Three QUT researchers have been awarded Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowships related to climate change mitigation. The fellowships are funded by the Queensland Government’s Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport.
The projects include rehabilitation of mining land and carbon sequestration using a nitrogen-fixing plant; the abatement or sequestration of carbon in Queensland’s top industries and advanced AI and machine vision techniques to enhance ore extraction.
Dr Linh Thi My Hoang, from the Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy has received a has received a Mid-career Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship valued at $780,000 for a project titled Enhanced carbon-capture in pigeon pea: an innovative approach for carbon sequestration.
Dr Hoang said Queensland had 220,000 hectares of disturbed land in site-specific mines that required rehabilitation, and, at the same time, the State needed advanced technologies to reduce emissions and enhance carbon sequestrations.
“Pigeon pea is a multi-purpose legume which would provide an excellent opportunity as a lucrative carbon-sequestration crop for Queensland’s mining sites rehabilitation program due to its deep root systems, high nitrogen-fixation rates, strong growth in nutrient-poor soil, high market value and great export demand” Dr Hoang said.
“The aim of this Fellowship is to trial and develop innovative strategies for enhanced carbon-capture in pigeon pea for introduction into Queensland’s mining rehabilitation sites. The outcomes will enable the mining industry to improve land and environment in mining regions while producing excellent plant-based protein resources for human consumption and animal feed”.
Dr Hoang’s industry partner is Sojitz Blue, a major Queensland-based coking and thermal coal mining company.
Dr Kameron Dunn, from the School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, is the recipient of a $360,000 fellowship for his project titled Abatement or sequestration – A preferred Queensland industry strategy
Dr Dunn said the project would assess strategies in abatement and biosequestration that minimise Queensland greenhouse gas emissions that support net zero carbon emissions.
The project will explore the development and product testing of biosequestrated carbon products having market opportunities in the local mining, sugar and manufacturing industries. The research in this project will determine the embodied carbon emissions of carbon products derived from the Queensland sugarcane industry, explore processing conditions to produce market quality products, and determine the environmental and financial viability of the strategy adopted.
“The Queensland mining industry recognises the benefits associated with the incorporation of bio derived carbon products, as such the industry is actively and strategically assessing opportunities within the Queensland sugar industry given its scale to offset carbon emissions via both a carbon abatement and a biosequestration approach, with significant investment anticipated in the coming years,” Dr Dunn said.
Industry partners on this project are Sugar Research Limited, Zero Industrials, Mackay Sugar, Sugar Research Australia and collaborators are UQ and Deakin University.
Dr Osman Tursun, from the QUT School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics has received a $240,000 fellowship to undertake a project titled AI-enabled fragmentation and ore intelligence through machine vision.
Dr Tursun’s project will develop advanced machine vision techniques to create the first AI-enabled real-time fragmentation analysis mining software platform with industry partner Orica Digital Solutions.
“Using advanced AI techniques, the internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing, we will enable real-time, low cost and accurate online and offline fragmentation analysis that will reduce redundancy in mining operations, and decrease operation costs," Dr Tursun said.
"This new intelligence will reduce costs and energy in the extraction, crushing and grinding process, and increase efficiency of high-grade ore extraction, which is essential for the critical minerals industry.”
The Advance Queensland strategy supports Queensland’s innovators, scientists and entrepreneurs to create the industrial engines needed to make Queensland a global innovation economic powerhouse and supports the creation of jobs now and into the future.
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