Western Australian Expertise in the Spotlight

July 24, 2024

A little-known fact, Western Australia can lay claim to some of the best international researchers in thermophysical properties, including equations of state, phase equilibria and p-V-T behaviour. Engineers worldwide use design software daily that has been informed and revised by the research conducted here in Australia.
The eagerly anticipated International Symposium on Thermophysical Properties hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado saw a significant cohort of Western Australian head over to present their latest research.
Among these travellers was Professor Eric May, FEnEx CRC CEO and FEnEx CRC Scholars Mark Barwood, Gwen Sellner and Sam Kobeissi.
The group presented:
  • on the diffusion of gases in binary mixtures, an important process in many industrial and geological processes;
  • on an experimental comparison of two different ortho-para hydrogen measurements techniques; Raman spectroscopy and microwave resonant cavities, both of which have their individual advantages and disadvantages for laboratory and industrial application; and
  • on measuring the freeze-out of solids relevant to the hydrogen liquefaction process as there is significant disagreement about where solids can form when comparing predictions of thermodynamic models to the existing literature data.
The latest discussions with NIST are working towards an incorporation of their database software with THERMOFAST, a FEnEx CRC software package. This will allow users to actually see the data upon which the predictive engineering models are based. A great leap forward.
Congratulations to NIST for a successful event that affords world experts to come together to keep this technical expertise alive and industrially relevant. As shown in the photograph, the conference was also a wonderful opportunity to connect with researchers from FEnEx CRC affiliates based in Germany; Markus Richter and Roland Span, and the UK Martin Trusler.
Enabling researchers to network internationally is one of the ways FEnEx CRC supports Australia’s global connections.
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