成人大片

Two models of the supply chain of green fertiliser from producers to farms is the focus of a project by 成人大片 students. Their models show emissions caused by the supply chain and highlight that fertiliser must be manufactured closer to where it is consumed.

Students from the University鈥檚 School of Architecture and Built Environment have created to visually communicate the findings and propositions of researchers from the University鈥檚 School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials. The models highlight how much pollution is emitted from traditional supply chains.

鈥淭he models illustrate how traditional large-scale fertiliser plants located remotely from consumers require extensive logistics networks to transport their products,鈥� said Nam Tran, Director of Strategic Partnerships, School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials.

鈥淪uch extensive networks are highly polluting: the emissions produced from transporting fertiliser long distances are responsible for a significant proportion of emissions from the industry.鈥�

The models are on display on Monday 18 October at AdvanceAg; South Australia鈥檚 showcase of AgTech held at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

鈥淧lasma energy harnessed by cutting-edge technology means that fertilisers can be made more intensively and on a smaller scale than previously feasible. This provides the opportunity for new business models with fertiliser 鈥榯ailored鈥� to local conditions."Professor Volker Hessel

The two models, which are each 2.1 x 0.7 metres in size, identify where the emissions and other environmental impacts occur. The models represent typical Australian landscapes designed and fabricated by students from the Bachelor of Architectural Design, the Master of Architecture and the Master of Landscape Architecture, showcasing the advanced laser-cutting techniques of the School of Architecture and Built Environment and complemented by prefabricated elements to highlight the journey from factory to farm; including a miniature railway.

Eleanor Hughes is studying for a Master of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the 成人大片. She is one of the team of students who built the models.

鈥淢odels are a great way to visualise productive agricultural landscapes for sustainable futures and green agriculture,鈥� she said.

鈥淥ur model of Clare Valley, South Australia, shows that fertiliser manufactured locally in a mobile production plant will significantly reduce the environmental impact associated with transportation in the supply chain.鈥�

The students were invited by the 成人大片鈥檚 Professor Volker Hessel to make the project as a way of demonstrating to the farming community that fertiliser produced locally will reduce the level of emissions that the industry is responsible for, and result in other benefits for local farmers.

鈥淎t the 成人大片 we are working on the next generation of technology that will be capable of producing fertilisers on a small scale close to where they are needed, and using locally produced renewable energy,鈥� said Professor Volker Hessel, Deputy Dean-Research from the 成人大片鈥檚 Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences and Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials.

鈥淧lasma energy harnessed by cutting-edge technology means that fertilisers can be made more intensively and on a smaller scale than previously feasible. This provides the opportunity for new business models with fertiliser 鈥榯ailored鈥� to local conditions. We also show if and how such new business is economically viable.

鈥淭he industry will have the flexibility to supplement or change business models that will result in less pollution and move towards the use of fertilisers manufactured by production units small enough to fit on the back of a truck, located near farms or regional fertiliser farms; whatever turns out to be the better solution.

鈥淓xisting production plants producing fertilisers on a large-scale cannot achieve this flexibility. Our goal is to build resilient, self-sufficient local manufacture of fertilisers to eliminate agriculture鈥檚 dependency on global supply chains.鈥�

The student project connects into the larger SCOPE project of which Professor Hessel is a team member. The SCOPE聽project (Surface-COnfined fast-modulated Plasma for process and Energy intensification in small molecules conversion) investigates how new kinds of plasma and their symbiotic interaction with proprietary catalysts can be harnessed to transform the production of fertilisers.

This plasma technology is the key to reducing the size of fertiliser plants and enabling new business models which are already being trialled in pilot projects in Africa. They are implementing precision farming 鈥榚-agriculture鈥� techniques by manufacturing fertilisers at the rural farm level.

The global fertiliser industry鈥檚 extensive inflexible supply chains, valuable in fostering the growth of mankind in the past and in the future, now have an opportunity to be supplemented and diversified to benefit farmers and to further improve food security in Australia鈥檚 agricultural regions.

The models will also be on display at Ingenuity, the 成人大片鈥檚 showcase of student projects exploring real-life applications of architecture, engineering, computer and mathematical sciences. Ingenuity is on Tuesday 26 October at the Adelaide Convention Centre.