Charting coastal seabeds accurately is vital to shipping,
to ensure they avoid hidden hazards. The traditional way to
do this is by echo sounding from surface vessels; a slow and
risky procedure in shallow and dangerous waters.
Now the Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) system has dramatically improved coastal charting of the bottom of the ocean. LADS is a world first innovation that is 15 times faster and much safer than conventional methods. Originally conceived by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation in the 1970s, the system was developed by LADS Corporation Limited for the Royal Australian Navy in 1993. LADS consists of an airborne laser system with navigation and data recording equipment mounted in a Fokker F27-500 aircraft, together with a ground based data processing and support system.
While ship-borne echo sounding only records a single line of soundings for each ship track, the LADS aircraft, travelling at 75 metres per second, allows 54 square kilometres of ocean to be surveyed each hour. This is achieved by scanning the laser across the aircraft track on a 240 metre swath width with 10 metres between individual soundings. High data density and total area coverage result in reliable recording of all underwater features.
LADS can be used in a variety of hydrographic tasks including coastal charting, shipping routes, sub-sea resource exploration and marine engineering and project surveys such as pipe laying and harbour development. LADS is the first laser-based airborne hydrographic surveying system designed to satisfy International Hydrographic Organiation requirements.
Making sense of raw satellite
images for land management
Information from satellites is essential. It is vital for
environmental management, it helps miners find minerals, farmers
manage their land, and reveal the secrets of the oceans. But
transforming raw satellite images for practical use requires
sophisticated image processing software.
One of the most advanced image processing packages was developed by the CSIRO Division of Information Technology. DISIMP (Device Independent Software for Image Processing) is an extensive suite of image processing software which can process digital images from many different sources, including multi-spectral satellite images and integrate them with topographical, geophysical and cultural data.
Its features include image enhancement and restoration, geometric and intensity transformation, statistical analysis, and interactive three dimensional colour display. Support for geographic projection allows the integration of image, graphical and textual data, as part of a geographic information system.
Marketed by Clough Engineering Limited, DISIMP has been successfully applied in land resource management and land use planning, as well as in mineral exploration.
Applications oriented image
processing system
An innovation that saved the Australian government vast
sums of money and 10 years of survey effort to chart the entire
Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, has been further developed
to become one of the world's foremost applications oriented
image processing systems.
microBRIAN is a powerful and inexpensive software system for processing satellite and other remotely sensed data. It was developed from the original image analysis system developed by Dr David Jupp and his associates at two CSIRO divisions, Water Resources and Wildlife and Ecology, together with the Australian Survey Office and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Commercialised in a joint venture between the CSIRO and MPA Communications Pty Ltd in 1986, microBRIAN has brought the power of satellite image processing to the desktop computer. The fast screen system runs on any IBM compatible PC with a maths co-processor and hard disk.
Capable of handling images of up to 32,000 pixels and lines, and up to 256 channels, the system can easily process the largest imagery available. A variety of data types, including radar and digital elevation and thermatic data, processed geographic information system (GIS) data can be easily integrated with remotely sensed data as raster channels.
A powerful tool for environmental and resource surveys, the current applications for microBRIAN include marine and coastal zone monitoring, environmental and disaster monitoring, land degradation, geology, agriculture, and forestry, water resource management and urban regional planning. There are also three specialist application modules for shallow water mapping, erosion monitoring and thermal data processing. The innovation offers solutions to a world where our very survival depends on how we monitor and manage the resources of our earth.
World wave database to measure
ocean waves
Determining the behaviour of the oceans under various weather
conditions is important to predict extreme events like cyclones
and for planning resource projects in remote areas. But while
space satellite-based altimeters are capable of measuring
and producing profiles of ocean waves, sea level and wind
speed, managing and manipulating the vast amount of data produced
by them has been largely impractical.
The US Navy's satellite Geosat has, for example, collected a vast amount of data which is available on multiple CD ROMs, amounting to a massive 3.8 gigabytes of data.
Now a World Altimeter Wave Database has been created by coastal and ocean engineer, Neil Lawson of Lawson and Treloar Pty Ltd, from 3 years of data collected by Geosat. Believed to be the first of it's kind, the new altimeter data has been quality controlled, spatially averaged and incorporated with a database for easy access and reporting.
The aim of processing the Geosat data was to convert the large raw data set from the CD ROMs to a quality controlled PC-based system. This required the compaction of the data into a data base format that could be easily accessed by analysis and presentation software. The altimeter is by no means a perfect instrument and significant data quality control had to be undertaken to remove unreliable records from the data set.
The World Altimeter Database opens up the enormous potential that satellite remote sensing has to accurately measure ocean dynamics.
Real time data analysis of
oceans and waterways
Measuring and monitoring the environment of our oceans and
waterways is essential for making appropriate decisions relating
to the conservation of our natural resources and the long
term survival of the creatures of the sea. These measurements
are typically taken by towing submersible data loggers behind
survey vessels.
The first of these submersible data loggers to communicate via an inductive loop is the model 606 from Yeo-Kal Electronics Pty Ltd. The innovation allows the data to be examined in real time while the unit is in operation. The multi-parameter submersible data logger can, among other things, measure depth, temperature, conductivity and dissolved oxygen at depths of 300 metres. The low power mini-bus and associated software for the instrument was developed by the CSIRO Division of Oceanography. The sensor and sensor interfacing was developed by Yeo-Kal Electronics who began producing the unit commercially in 1987.
The 606 is a fully integrated measuring system designed specifically to measure liquids in harsh environments and is used in oceanography, environmental impact studies, hydrological surveys, pollution and water control.
Specialised equipment for
monitoring the environment
Monitoring the many and varied aspects of the environment
requires an equally diverse range of highly specialised equipment
capable of unattended operation over long periods of time,
and often in very harsh conditions.
Measuring and Control Equipment Co Pty Ltd (MACE), specialise in designing and developing such equipment that incorporate sophisticated computing, electronics, microcomputer systems, new materials technology and communications systems.
In 1977, the company developed the world's first commercial EPROM data logger, the MACE DFR-77. Hundreds of these instruments are still in use, working in the harshest imaginable conditions. Following the introduction of a multi-channel data logger, the company's HYDROMACE system gave environmental field stations the combined capabilities of data logging, control, telemetry via telephone, radio or satellite and intelligent response to both computer and human interrogation. In 1988, MACE introduced the HVQ flow survey system for open channels and sewers, and developed the PHONEMACE synthesised speech system which allows remote automatic stations to communicate with operators in any language in natural voice. Three years later, the company introduced the HYDROMACE-2000 Data Logger and Controller, and the HVQ-3 Flow Monitor, a world first in sewer and stormwater flow monitoring.
Invented by Lawrence Campbell, Steven Palos and Will Parker the HVQ-3 includes a sensor and a gas bubbler pressure head sensing system to measure depth. It also incorporates new ultra sonic doppler technology and signal processing techniques that obtain data quality which is significantly more accurate and reliable than previously possible.
The company's most recent addition to its impressive product range is the Sewer Sentinel, an automatic, continuous on-line sewage monitoring system that can detect events like discharges of hazardous wastes or oil spillages as they occur. The system was developed jointly by the CSIRO Division of Materials Science and Technology, and the Division of Chemicals and Polymers to help alert authorities to illegal disposal of toxic waste materials into the sewer networks of cities.
The instrument includes a HYDROMACE-2000 data logger for recording and processing the data, and special software for real-time data acquisition and display.
With ingenious instruments like these, environmental organisations and government authorities will be better equipped to monitor the environment, and deter future offenders.
Monitoring and managing photochemical
smog
Air pollution. It can cause burning eyes and throats, colds,
coughs, bronchitis, emphysema and heart attacks. It also affects
materials such as rubber, stone and paint and is damaging
to forests, wildlife and agriculture. As cities continue to
grow, so too does the problem of monitoring, interpreting
and managing photochemical smog.
An integrated computerised system for monitoring and analysing the major components of photochemical smog produced by the reaction of sunlight on toxic hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides was invented in 1982 by the CSIRO Division of Coal and Energy Technology. It was developed and commercialised by Mineral Control Instrumentation Ltd.
Airtrak continuously monitors the levels of pollutants in the air and can also predict how smog will develop in an area as the day progresses. The software of the system integrates the internally processed data with externally supplied information on solar intensity and temperature to predict how smog will develop in a particular parcel of air, as the day progresses. The analysis can be run backwards in time to calculate how long a polluted air parcel has been reacting since the smog forming compounds were introduced.
The system is a powerful tool for local government authorities to track down sources of photochemical pollution and provide early warnings of potential downwind pollution to people.
Trace element analysis for
pollution control
Measurement of the quality of the environment (both before
and after pollution) is essential to maintaining its purity.
The environment has many facets, particularly with regard
to instrumentation and analysis. And at the heart of any analysis
machine is the sensor. This is a material which reacts specifically
to a chemical or pollutant in such a way that it can signify
the concentration of the chemical.
Between 1980 and 1985 scientists Dr Alan Mann and Harry Threlfall developed the world's first portable digital voltammeter (PDV) to analyse trace metal concentrations of elements, in the field. Commercialised by Chemtronics Ltd, the PDV2000 uses the principle of electro-plating on a small scale and enables the on-the-spot analysis of waste waters, drinking waters and biological fluids. A semi-portable version of the instrument is also available for on-line monitoring in industrial plant applications.
Liquid level sensor system
for difficult conditions
Knowing the level of water, sewerage and other liquids in
various areas of buildings, boats, mining sites and sewerage
plants is essential for their effective operation.
Having found that many existing systems were unreliable, engineers at Sartek Pty Ltd developed the Multi Trode liquid level sensor system in 1985. The system uses the electrical conductivity of the liquid to carry a small alternating current which, when sensed, activates the necessary controls.
The unique multi-sensored probe allows easy installation, simple adjustment, versatility and full computer integrated control. It enables several devices such as pumps, alarms, valves and solenoids as well as telemetry and monitoring systems to be actuated at different levels from the one probe. The system performs effectively in a broad range of conductive liquids from clean water through to sludge, froth and concentrates such as acids and alkalines.
Multi Trode level control systems have been operating in all types of conductive liquids including aggressive liquids such as sewerage and sludge. They are also used in a broad spectrum of industrial applications such as froth detection in mining processes, as well as in high rise buildings and water and sewerage plants around the world.
Instrument to predict water
pollution movements
Understanding the mixing and turbulence of water is of fundamental
importance in defining the water quality of lakes, estuaries
and oceans, because they control the rate of dispersion of
pollutants and nutrients in bodies of water.
Developed by the Centre for Water Research at the University of Western Australia, the Microstructure Profiler was commercialised in 1992 by Precision Measurement Engineering Inc in the United States. It is a portable field instrument designed to measure extremely small scale fluctuations in temperature, electrical conductivity and oxygen concentration in lakes, estuaries and oceans. Using these data, scientists are now able to study the mixing and turbulence in water bodies and predict the movement of pollution in the water and take preventative measures where appropriate.
Predicting soil water infiltration
and movement
A new environmental software package called SWIM (Soil Water
Infiltration and Movement) developed by software designers
Peter Ross, Steve Bailey and Dr Keith Bristow at the CSIRO
Division of Soils in 1990, is helping researchers and consultants
understand the soil water balance so they can avoid future
problems resulting from deforestation, strip mining and irrigation
mismanagement.
SWIM realistically simulates water infiltration and movement in soils. It allows the user to add water to the system as rainfall and makes allowances for water run-off, drainage, evaporation from soil surface and transpiration from vegetation. Consisting of a menu driven suite of three programs, SWIM was the first software of its kind in the world and has proven to be an important and helpful environmental management tool.
The program, can for example, be used to indicate salinity or surface run-off problems that could result from a change in the soil water balance by the removal of trees. The software can also be incorporated into crop growth models which are used to help develop crop production systems that minimise risks to farmers and the environment, while optimising water and fertiliser use.
Monitoring and predicting
noise levels around airports
Nothing seems to upset or unite a tranquil community more
than the announcement of a proposed new runway, or worse still,
a new airport planned in the neighbourhood. Noise pollution
is more than just a headache for people living under a flight
path. It affects the perceived and actual value of properties
in the area concerned. It becomes a win-win argument for environmentalists,
a lose-lose argument for politicians, and a hopeless one for
the people effected.
A unique new integrated flight and noise monitoring system developed and commercialised by Lochard Environment Systems Pty Ltd in 1991, may help provide new objective answers and solutions to the often subjective problems associated with noise pollution.
The Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) monitors the flight tracks and noise of aircraft on approach and departure at airports and has considerably more signal processing power than its many rivals. The comprehensive system integrates information received from the airport radar, flight planning and air traffic control with inputs from strategically placed remote environment monitoring units and by ingenious correlation, determines the precise noise created by specific aircraft. This predictive modelling capability is valuable for the future planning of airports and other projects that impact on the environment.
GEMS also has a wide range of industrial applications such as mining projects and harbours where air and water quality can be monitored as well as noise emissions.
Disinfecting water with germicidal
ultra violet light
Our drinking water is not as clean as it used to be. With
the continuous growth of global population, the world's most
essential resource has been subjected to increasing pollution
both naturally occurring and from chemical residues. So much
so that in France, tap water is considered hazardous to health
and drinking water is sold in bottles at the supermarket.
In other countries the solution to pollution has often been
to add yet more chemicals to purify potable water. There is
however, an alternative technology for disinfecting water
which is safe, effective and environmentally friendly. It
is germicidal ultra violet light.
The basic principles of UV's germicidal capabilities have been understood for generations, but chemicals were preferred because they were cheaper and easier to apply and have a broad approach to killing waterborne germs. Now the more focussed approach of Ultra Violet treatment is becoming preferred because of its accuracy, predictability and lack of harmful side effects.
After several years of research and development, Rob Wilson, engineer by trade and Managing Director of UVS Ultra Violet Pty Ltd, invented the UltraPure, said to be the world's most efficient liquid disinfection system capable of disinfecting 15,000 litres an hour with a single lamp.
The creativity behind the technology lies in the development of unique high output UV lamps which allow larger quantities of water to be treated per lamp, which in turn simplifies equipment design and substantially reduces operating costs.
The versatile technology can be used in a variety of large and small applications including purifying potable water, disinfecting secondary sewage water, disinfecting water in air-conditioning cooling towers, as well as the germicidal treatment of water used in industries like food and beverage manufacturing.
Current systems in operation vary in capacity from 500 litres an hour to 360,000 litres an hour. However, efficient potable water purification systems with capacities up to 10 million litres an hour can now be built using the UltraPure technology.
UltraPure is an uncomplicated and well proven technology that is easy and inexpensive to use and has no harmful side effects on mankind, the animal world or the environment.
Bottled lightning blasts
toxic wastes
PLASCON technology, also known as 'bottled lightning', is
a powerful new way for industry to clean up their production
processes at source and minimise the necessity of dumping
industrial wastes.
The plasma converter was developed jointly by CSIRO's Division of Manufacturing Technology and Siddons Ramset Limited,and is now marketed by SRL Plasma Limited, a subsidiary of Siddons Ramset. Field trialled with the assistance of Nufarm Limited, where it is being used for the destruction of chlorinated organic waste, PLASCON uses a plasma arc to destroy organic wastes at temperatures of 10,000C, similar to those on the surface of the sun.
PLASCON can be incorporated on-site for any industrial process that produces liquid or gaseous hazardous wastes and literally obliterates them on the spot with a superheated cloud of argon, or plasma, that is created by a large electrical discharge between two electrodes. Toxic substances injected into the plasma are instantly converted into atomic or ionic form, which when cooled are converted to safer compounds such as carbon dioxide, water vapour and hydrochloric acid.
The size of a small shipping container, a single unit can treat between one and four tonnes of waste per day with efficiencies well within the world's most stringent toxicity standards. Because it processes only a small amount of waste at any instant of time it minimises spillage and allows fast shut down in emergencies.
PLASCON is arguably the most effective waste destruction technology available and is seen by industry and government to have enormous potential in effectively tackling intractable wastes at their source.
Modification to process improves
sewage treatment
An operational modification to traditional sewage treatment
plants, invented by Dr Yen Ip at the CSIRO Division of Chemicals
and Polymers, with guidance from Professor Nancy Millis of
the Department of Microbiology at the University of Melbourne,
has significantly improved municipal sewage plant efficiencies.
Urban sewage is generally subjected to three levels of treatment. The first treatment removes solids; the second removes most of the biochemical oxygen demand; and the third removes nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The most commonly used secondary treatment is the activated sludge process, where raw sewage is mixed with a bacteria-rich sludge and aerated. Aerobic bacteria multiply and transform organic materials into more sludge and carbon dioxide without removing the nutrients. It was thought that an interruption to the aerating process would cause the active bacteria to die and slow down the sewage conversion process.
The new discovery, called the AAA (alternating aerobic and anaerobic) process, works as a secondary process, but because it is so effective, it also achieves a great deal of the third.
The process works on the principle that while aerobic bacteria may suffer from a lack of oxygen, facultative bacteria can continue to eat and grow whether oxygen is present or temporarily absent. Importantly, the metabolism of facultative bacteria goes up very rapidly when oxygen returns after a period without air, so they break down sewage more quickly than before.
The researchers found that by switching the aeration pumps on for 4 hours and off for 2 hours, and repeating the cycle, the facultative bacteria respired quickest, and instead of converting carbon to sludge, they give off extra carbon dioxide, reducing the amount of residual sludge as well as recovering nitrogen as nitrogen gas.
The process not only saves substantial power, but it also halves the quantity of residual sludge, and halves the amount of nitrogen in the effluent, with no extra cost and can be readily adopted on existing plant.
While microfiltration has been around for many years, a unique
patented system has revolutionised sewage and other high volume
flow filtration applications.
The technology uses hollow fibre membrane filters, made from millions of microscopic holes, to remove solids as small as 0.2 microns from fluids. Contaminants collected on the outside of the filter are then flushed by the patented self-cleaning system. For the first time, the innovation has made the precision filtration of high volume flows a cost effective reality.
What makes the technology a significant world first, is the patented self-cleaning system, where high pressure gas is periodically introduced to the hollow fibres to remove material which has collected on the membrane. This allows large volumes of fluids to be filtered continuously, without the use of chemicals, and significantly increases the useful life of the filters. The filter is cleaned without being removed from its housing, and without interrupting the filtration process. This results in minimising downtime.
The idea of using gas to clean microfilters was first conceived by Dr Doug Ford, who led the research programme at Memtec Limited, who developed and commercialised the patented Memcor continuous microfiltration (CMF) technology in 1985.
Research in 1987 showed that the CMF system removed 99% of all bacteria and viral contamination in sewage outfalls. This incredible result was confirmed by tests repeated throughout the world. The system also extracts greases and oils from water and waste water streams. Apart from sewage treatment plants, the technology is being used to purify water for breweries, to provide for ultra-pure deionised water for the electronics and pharmaceutical industries, and in aquaculture. The technology has also been used by the Australian Army for portable shower units which recycle water, by the Navy for separating bunker oil from bilge water, and to produce drinking water in submarines.
Today, with more than 350 international patents, Memtec markets more than 5,000 filtration products worldwide under the brand names of Filterite - disposable filter cartridges; Fluid Dynamics - fine metallic filters and media; and Memcor large volume fluid filtration. The company has been awarded a number of awards, including the prestigious Banksia Environment Award in 1990 for outstanding environmental achievement and integrity, and more recently, the Vision for Australia Award 1993 from the Keep Australia Beautiful Council.
There are thousands of sewage and drinking water plants around the world that could benefit by upgrading to the company's CMF technology. Now that the technology is there, it is up to the world's waste water authorities to take advantage of it.
Flexible cyclic activated
sludge system
Invented by Australian engineer Merv Goronsky and jointly
developed by Transenviro Inc in the United States and Environmental
Solutions International Ltd, the Cyclic Activated Sludge System
(CASS) offers a degree of flexibility and operational simplicity
and reliability, not available in conventionally configured
activated sludge systems.
In a single vessel, the CASS process provides municipalities and industries a proven and cost effective system of wastewater treatment for the removal of organic material; biological nitrification and denitrification; biological phosphorus removal; and filamentous sludge bulking control.
The microprocessor controlled system combines automatic high-flow operation for inflow and infiltration, with comprehensive turn-down capability for low load operations.
First commercialised in 1985, CASS is a well established technology, which has been successfully operated in a wide range of climatic conditions, and is capable of treating up to a daily flow of 80ML/day of municipal wastewaters.
The low capital cost technology also has applications in food processing industries where wastewaters have a highly soluble and easily degradable carbohydrate content.
Hybrid high rate anaerobic
reactor
Anaerobic treatment of effluent involves the conversion of
organic pollutants into methane and carbon dioxide by naturally
occuring micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen. Complex
organisms are broken down into simple acids, which are then
further degraded by methanogenic bacteria into useful methane
biogas. With conventional anaerobic digesters, the process
can take up to 25 days.
A highly innovative new hybrid high rate anaerobic reactor - the Hybractor process - invented by engineers Trevor Bridle and Chris Hertle, has now reduced the processing time to less than 20 hours. Capable of processing high organic loadings, the smaller size, low capital cost reactor is also cheaper to operate. Commercialised in 1992 by Environmental Solutions International Ltd, the process has been hailed as the most cost effective, dependable and stable method available for treating high stregth wastewaters.
Hybrid reactors combine the best features of both suspended bed and fixed film technologies into one unit, with the added benefit of methane production for reuse.
The process has applications in many industries, including abattoirs, dairies, distilleries, brewing and soft beverages, petrochemical plants, pharmaceuticals, textiles, pulp and paper, vegetable and fruit processors, tanneries as well as fish and other food processing.
Magnetic sewage treatment
an attractive alternative
Like many countries, Australia has major problems with sewage
pollution. Increased public awareness has put pressure on
water authorities and waste water dischargers to observe environmental
demands, and develop new innovative methods of water treatment.
In 1977, CSIRO scientists discovered a method of positively charging very fine iron oxide particles known as magnetites, which, when added to polluted water, attracted the negatively charged pollutant particles. This basic concept was subsequently developed by the CSIRO Division of Chemicals and Polymers to the Sirofloc process.
The first commercial Sirofloc plant for purifying drinking water was built in Tasmania in 1983 by Austep Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Davy John Brown Pty Ltd. The process uses fine recyclable high density magnetite powder with magnetic properties which quickly attract and absorb impurities from the water. When passed through a magnetic field, the particles form flocs which settle rapidly. The speed of the process means that plant and equipment is much smaller than for traditional methods, allowing large scale operations in crowded high density population areas. The results are very high standards of treatment plus significant capital costs and space savings. Unlike conventional methods of water treatment, Sirofloc does not create a sludge problem, avoids the need for a large sedimentation tank and does not require sand filters.
Although originally developed for treating drinking water, experiments in 1986 demonstrated that the technology could also be applied to the treatment of sewage. Seven years later, a prototype sewage treatment plant capable of supporting a population of 20,000 was opened in 1993 at Malabar near Sydney. The rate of raw sewage clarification at the plant has been far in excess of expectations. The plant can treat sewage and remove 85% of suspended matter and 90% of oils and greases within 15 minutes. The same level of treatment from conventional biological process plant would take more than 10 hours.
The versatility of Sirofloc makes it suitable for both large and small capacity plants and the economical upgrading of old plants. It has proved to be an efficient, reliable process in a number of full scale commercial installations and is an innovative and affordable alternative to conventional treatment plants.
Minimising power station
smokestack emissions
The control of emissions from industrial smokestacks has
now become mandatory in most parts of the world. Now an innovative
invention is reducing those emissions by two-thirds while
making substantial energy savings.
Developed by Baltec Systems Pty Ltd, the Optipower electrostatic precipitator controller is a relatively small piece of electronic equipment used to control a large item of plant associated with coal-burning furnaces, namely an electrostatic precipitator. Precipitators collect the waste fly-ash generated by burning coal which would otherwise be emitted from the smokestack into the atmosphere.
Each furnace, or boiler of a large installation, such as a power station, is usually fitted with its own precipitator. Optipower applies new methods to the electrical energisation of the precipitator to improve its efficiency in collecting fly-ash or dust. These techniques are particularly applicable to fly-ashes, such as those generated by burning low-sulphur coal.
Compared with the current standard control techniques, Optipower has succeeded in improving efficiency by as much as 300%, lowering energy usage, and reducing capital costs.
Airborne mapping of salinity
problems underground
Salt. One of our most important natural substances, is also
one of the biggest threats to our environment. Today, most
agricultural countries are affected by salinity problems.
In Australia, salinity has already destroyed nearly a million
hectares of previously arable land. Prevention requires careful
control of deforestation and thoughtful use of agricultural
land. The cure requires effective land care measures and tree
planting, in the right places. The difficulty is that the
real problem is underground, and is often quite different
to what it seems to be on the surface.
Information on the underground location of the salt and where it is likely to flow is essential for planning effective tree planting and drainage programmes. Now, a curious looking light aircraft equipped with high-tech electronics is mapping the underground salinity of the soil from the air.
Saltmap was developed by World Geoscience Corporation Limited, with know-how in electromagnetic equipment design from the CSIRO Division of Exploration Geoscience (now Exploration and Mining) and input on saline soil and ground-water regimes from the CSIRO Division of Water Resources.
World Geoscience Corporation is the world's largest airborne geophysical contractor, traditionally serving the geological information needs of mineral and petroleum exploration companies.
By using advanced mineral exploration techniques to peer 200 metres underground and measuring the conductivity of the soil profile, Saltmap can reveal and map hidden salt concentrations as high as 2000 tonnes per hectare.
The technology relies on the high electrical conductivity of salt when it is moist, combined with aeromagnetic studies of the underlying bedrock. By uncovering the hidden underground network of dykes and faults in the bedrock, the future progress of the problem can be predicted. Large scale problems such as dryland salinity can also benefit from such detailed information about subsurface geological structures and processes.
The innovation has a double benefit for the environment because the same methods can be used for aerial detection of hidden freshwater supplies.
Salt tolerant trees help
reverse salination problems
Artificial fertilisers, excessive irrigation, deforestation
and over grazing has led to the widespread salination of soils,
rendering them useless for crops, animals and man. Salination
occurs when the water table below the ground rises and results
in salty soil in which very little can live or grow. A new
range of plants called Saltsoaker may have an answer to the
problem.
Botanists and chemists at Plantex Australia Pty Ltd together with the CSIRO Division of Forest Resources (now Plant Industry) have developed a range of salt tolerant plants called Saltsoaker. Commercialised in 1990, they not only tolerate very high levels of salt, they can actually subsist in salt water. When planted on the fringe of salinated areas, the plants take root and gradually lower the water table in the area, reversing the effects of the salination process. As successive rows are planted on regenerated soil, it is possible to totally eradicate the salination problem over time.
Saltsoakers were cloned from the original salt tolerant trees, cultivated through selectively breeding plants with natural tolerance to salty conditions. The 20 varieties of salt tolerant Eucalyptus and six varieties of Melaleuca trees from Plantex, offer a wide range of tree heights and forms to choose from, to help reclaim salt affected land.
Predicting the distribution
of introduced fauna and flora
As more people travel more often to more places around the
world, the potential for transferring unwanted diseases, pests
and weeds from one environment into another is perpetually
increasing. Australia in particular, has a delicate balance
of indigenous flora and fauna, and is a continent where introduced
species can have disastrous effects on both the environment
and agriculture. Not surprisingly, Australia has the strictest
quarantine regulations and monitoring systems in the world.
A computer software system called CLIMEX, developed and commercialised by the Co-operative Research Centre for Tropical Pest Management, and marketed by the CSIRO Division of Entomology, predicts the effects of climate on the geographical distributions of plant and animals to provide scientists and quarantine agencies around the world vital ongoing information on risk assessments.
Climate is one of the principal factors confining the dispersion of plants and cold-blooded animals in a given environment. By utilising climatic information, and knowledge about the biology and distribution of a particular species in its original habitat, CLIMEX predicts how far it could spread in a new environment.
The software can also be used to identify likely collection and release locations for biological control agents, and to predict changes in the impacts of pests resulting from the enhanced greenhouse effect.
Natural solutions to age
old problems
Bad smells, insect pests, and fungus and bacteria are age
old problems that we all know about. Problems that have often
been solved by environmentally harmful solutions.
Envirosols are a new, environmentally friendly range of industrial aerosols that deodourise, kill and repel insects, and disinfect the air we breathe.
There are three Envirosol gasses. Bactigas, Pestigas and Deodourgas, all of which qse a unique dispensing sysem which dissolves their active ingredients in liquid carbon dioxide in a high pressure cylinder. They were developed by Robert Ryan, Chief Scientist at BOC Gases Australia Ltd (formerly The Commonwealth Industrial Gases Limited) in 1976. Since then they have gained acceptance as environmentally friendly alternatives to our age old problems of bad smells, insects and stale air.
Pestigas contains Pyrethrins, a group of naturally occuring compounds extracted from the Chrysanthemum daisy. They are one of the oldest known natural insecticides and have a long hisory of safe, effective insect control, as well as having an excellent flushing and repellant action. Pestigas controls a wide range of insect pests, and its low mammalian toxicity means it can be used in a wide variety of applications including domestic, commercial, hospitality, quarantine and agriculture. Pestigas is supplied in high pressure returnable cylinders which are simply attached to the spraying equipment. The extremely fine mist of the gas reaches into practically every crevice, flushing out and killing insect pests, and does not build up in residues in the environment.
Deodourgas is a non-toxic, non-polluting, non-flammable, odour absorbing gas which leaves no chemical residues, and its non-ozone depleting ingredients are biodegradeable. Supplied in returnable cylinders, there are no chemicals to mix or containers to dispose of. Deodourgas absorbs bad odours raging from cigarette and beer smells to the offensive smells of an abattoir.
Bactigas is used to disinfect air-conditioning systems where bacteria and fungi represent potential health risks. The dust and dirt that collects in ducting contains the kind of micro-organisms that can cause upper respiratory tract infections. The active ingredient in Bactigas is Tea Tree oil made from Melaleuca, a highly effective, safe and natural germicide. The aerosol is released automatically by a timer and reaches even the most inaccessible ducts. Bactigas is also used in car air-conditioning, manufacturing and animal houses.
The Envirosol products are self propelled and can be dispensed automatically with special equipment. This means that they can be applied at the most suitable times to every situation.
Looking for patterns in complex
data
Authored by Lee Belbin at the CSIRO Division of Wildlife
and Ecology, PATN was developed to address problems of analysing
complex ecological data. It was originally developed as a
research tool to better understand ecological data and to
extract useful information from large volumes of natural resource
information containing many observations from different geographic
areas.
PATN is a comprehensive and versatile software package for extracting and displaying patterns from multi-variate data. PATN can find patterns in just about anything. It can detect associations between any set of objects described by a suite of attributes and display the associations in a number of innovative ways to highlight important features in the data.
Available from the CSIRO, PATN has had a considerable impact in more than 20 countries, particularly in the area of conservation and the environment. It is used to understand what is happening in nature and to assist in the creation of National Parks and biological reserves.
PATN is not, however, limited to ecological data. It has also been very successfully applied in many other disciplines including urban planning, mining, textiles, chemistry, biochemistry and medical research.
Old car tyres transformed
into new products
Non-slip mats for household entrances, bathrooms, car floors,
showers and bowling greens. These are just some of the endless
uses for MasterFibre - the new matting made from shredded
old car tyres, thanks to the development of a new bonding
process. Other products include commercial safety matting
for shops, swimming pool surrounds, playground matting and
animal floats. MasterFibre is waterproof, non-toxic, does
not rot and can be hosed clean - and most importantly uses
waste material that is very hard to get rid of.
Invented by John Tydeman and commercialised by his company Masterfibre Pty Ltd, the innovation may be low technology, but is one of the most environmentally thoughtful inventions in recent years.
More than 18 million used car tyres are discarded every year in Australia alone. And when you consider that every used car tyre can produce 7.5kg of reusable rubber, the innovation will thrive on a limitless source of raw material.
Bio-degradable natural industrial
hand cleaners
Two unique and environmentally friendly hand cleaners have
been developed by Beku Environmental Products Ltd, the people
behind the remarkable Mariner's Magic degreaser. The new hand
cleaners marketed under the brand name of Dermacare, are ideal
for the removal of ingrained soils and come in two formulations
- a cream and a heavy duty grit version. Both are available
in 1, 1.25, 4, 5, 15 and 20kg pails to industrial, commercial
and government bodies.
Made from refined cosmetic quality naturally occurring marine oils containing vitamins A, D, K and E, and a mild abrasive made from crushed and carefully sized marine shells, both the soap and surfactant used are 100% bio-degradable. The products are an innovative answer to industrial dermatitis and a perfect alternative to petrochemical based hand cleansers.
Bio-degradable natural marine
degreaser
Seafarers have long been aware that traditional organochlorine
and petrochemical based degreasers and cleaners are not only
harmful to the environment, but because they produce dangerous
fumes they can also be hazardous when used in confined spaces.
Mariner's Magic is a wonderful new natural all-purpose degreaser developed jointly by the CSIRO Division of Oceanography and Beku Environmental Products Ltd headed by entrepreneur Bernd Kutzner. Made from naturally occurring marine oils, the blue/green liquid with a lemon fragrance is the world's first non-toxic, 100% biodegradable degreaser that can be flushed safely into waterways without fear of environmental damage.
Commercialised in 1991, Mariner's Magic keeps areas such as bilges, winches, engines, pumps and decks grease and grime free, and can be applied to hot engines and machinery without fear of combustion. It is also an effective lubricant for metal parts and leaves a fine adhering film after use which is water repellent and acts as a corrosion inhibiter, but does not prevent the surface from being painted if required.
To top it all, because Mariner's Magic contains a number of natural vitamins and is actually good for your skin, it can also be used as a hand cleaner.
Harmless biological degreasing
of ship bilges
Cleaning a ship's bilge is not a pleasant task. The oils
and greases that accumulate are toxic, smelly and an environmental
menace. And while chemicals can be used to clean the bilge,
when the bilge is pumped out to sea, both the chemicals and
the oils end up in the ocean.
A new environmentally acceptable answer to the problem has been developed by biologists and is now being manufactured by Genesearch Pty Ltd. The product called BioMarine is a dried microbial culture that digests and safely degrades the oils and greases that build up in ship's bilges and organic wastes in the plumbing system of showers, toilets and sinks. After treatment with BioMarine, flushing the bilge into the ocean is a more acceptable environmental alternative.
BioMarine consists of pure, cultured bacteria in a dry inert state; a cereal as an inert carrier and stabiliser; agricultural grade mineral nutrients and food grade enzyme supplements. The product is non-toxic and safe to handle as the bacteria used are harmless microbes naturally occurring in soils that feed on non-living organic matter. The concoction comes as a powder and can be stored in a refrigerator for 6 months without losing its potency.
BioMarine is an innovative new product that combines the benefits of product longevity with environmental thoughtfulness.
Bait casting machine saving
the albatross
It has been estimated that more than 44,000 albatrosses are
killed every year by barbed steel fish hooks used by fishermen
during longline fishing in the Southern Oceans. As the crew
cast the baited lines at the stern of the vessel, the birds
dive for the bait before it has time to sink, and get caught
on the deadly hooks. This generally occurs up to 200 metres
behind the vessel, beyond which the bait generally sinks too
deep for the birds to retrieve.
Designed and developed by a group of dedicated people at Munro Engineers, and marketed by Gyrocast Pty Ltd, Gyrocast is an ingenious new bait casting machine that solves the problem. Replacing the hand casting of lines with the hydraulically operated Gyrocast, it is now possible to cast clear of the vessel's wake and propellor turbulence.
Gyrocast is fitted to the stern of the fishing vessel, over the transom, and works much like a catapault. The crewman simply places the baited hook in the open end of the casting arm and triggers the device. The Gyrocast flings the hook and bait about 27 metres, at great speed, to port or starboard outside the disturbed water, where the sink rate of the bait is quicker. Field tests from vessels using this equipment indicate over 95% reduction in the mortality rates of birds during line setting.
Gyrocast is good news for conservationists and the Albatross.
Safe removal of asbestos
pipe insulation
Asbestos. What once was regarded as the wonder fibre for
insulation, is now known to be a serious hazard to our health
and well being. We now know that if asbestos dust gets into
our lungs, it can often be lethal. And although it is no longer
used in many countries, eventually we need to safely remove
and dispose of all the asbestos around us.
A new safe and inexpensive way of removing asbestos from pipes and vessels has been developed and commercialised by ASB-Tech Services Pty Ltd. The Portam Process is a simple, portable system, which can be used on hot or cold pipes, without having to close down the plant or factory, and without the need for expensive decontamination units.
Invented by Jack Bartimote in 1986, the Portam Process for pipework involves placing a liquid barrier on four planes around the pipework. These planes are in fact the very heavy droplets of water which have been given acceleration and direction. The sprays are engineered so as to be in collision, thereby creating a very fine aerosol, which, through the property of mutual attraction, adheres to the asbestos fibre, preventing pollution of the surrounding air.
Through this process the hazard is removed safely and the operator can physically remove the asbestos insulation.
Apart from the safety and convenience factors, the advantage of the Portam Process is that it only requires two people to operate the system. A desceptively simple, and yet an ingenious low-tech innovation that should be used globally.
Environmentally friendly
screw mooring
Conventional mooring systems rely on deadweight and drag
embedment anchors to keep them in place. Damage caused to
the environment during installation and operation of these
mooring systems have been a major concern for marine environmental
resource managers.
Deadweight systems usually comprise of concrete blocks weighing up to 28 tonnes to anchor a mooring system to secure a 20 metre boat, and more for larger vessels. During adverse weather, failing deadweight anchors are dragged about the sensitive marine environment causing irreparable damage.
Invented by engineer Frank Sorohan in 1990, the Grouted Screw Anchor is not only stronger and safer than other mooring anchors, it also has the advantage of being environmentally friendly, both in its installation and during its use.
Commercialised by Cavlana Pty Ltd, trading as BEWR Marine Services, the anchor is made of a hollow steel shaft with a cutting point at one end, and multiple helices welded to it. The hollow shaft allows high pressure grout to permeate into the surrounding substrate as the anchor is being installed. This strengthens the surrounding substrata and forms a re-enforcing binder between the screw anchor and the surrounding earth mass. Each anchor is individually designed to meet the loading requirements and can be anywhere from 2.3 to 7 metres in length.
A purpose built underwater hydraulic installation unit is used to install the anchor. After installation, only the mooring eye remains above the seabed. A sacrificial anode is attached to this, at which point, the rigging can be attached.
The anchor was designed for the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia - the largest and most diverse marine biosphere in the world that stretches 2,000 kilometres along the continent's east coast. Clearly, there is a place in every harbour and marine national park for this innovation.
A better alternative packaging
for farm chemicals
Connoiseurs of fine wines have probably still not fully recovered
from the invention of the wine cask. Now, the same principles
of packaging have been applied to farm chemicals by an innovative
company and the results are paying dividends for farmers and
the environment.
Enviropack is a wine cask-like container for farm chemicals with a unique laminate and PVC liner for storing liquid pesticides jointly developed by Nufarm Limited and AMCOR in 1993. Phil Sansom, Nufarm's National Marketing Support Manager and design engineer Andrew Kerr at AMCOR spent two years perfecting the container. The outside of the container is made of multi-walled fibreboard which will biodegrade in landfills. The inner polyethylene skin has only a fraction of the bulk of plastic or metal drums.
Enviropack was designed to replace plastic and metal drums that are difficult to dispose of and often get buried on the farm or in public landfills. Nufarm are using the innovative new packaging to market their chemical products.
Public Notice:
Due to an unresolved dispute
with the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade),
who copied and adopted as their own certain material from
Tomorrow's World, the Australian Initiative, and published
the material in their Australia Open for Business website,
without remorse or recompense, access
by Australian Government servers to this online edition
has been blocked indefinitely.
