Martin Anda

This study investigates the flow characteristics over a Crump weir in a 2-meter open-channel flume using particle tracking and video frame-per-second (FPS) analysis. Sand particles were introduced into the flow as tracers, and their movements were recorded at 30 FPS to determine the velocity distribution across varying depths and locations. The experimental data were used to compute flow velocities, which were subsequently validated against theoretical equations, including Bernoulli’s equation and empirical weir flow equations. The results show a general increase in flow velocity with depth, with notable variations influenced by channel geometry and surface friction. The comparison between experimental and theoretical velocities revealed minimal percentage errors, demonstrating the accuracy of particle tracking in measuring velocity in open channels. This method provides a reliable and practical approach to studying flow behavior in hydraulic structures, with significant implications for hydraulic design and analysis.

Solid Gravity Energy Storage (SGES) Systems are an innovative way to store energy by using the force of gravity. These systems can use the excess energy from solar photovoltaic power systems to lift large blocks of concrete usually around mid-day and later as the sun sets and power demand is high, the blocks are released and generate gravitational energy which is converted to electricity. Colliecrete is a low-carbon, waste-derived, geopolymer concrete developed in 2021, from the Collie power plants' flyash, by the Mudlark geopolymer lab at Murdoch University and geopolymer precursors can come from a number of waste-derived materials. Colliecrete can be used in the blocks for SGES. In Australia, most coal power plants will shut by 2030, while in Indonesia, the expectation is to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2060. There are many methods and pathways to achieve this goal with low-carbon geopolymer concrete one of them. Geopolymer precursor material is abundant with flyash available from 200 coalfired power stations and slag from dozens of steel mills and nickel smelters. Rice husk is disposed of in millions of tonnes by farmers across the archipelago by burning and this ash can be converted to the geopolymer activator. All these make the possibility of an enormous new geopolymer concrete industry to at least partially replace the high-carbon, Portland cement industry. Geopolymer concrete blocks in the SGES system provide long-duration energy storage, assist firming the renewables and reduce carbon emissions while creating a new industry for the energy transition.

Smart sensors and automated manufacturing processes can enable quality-assured production of geopolymer concrete from recovered materials and reduce the carbon footprint of housing, civil and energy infrastructure works and marina construction materials. Geopolymer is a new cementitious binder with lower carbon footprint than Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and the development of geopolymer from waste-derived materials contributes to Circular Economy. However, unlike OPC which is made from limestone and clay where the quality and consistency of these finite virgin materials extracted from the natural environment can be assured, the quality and consistency of waste-derived materials like coal flyash, mine tailings, mineral processing residues, metal slags and other industrial byproducts cannot be assured. Moreover, once these feedstock materials are used to manufacture geopolymer concrete the use of hazardous alkali-activating chemicals is required. Therefore, the use of advanced monitoring and control is applied at three levels: 1) assessment of the waste materials at their source (eg tailings storage facilities) with RPA (drones), 2) monitoring of the waste materials during pre-treatment to become feedstock with advanced sensors (eg X-Ray Fluorescence XRF) and 3) robotics and automation for the chemical handling plant, mixing of the feedstock materials into the reactor vessel and casting of the resultant concrete into the moulds.

At Bantaeng in South Sulawesi and Kwinana in Western Australia new industrial scale ports will be built to serve the industrial precincts at these locations. At both these sites a 12Mtpa Geopolymer Concrete/cement? (GPC) plant is proposed for precast production of some 1,600 port modules as well as other infrastructure requiring some 750,000 cubic metre of (cum) of concrete and thereafter the plant can be repurposed for other products for local markets such as reef modules and wall panels. Geopolymer concrete can be the replacement for conventional concrete and be made from waste ceases to be waste based on specif conditions (waste-derived materials) while having a lower carbon footprint. The plant is designed to be operated by renewable energy and an energy audit estimated that a 1metric tonne per annum (Mtpa) geopolymer production plant needs up to 200 Gigawhatt hour (GWh) per annum (pa) to operate. This could be served by 6-10 onland wind turbines combined with solar PV farm at a total cost 4555 million USD. The electricity generated around 100/MWh was worth 12-20M pa that could result in a payback of 2-5 years. In Kwinana, planning is already underway for a large wind farm as part of the overall decarbonisation strategy for this industrial precinct. Feedstock materials can be harnessed for use in the geopolymer production plant by means of Circularity Hubs. These hubs can be established through the KIC4 and 6-Capitals models of Industrial Symbiosis to optimise the proposed geopolymer plant within the industrial precincts at Bantaeng and Kwinana. Such an approach can contribute to Regenerative Development when both ports are built.

At Bantaeng in South Sulawesi a new industrial scale port will be built to serve the KIBA industrial precinct where smelters produce nickel for global electric vehicle battery markets. A 1-2Mtpa low-carbon geopolymer concrete plant is proposed for precast production of some 1,600 port modules as well as other infrastructure requiring some 750,000 cum of concrete and thereafter the plant can be repurposed for other products for local markets such as reef modules and wall panels. Geopolymer concrete can be the replacement for conventional concrete and be made from wastederived materials thereby having a significantly lower carbon footprint. The plant is designed to be operated by renewable energy and an energy audit estimated that a 1Mtpa geopolymer production plant needs 100-200 GWh pa to operate. This could be served by a renewable energy power station with a mix of wind turbines and solar PV farm producing green hydrogen for energy storage and electric fuel cells. In the option of PV50%+wind50%+hydrogenstorage the total cost was estimated to be ∃20-30M USD. If electricity is assumed ∃100/MWh then this is worth ∃10-20M USD pa and the payback is 15 years approx.

Indonesian seaweeds are marine bioresources with prospective features of iodine content. Although enormous seaweed species were found in the coastal region of Indonesia, thorough studies to profile those iodine contents were still limited. Accordingly, this review discusses the iodine content of various seaweed species located in Indonesia, i.e., Sargassum polycystum, Ulva lactuca, Sargassum vulgare, Eucheuma spinosum, Padina minor, Gracilaria verrucosa, and Eucheuma cottonii. In addition, the potential health benefits of utilizing seaweed-based iodine were also highlighted in this work. The findings indicate that iodine-rich seaweed consumption is encouraged to tackle diseases induced by various free radicals and inflammatory agents.

Identifying the most relevant determinants of water consuming or saving behaviors at the household level is key to building mathematical models that predict urban water demand variability in space and time and to explore the effects of different Water Demand Management Strategies for the residential sector. This work contributes a novel approach based on feature selection and feature weighting to model the single- user consumption behavior at the household level. A two- step procedure consisting of the extraction of the most relevant determinants of users' consumption and the identification of a predictive model of water consumers' profile is proposed and tested on a real case study. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed method in capturing the influence of candidate determinants on residential water consumption, as well as in attaining sufficiently accurate predictions of users' consumption profiles, which constitutes essential information to support residential water demand management.