$800,000 boost for engineering at CDU

New equipment valued at $800,000 has further ensured that Charles Darwin University has one of the most comprehensive process engineering training facilities in Australia. 

The equipment will be used by undergraduate and postgraduate students, and researchers working in the fields of minerals and oil and gas processing at the university’s North Australian Centre for Oil and Gas (NACOG).

NACOG Deputy Director Dr Daria Surovtseva said the 24 pieces of laboratory-scale equipment, including distillation and extraction columns, crystallisers and chemical reactors, would place CDU at the forefront of process and chemical engineering training in Australia.

“CDU has one of the most comprehensive process engineering training set-ups in Australia,” Dr Surovtseva said.

“We are now able to educate students about the physics and chemistry behind mineral and oil and gas processing, and which processes should be chosen in various situations.

“The equipment has been constructed from plastic or glass to allow for process visualisation.

“Understanding how to start up, shut down, monitor, troubleshoot and optimise processes will ensure our graduates are prepared for work in the mining, oil and gas industries.”

CDU has been offering undergraduate process engineering programs since March 2012, and introduced a degree in chemical engineering in March this year.

Some $300,000 worth of equipment was provided by Dow Chemical, while CDU has received support from the Northern Territory Government, INPEX, Total, Conoco Phillips and Eni for the NACOG facility.

The equipment will be up and running by the end of the month (June) and available for student training at the start of Semester 2, 2013.