the effect of biochar addition and operation condition (initial pH and temperature) on hydrogen production from the first phase of bench scale two phase anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge The gas volume and compositions will be measured daily using water displacement methods and GC, respectively Volatile fatty acid and pH as a function of time will also be monitored periodically Sub- project 4: The effect of biochar addition and operation condition on the methane production from wastewater sludge The aim of the study is to examine the effect of biochar addition and operation condition (initial pH and temperature) on methane production from the second phase of bench scale two phase anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge The gas volume and compositions will be measured daily using water displacement methods and GC TCD, respectively Volatile fatty acid (VFA) and pH changing will also be monitored periodically 84 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Zhang, Dongke, Prof Zhang, Zhezi, Mr Zhu, Mingming, Dr Catalytic cracking of tar over a bed of biochar using tar model compounds Pre-requisite skills: Passion, enthusiasm, commitment and dedication Disciplines: Chemical, Environmental, Oil & Gas, Petroleum Tar is generated in biomass pyrolysis and gasification processes and is finally present in the pyrolysis gas, resulting in the blocking and corrosion problems in the downstream processes It is of significance to develop an economic and sustainable method to crack the tar to improve the quality and quantity of pyrolysis gaseous products As biochar is a low-cost byproduct from pyrolysis with high catalytic activity, this project will focus on the catalytic cracking of tar over a bed of biochar using tar model compound such as toluene Sub-project 1: Effect of cracking temperature on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of cracking temperature on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition Tar cracking experiments will be conducted in a fixedbed reactor at different cracking temperatures The tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition will be measured using GCMS and GC-TCD/FID located at Centre for Energy of UWA This sub-project is expected to provide an insightful understanding of the effect of cracking temperature on the tar cracking process Sub-project 2: Effect of residence time on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of residence time on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition Tar cracking experiments will be conducted in a fixedbed reactor at different residence times The tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition will be measured using GC-MS and GC-TCD/FID located at Centre for Energy of UWA This sub-project is expected to provide an insightful understanding of the effect of residence time on the tar cracking process Sub-project 3: Effect of steam and oxygen additions on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of steam and oxygen addition on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition Tar cracking experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor with steam and oxygen additions The tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition will be measured using GC-MS and GC-TCD/FID located at Centre for Energy of UWA This sub85 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES project is expected to provide an insightful understanding of the effect of steam and oxygen additions on the tar cracking process Sub-project 4: Effect of biochar particle size on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of biochar particle size on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition Tar cracking experiments will be conducted in a fixedbed reactor while biochar with different particle sizes will used as catalysts The tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition will be measured using GC-MS and GC-TCD/FID located at Centre for Energy of UWA This sub-project is expected to provide an insightful understanding of the effect of biochar particle size on the tar cracking process Zhao, Chunnong, Professor Ju, Li, Professor Blair, David, Winthrop Professor Active Control of Seismic Gravitational Wave Detectors Vibration for Pre-requisite skills: Concept of vibration isolation, control system theory Mathematica or Matlab, analog and digital electronics Disciplines: Mechanical, Mechatronic The first successful detection of gravitational waves recently gave humanity the opportunity to listen to gravitational sounds from across the universe Detectors are masterworks of optical and mechanical engineering but there is enormous opportunity for improvements These projects relate to the suppression of seismic tilt vibrations They involve building/testing tilt sensing and active tilt correction using piezo actuators Some of the project work could involve visits to UWA's Gingin Gravity Precinct The projects are part of the research for the Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery Zhao, Wenhua, Dr Wolgamot, Hugh, Dr Draper, Scott, Dr; Milne, Ian, Dr Prediction of wave-induced motions for offshore floating structures Pre-requisite skills: Fluid mechanics, computer programming Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Mining, Oil & Gas, Software 86 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Offshore floating facilities may experience significant motions when exposed to waves in open sea, which is a key concern for the design of offshore floating structures This project is aiming to build up a model to predict the wave-induced motions of a floating structure in a time-efficient way As a result, this model can be used to facilitate the design for offshore floating structures This project will involve the development of a numerical model for floating structures, the calculation of hydrodynamic coefficients, the generation of a random sea sate, and short-term analysis This project will provide the knowledge for the design of offshore structures, so it is suitable for students who are planning to work in oil & gas industry; it will build up the basic knowledge which is necessary for those who are planning to pursue further degree Zhou, Tongming, Prof Wake flow characteristics of a circular cylinder covered with soft marine growth Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Oil & Gas Vortex shedding is a phenomenon which occurs when a flow passes a bluff body The shedding process can induce vibration (which is normally termed as vortex-induced vibration, or VIV), which, at resonance, can result in excessive motion and possible structural failure Marine growth, e.g seaweed as soft marine growth and mussel as hard marine growth, will develop on offshore pipelines and risers over some time of operation in the sea The growth may chnage the hydrodynamic and VIV characteristics of the marine structures In the present project, soft marine growth, which can be simulated using artificial materials, will be attached to the circular cylinders and tested both in the wind tunnel and water flume for VIV and force characteristics Particle image velocimetry will be used to examine the wake features after the control is used and the results can then be compared with that of a bare pipe Zhou, Tongming, Prof Wake flow characteristics of a circular cylinder covered with porous materials Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Oil & Gas Vortex shedding is a phenomenon which occurs when a flow passes a bluff body The shedding process can induce vibration (which is normally termed as vortex-induced vibration, or VIV), which, at resonance, can result in excessive motion and possible structural failure Marine growth, e.g 87 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES seaweed as soft marine growth and mussel as hard marine growth, will develop on offshore pipelines and risers over some time of operation in the sea The growth may chnage the hydrodynamic and VIV characteristics of the marine structures In the present project, hard marine growth will be simulated using porous materials and the students will work as a group to find appropriate materials Their effects on cylinder wake modification and VIV suppression will be examined in a water flume using PIV and in a wind tunnel Zhou, Tongming, Prof Suppression of vortex-induced vibration through structural damping Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Oil & Gas Vortex shedding is a phenomenon which occurs when a flow passes a bluff body The shedding process can induce vibration (which is normally termed as vortex-induced vibration, or VIV), which, at resonance, can result in excessive motion and possible structural failure Therefore, a marine riser, which may experience strong sea currents and waves, must be designed such that excessive motion due to vortex shedding can be prevented or mitigated In the present project, suppression of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) through structural damping will be examined in a wind tunnel The students will need to work as a group to find appropriate methods to change the structural damping, e.g by inserting a smaller elastic pipe inside the pipe (which is used as a model for a marine riser) The effectiveness of this structural modification on VIV will then evaluated in a wind tunnel Zhu, Mingming, Dr Zhang, Dongke, Prof Zheng, Ce, Mr Spent tyre pyrolysis liquid: speciation, desulphurization, distillation, recovery of valuable chemicals and synthetic fuels Pre-requisite skills: Passion, enthusiasm, commitment and dedication Disciplines: Chemical, Environmental, Oil & Gas, Petroleum The disposal of biomass and industrial wastes, such as forestry byproducts, agriculture residue, municipal wastes, spent tyre, represents a major environmental issue throughout the world Pyrolysis is a simple, 88 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES robust, and scalable approach for simultaneous production of gas, liquid and char The raw pyrolysis liquid needs to be upgraded, due to presence of impurities, such as water, particulates and sulphur, before further process and utilisation This project will screen various commercial adsorbents and catalysts for the sulphur removal Sub-project 1: mesoporous alumina oxides based adsorbents The objective of this sub-project is to investigate the feasibility of the use of some commercial mesoporous alumina oxides based adsorbents for sulphur removal in spent tyre pyrolysis liquid The experiments will be conducted in a batch reactor The effect of temperature, alumina oxides loading ratio and operation time on the removal efficiency of sulphur will be studied The chemical compositions of raw and processed liquids will be analysed using advanced analytical techniques including GC, GC-MS and HPLC for identification of sulphur containing species Sub-project 2: ZSM-5 zeolites based adsorbents The objective of this sub-project is to investigate the feasibility of the use of some commercial ZSM-5 zeolites oxides based adsorbents for sulphur removal in spent tyre pyrolysis liquid The experiments will be conducted in a batch reactor The effect of temperature, adsorbent loading ratio and operation time on the removal efficiency of sulphur will be studied The chemical compositions of raw and processed liquids will be analysed using advanced analytical techniques including GC, GC-MS and HPLC for identification of sulphur containing species Sub-project 3: Activated carbon The objective of this sub-project is to investigate the feasibility of the use of some commercial activated carbon for sulphur removal in spent tyre pyrolysis liquid The experiments will be conducted in a batch reactor The effect of temperature, adsorbent loading ratio and operation time on the removal efficiency of sulphur will be studied The sulphur content in the pyrolysis liquid before and after being processed will be measured, respectively The sulphur containing species will also be identified using GC-MS Sub-project 4: layered double hydroxides based adsorbents The objective of this sub-project is to investigate the feasibility of the use of some commercial layered double hydroxides for sulphur removal in spent tyre pyrolysis liquid The experiments will be conducted in a batch reactor The effect of temperature, adsorbent loading ratio and operation time on the removal efficiency of sulphur will be studied The sulphur content in the pyrolysis liquid before and after being processed will be measured, respectively The sulphur containing species will also be identified using GC-MS 89 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES