Submarine stealth is target of new research
25 June 2008
|
One of Australia's Collins Class submarines, HMAS Collins.
Photo by the Department of Defence.
|
Australia's Collins Class submarines could benefit from new research at the University of Adelaide that aims to improve their stealth capabilities.
Submarines are designed to be undetectable and rely on stealth to operate effectively. But keeping such a large vessel quiet is a huge challenge.
The University's School of Mechanical Engineering will receive funding of $530,000 to investigate a new stealth solution for the Collins Class submarines. The funding has been provided under the Department of Defence's Capability and Technology Demonstrator (CTD) Program, which is managed by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO).
"The Collins Class submarines are propelled by electric motors, which makes them almost silent," says research leader Dr Carl Howard from the School of Mechanical Engineering.
"However, if the batteries that power the electric motors become flat, they must be recharged with an electrical generator that is powered by a diesel engine. During the recharging operation the noise from the diesel engines reduces the stealth capabilities of the submarine. The aim of the project is to improve the stealth of the submarine during the recharging operation."
Dr Howard will conduct laboratory testing on improved vibration absorbers to reduce the noise - or "acoustic signature" - of the submarine.
"If the tests prove fruitful, this work could be vital in improving the operational effectiveness of the submarines," he says.
Dr Howard's work builds on the expertise within the University's Acoustics, Vibration and Control research group, which has been researching solutions for industry for more than 20 years. It also builds on the University of Adelaide's longstanding research partnership with the DSTO.
The University of Adelaide is also a partner in another CTD project aimed at creating miniaturised GPS anti-jam modules that can be easily fitted to Defence Force vehicles. The funding for this project has been awarded to Tenix Systems. Mr Matthew Trinkle from the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering is a collaborative partner in this research.
The University of Adelaide has considerable strengths in research and education that relate specifically to the defence and security industries. Among various Masters-level degree programs run by the University are a Master of Marine Engineering, offered in conjunction with Australian defence company ASC, and a Master of Sciences (Defence Signal Information Processing), which is part of the Continuing Education Initiative program conducted by DSTO.
For more information about defence and security research and education at the University, visit: www.adelaide.edu.au/desec
Additional details about this media release can be found at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news27361.html
Gyro-therm burner ignites a flame in Sweden
20 June 2008
|
|
Testing the Gyro-therm burner at the MEFOS pilot-scale facility in Lulea, Sweden.
|
The University of Adelaide's Gyro-therm burner technology has taken a
big step forward through an international partnership with Swedish steel company LKAB,
industrial research company MEFOS, and local company FCT-Combustion.
This partnership has supported the first pilot-scale
trials of the burner firing pulverised fuels in a rotary iron pellet kiln.
Those trials measured a 40% reduction in NOx emissions with
this burner than with the best alternative configurations,
when corrected to the same wall temperature to account for the higher heat flux.
"The success of these pilot-scale trials has justified a
full-scale trial scheduled for September in an iron pellet
kiln in our Kiruna plant" said Mr Stefan Savonen,
LKAB's Manager for Energy and Environment.
"LKAB is also pleased to be a partner with The University of Adelaide, FCT-Combustion and
Lulea University of Technology, in an ARC Linkage grant application to
further develop the technology for our kilns".
|
|
The Gyro-therm burner and pilot-scale kiln at MEFOS in action.
|
The Gyro-therm burner was invented in the School of Mechanical Engineering
during the PhD thesis of Graham "Gus" Nathan under the supervision of
Professor "Sam" Luxton and first patented in 1988. Since then,
an extensive research program on this burner has been undertaken
by the Fluid Mechanics Energy and Combustion (Fluid-MEC) Research Group of the Faculty,
which also comprises staff from Chemical Engineering and Applied Mathematics.
"Since its invention, 15 PhD and 2 Masters theses have been undertaken
by our group, leading to 36 journal papers, 75 peer-reviewed conference
papers and 4 patents" said Gus, now a professor in the School.
"This research by our team is under-pinning the commercial
development and application of the technology".
The Gyro-therm burner was first tested in a gas-fired cement kiln
of the Angaston plant of Adelaide Brighton Cement in 1991 under
Mr Con Manias, now Managing Director of FCT-Combustion.
"We knew that the technology had real potential when we
demonstrated for the first time, a reduction in NOx emissions
by over 50% and an increase in fuel efficiency by about 8%" Con said.
"Nevertheless, a lot of further research and development has been
required to take the technology from firing gas to pulverised fuels".
Since those trials Con has championed the commercial
application of the technology through FCT-Combustion,
which holds the commercial rights to the technology.
"The success of these trials also provide a strong boost
to our plans to apply the technology to pulverised fuel burners
in the cement and lime industries", Con said.
SAE Race Car Launch
12 June 2007
University of Adelaide Racing Concepts, a team comprised entirely of university engineering students, today launched its entry for the 2007 Formula SAE national championships.
Formula SAE is a global competition run by the Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE), which sees teams of university students from around Australia and the world designing and building an open-wheel, formula-style race car. The teams compete in a series of performance and reliability tests, with prizes in a number of different categories.
Drivers for the launch included students - as well as University Vice-Chancellor and President Professor James McWha and other senior staff - will displayed their driving prowess in last year's Formula SAE car. Designs for the 2007 entry were also on display.
For more information, please see the SAE launch press relsease
