We seek a highly motivated and quantitatively talented candidate to pursue a PhD project that will develop new and fundamental understanding of how sludge with different rheological properties flow under laminar, transitional and turbulent conditions. This position is part of the “Efficient Pipeline Transport of Highly Concentrated Wastewater Sludges” Linkage Project funded by the Australian Research Council, which aims to investigate the rheology and fluid mechanics of highly concentrated wastewater sludges (HCWS) and develop predictive tools for design and optimisation of pipeline transport systems.
The project expects to generate new knowledge about the complex flow of concentrated wastewater sludge which will enable predictive models to support the design and optimisation of sludge pipeline transport systems. Expected outcomes of the project contribute toward developing a new toolkit that will enable wastewater treatment plants to design and optimise both existing and future pipeline systems. This will support the Australian wastewater industry to plan for future growth, increase throughput and efficiency, reduce environmental pollutants, and minimise capital and operating costs. This project involves close collaboration with a research team with extensive experience in sludge rheology and fluid mechanic as well as the Melbourne Water research team.
This project duties are:
- To fully characterise the rheology of HCWS samples in the RMIT Materials Characterisation Lab
- To conduct a series of field-based experiments on the flow of HCWS at Eastern Treatment Plant (Carrum Downs, VIC 3201) using a pilot-scale pipe loop rig
- To develop and validate pipe flow theory for prediction of the laminar-turbulent transition and friction loss for straight pipe sections and conventional pipe fittings.
Location
Melbourne CBD and RMIT site at Eastern Treatment Plant.
