Professor Richard Sandberg awarded NCI Australia 2022 Australasian Leadership Computing Grant

Professor Richard Sandberg  has been awarded a 2022 Australasian Leadership Computing Grant (ALCG) from National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Australia.

Based within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology Department of Mechanical Engineering, Professor Sandberg will be conducting world-first simulations of air flow in hydrogen-powered turbines for use in the development of next-generation hydrogen power plants.

"Hydrogen is an exciting new potential power source that could be available in sufficient amounts within a decade and will achieve efficient, clean energy for Australia," Professor Sandberg said.

"This computing time will allow us to fast-track the creation of data that will help us understand how the different combustion characteristics of hydrogen affect the performance and lifespan of the downstream turbine blades.

Professor Sandberg said the grant would also allow the team to include the tiny geometric variations that result from surface degradation of blades in operation.

"For the first time, we’ll be able to accurately simulate realistic turbine blade surfaces that are subject to incoming turbulence caused by hydrogen combustion," he said.

"Working in collaboration with our industry partners, this will enable us to help re-design gas turbine components for efficient and safe operation and allow more accurate forecasting of fuel costs and future energy demands."

Professor Sandberg's colleagues Drs Melissa Kozul, Pawel Przytarski, Massimiliano Nardini and Jake Leggett will join him on the project.

The three recipients of the 2022 ALCG have been awarded almost 140 million units in total of computing time, which is equivalent to almost 20,000 years of constant calculations on one single computer.

NCI Director Professor Sean Smith said the successful projects reflect the world-class, high-impact research that NCI enables on its nation-leading Gadi supercomputer.

Based at The Australian National University, NCI Australia brings together the Australian Government, universities, national science agencies and industry.

NCI is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

You can find out more on the NCI website.