 
Lighting flames for a greener future.
Combustion is the very foundation of the world's industrial society. It underpins the current standard
of living in the industrial world as well as being a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The Turbulence,
Energy and Combustion (TEC) group at the University works with industry and international collaborators
to develop environmentally responsible, cost-effective energy technologies for industry. The group's
members are drawn from the Schools of Mechanical and Chemical
Engineering.
The TEC group has already made major contributions to the development of new low emission high efficiency
combustion systems in the form of the precessing jet gas burner licensed to Adelaide-based Fuel & Combustion
Technology (FCT) as "Gyro-Therm"™. The Gyro-Therm™ technology typically provides
both a 50% reduction in NOx emissions and an increase in output/and/or fuel efficiency of 5% in gas-fired
kilns. The value of Gyro-Therm™ sales to date is about $4 million. The group is presently developing
the next-generation of Gyro-Therm™ nozzles for use with solid fuels, as 90% of rotary kilns fire
these fuels.
The TEC group has also played a key role in the development of a new, patented Pre-agglomerator technology
with Indigo Technologies, a Queensland company, for
the improved removal of ultra-fine particles of toxic gases such as mercury vapour.
In addition, the TEC group was responsible for the technology used by FCT for the fuel and combustion
systems for the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics. These systems set new standards in sustainable
design, safety, minimising life-cycle emissions and providing greatly increased flame stability. The
TEC group also developed the technology and safety assessments for the flames for the Wagner
Ring Cycle performed at the Adelaide Festival Theatre in 2004. With an equivalent output of 1,000
Olympic torches, these flames were the largest used inside any theatre in the world.
New research undertaken by the group on biomass - plant derived fuel - has the potential to solve
problems arising from the world wide decline in the reserve to production ratio of crude oil, the emission
of greenhouse gases and energy security. Renewable fuels such as the residues of agricultural crops and
native plantation flora such as eucalypts also have the potential to increase the viability of large-scale
replanting of Australian trees to mitigate dryland salinity and support rural economies.
The importance of the TEC group was recently recognised with the group being chosen as one of three
finalists for the inaugural 2005 Premier's Science
Excellence Awards for "Excellence in Research for Commercial Outcomes."
For further information go to Turbulence, Energy and
Combustion (TEC).
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