Processing research centre opens at Curtin University

A new centre focusing on process engineering in industries including natural resources, gas and petroleum, food processing and materials fabrications has been launched at Curtin University.

The Centre for Process Systems Computations (CPSC) is part of the Department of Chemical Engineering and aims to concentrate on applied and fundamental research for generating basic and advanced knowledge in chemical engineering, ranging from molecular scale to ecosystem level. Research will include modelling and simulation, process optimisation and control, nonlinear control system, and computational fluid dynamics.

Curtin University’s Dean of Engineering, Professor Modes Tadé, said over the last two decades researchers have been focused on improving the understanding of chemical engineering processes.

“Despite the great differences in products in chemical engineering, the various unit operations can be designed and analysed on the basis of the same fundamental conservation principles such as mass, energy and momentum balances,” Professor Tadé said.

The centre has several world-renowned experts and strong industry partnerships and members collaborate extensively with researchers worldwide. It will be co-directed by Professor Tadé and Professor of Chemical Engineering Vishnu Pareek.

“We will also explore new collaboration opportunities and ensure our research is relevant to industry,” Professor Pareek said. “Process system computations are particularly important in unravelling the complexity of dynamic systems and assist novel process designs and optimisations. This is key for Australian industry to remain at the forefront of all its activities in the increasing global competitions.”