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The Process Engineering and Light Metals (PELM) Centre in Gladstone has exciting opportunities available for postgraduate research students, both full-time and part-time.
Scholarships of up to $35 000 per annum are available for suitable candidates for full or part-time PhD or Masters by Research.
Candidates will work in the well-appointed PELM research laboratories on projects related to industrial materials, fluids processing, advanced sensors and asset management.
Information on University Scholarships can be found on the University Research Office webpage. Some projects may be eligible for scholarships assessed from within PELM on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the Director for further information.
Contact Prof. Richard Clegg.
A list of potential projects for Postgraduate students are as follows. Please contact us if you have any other interests that PELM may be able to accommodate.
Supervisor: Prof. Richard Clegg
Mercury embrittlement of aluminium has led to a number of failures in process equipment in the gas processing industries. The phenomenon is still poorly understood and there remains some debate about the micromechanisms of crack propagation. This project will investigate the rate controlling steps in crack propagation in mercury embrittlement through developing an understanding of the activation energy associated with embrittlement couples. The results of this project will help develop a better understanding of the micromechanisms of liquid metal induced embrittlement and aid in the selection and development of alloys for use in process industries.
Supervisor: Prof. Richard Clegg
The fatigue strength of many cast alloys is controlled by the size of the defects in the castings. However, the defects are not in general uniformly distributed in the casting and the microstructure of the casting also varies throughout the component. This is particularly true of high pressure die cast magnesium alloys and this has meant that it is difficult to predict the fatigue behaviour of die cast components on the basis of tabulated material data. This project will investigate techniques for predicting fatigue behaviour of components made from some of the new magnesium alloys developed by the CAST CRC. The project will characterise the fatigue behaviour of the alloys using the state-of-the-art electromagnetic testing machine recently purchased by CQUniversity and will correlate this with the casting defect populations and behaviour of full-size components. The aim is to improve the predictability of fatigue performance of cast magnesium wheels.
Supervisors: Prof. Richard Clegg and Dr. Alan McLeod (WTIA)
Residual stresses in welded structures are a major problem in chemical process plants in that they can lead to stress corrosion cracking which can result in expensive repairs or even scrapping of vessels. Residual stresses occur as a result of the contraction of weld metal as it cools and are usually treated by post-weld heat treatment. Although there are not currently satisfactory on-site non-destructive methods for measuring residual stresses, there are several candidate methods which have showed early promise. This project will examine a number of these, particular Barkhausen noise techniques, and compare the results with some samples that have been calibrated using laboratory techniques. The project will result in a system that can reliably measure the residual stresses in welded structures on-site and can be used to help qualify weld procedures and welders and evaluate existing welded structures.
Supervisors: Prof. Richard Clegg and Dr. John McFeaters (Transcritical Technologies)
There is currently a great deal of interest in the development of renewable fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There has been some interest shown in placing a biofuels plant in the Banana Shire, as it is close to a considerable amount of productive agricultural land and is close to some major potential users of biofuels in the form of coal mines. The major limiting factor with the biofuels industry lies with the costs associated with production. This project will investigate the potential of either a biodiesel or bioethanol plant in Central Queensland and will investigate the feasibility of integrating the plant with other infrastructure such as feedlots and the abattoir to reduce costs and provide some energy through the supply biogas. The project will also look at methods of water use minimisation in the plant. The outcome of the project will be a preliminary design of an integrated biofuels plant for Central Queensland and the project will provide a detailed analysis of the feasibility of the plant.
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Colin Greensill
Assessment of the performance NIR spectrometric based systems when used to analyse hyperspectral data for the determination of surface characteristics. The predictive model performance of a number of NIR based systems may be compared. A further assessment of chemometric techniques will follow. The successful NIR system will be interfaced to a plant's control system. The objective of this project is to optimise and validate predictive models using a NIR spectrometric based system and specialised chemometric techniques to quantify important surface properties remotely.
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Colin Greensill
The development of a NIR spectrometric based system to analyse incoming feed stock to a plant and interface to existing control systems to improve performance. The predictive model performance of a number of laboratory based NIR spectrometers (and chemometric analyses) for the determination of product characteristics will be compared. The successful NIR spectrometer will be interfaced to a plant's control system and performance monitored. The objective of this project is to optimise and validate predictive models using a NIR spectrometric based system and specialised chemometric techniques to quantify important product properties and interface to a plant's control system for efficiency gains.
Supervisor: Dr. Alex Deev
The Parallel Disc Device (PDD) was developed at the PELM Centre of the CQUniversity as a laboratory tool to accurately measure the rates of flow dependent processes, such as corrosion, under well defined flow conditions. These flow conditions are expected to correspond to severe turbulent flow in an industrial apparatus. It is known, that flow between two parallel discs is prone to forming instabilities. To be able to easily and accurately define the flow conditions between the discs it is necessary to find the range of parameters when flow between the discs is free of those instabilities. The study will involve physical modelling and the visualisation of flow in the PDD. The flow parameters at various rotation speeds of the disc will be measured using the Particle Image Velocimetry System. Besides that, the rates of the mass transfer to the immobile bottom disc as a function of the rotation speed of the top disc and of the gap width between the discs will be characterised using electrochemical techniques.
Supervisor: Dr. Alex Deev
Electrochemical techniques, such as Linear Polarisation Resistance (LPR) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), are widely used to measure and monitor the rate of general corrosion. However, these techniques produce well predictable response only for the processes, rate of which is independent from the flow conditions. At the same time, it is known that, with a limited success, the electrochemical techniques can be used for measuring the corrosion rate controlled by the diffusion of species in the flowing solution, i.e. flow-dependent corrosion rate. The thorough understanding of how these electrochemical techniques work for diffusion-controlled corrosion occurring in flowing liquids and choosing the range of process parameters when the techniques can produce quantitative data is crucial for further improvement of the quality of experimental data obtained. The study will initially involve experimental work with model systems having simple electrode kinetics. Subsequently the findings of this work will be tested under the conditions close to the field conditions.
Supervisors: Dr. Alex Deev and Dr. Chris Clunies-Ross (Airlabs)
The proposed PhD research project is to develop a method for the speciation and quantification of individual compounds in the emissions from a selected industrial plant in the Gladstone Region (Qld). The method will be based on the combination of Gas Chromatography, Mass Spectrometry and Dynamic Olfactometry, which will permit the ranking of individual compounds from the mixture in accordance to their contribution to the odour. Subsequently the mutual influence of selected compounds on the human response to them (a synergistic effect) will be examined. A model predicting the odorous effect of mixtures of selected compounds on the basis of their known concentrations and allowing for synergistic effects is expected to be developed.
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Colin Greensill
Identification and characterisation of the fundamental issues impeding transfer of calibration models amongst PDA-based NIR spectrometer networks. Development of coping mechanisms (chemometric and/or hardware) to enable the transfer of calibrations models across a large network. The objective of this project is to develop and validate calibration transfer models using a NIR spectrometric based systems.
Supervisors: Dr. Jason Connor and Assoc. Prof. David Druskovich
The formation and stability of coatings on copper surfaces under extreme flow conditions is presently an active area of research at the PELM laboratories. The effect of high shear rates on anodically formed oxide/hydroxide/carbonate films on copper surfaces is being investigated with a novel Parallel Disc Device (PDD) for which the flow of liquid at the working electrode is purely tangential as long as flow between the discs remains laminar.
In industrial processes fluid flow in pipes is usually turbulent hence this project will study the above system using a nickel corrosion loop that has been recently installed at PELM. The flow loop is designed so that turbulent fluid flow can be achieved at the working electrodes. The loop is capable a maintaining fluid flows of up to 1.5 m/sec and will operate at temperatures of 180 Celcius.
The experimental methods for the study will involve voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy will be used for the examination of surface films. It may also be necessary to carry out some modelling of fluid flow to better understand the effect of intense turbulent flow.
CQUniversity CRICOS Provider Codes: QLD-00219C; NSW-01315F; VIC-01624D
