Posts tagged as:

industry

Bacteria munch up alumina impurities

19 July 2010

Previously unknown species of naturally-occurring bacteria have the potential to save the alumina and aluminium industries millions of dollars while helping to reduce their impact on the environment, microbiologist Naomi McSweeney has found in a collaborative project between Alcoa, CSIRO and the University of Western Australia.

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Ultrasound puts water back in the Murray Darling…

12 July 2010

You may not be able to squeeze blood out of a stone but—by applying the right amount of ultrasound during processing—Jianhua (Jason) Du and colleagues from the University of South Australia have been able to squeeze a considerable amount of fresh water from mining waste.

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From separating blood to separating copper

2 June 2009

The technology could help mineral processing plants to become more compact, highly efficient, and consume less of resources such as water and power, he says.

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Turning on the atom laser

12 July 2008

The first practical atom laser is a step closer today thanks to Australian researchers.

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Tuna research in 350-tonne waterbed

16 August 2007

 Bluefin tuna use three times as much oxygen as other fish their size, making them more difficult to culture. That’s just part of the valuable information uncovered by University of Adelaide PhD student, Quinn Fitzgibbon and his colleagues in a study where they monitored live tuna swimming inside a 350-tonne “waterbed”.

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Sound solution for soil pollution

21 August 2006

The cleaning power of sound waves on the back of a truck A young researcher in Sydney is cleaning up contaminated soil by blasting it with ultrasound. Andrea Sosa Pintos from CSIRO Industrial Physics has shown that toxic and carcinogenic pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), can be decomposed quickly, [...]

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The life and death of diamonds

8 August 2006

Could Australia rise to the top of the diamond pipe again? Macquarie University researcher Craig O’Neill believes his research could open new diamond fields across Australia.

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More to droplets than meets the eye

8 August 2006

Salads, shampoos and mining to benefit from theoretical research into droplets How much effort does it take to understand the behaviour of oil droplets? A multi-disciplinary team of six researchers from the University of Melbourne has spent the best part of two years, and used $300,000 of equipment to crack the problem.

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Microwaving trees speeds up coffee table production

31 August 2004

A new process for drying wood could revolutionise the timber industry and lead to cheaper timber for customers. The process combines a new microwave technology with more traditional drying techniques, such as solar drying. At present it can take a year or more to convert some Australian timber into top quality furniture or flooring. Much [...]

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Filling the hole on mine safety

30 August 2004

A PhD student in QLD improves mine safety with her predictive computer program Some of the risk involved in working underground is being reduced by a revolutionary approach to predicting the collapse of mine retaining walls . “In mining, huge voids are created underground when valuable ore is removed. Voids often the size of a [...]

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Cutting tools that last and last forever!

19 August 2003

Drills, knives and blades that can last 100 times longer than conventional steel could save manufacturing industries and companies millions of dollars lost each year from broken or blunt tools.

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Inventing new industrial crystals – with sugar

19 August 2003

An artificial mineral made with sugar could sponge up oil spills and replace cyanide in gold mining A new class of materials developed by chemists at the University of Melbourne could spawn an industry for custom catalysts, molecular sieves and materials for nanotechnology.

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Aussie arsenic-eating bacteria may save lives and clean mines

19 August 2003

Melbourne scientists plan to harness the strange appetite of newly discovered Australian bacteria to help purify arsenic-contaminated water.

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Happy cows choose what to eat

22 August 2002

Cows produce more milk if they are given a choice of food, according to a study released today in Melbourne. “Presentation and choice of food affects how much we eat. It’s the same for cows,” says University of Melbourne researcher, Danni Marotti.

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More gold, less cyanide, Taking the tarnish off the gold recovery process

23 August 2001

Melbourne researcher, Matthew Jeffrey, is developing a new technique that replaces cyanide with a non-toxic chemical to recover gold from ore bodies. The non-toxic chemical, known as thiosulfate, is commonly used as a fixative in photography.

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Humanoid robots “a thing of the past”

6 May 2000

Robots that look and behave like humans are proving too complicated and expensive to use in industry, and are being replaced by devices called ‘modular manipulators’. The manipulator is made up of modules, with each module performing one simple task, like putting a bolt in place or twisting it, or bringing two components together.  The [...]

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