Facilities

  • Laser diagnostic system and research laboratories

    Our laser facilities are among the most advanced in Australia.

    We have numerous class III and IV lasers and expertise in most current laser techniques, including particle image velocimetry (PIV), laser doppler velocimetry (LDV), planar nephelometry, laser sheet drop-sizing (LSD), two-line atomic fluorescence (TLAF), laser induced incandescence (LII) and planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF).

  • Solar simulation facilities

    Solid State Solar Thermal Simulator (SSSTS)

    World first solid state solar thermal simulator (SSSTS) integrated with a fibre optical delivery head.

    Associate Professor Zeyad Alwahabi and his team at CET have built the world first solid-state Solar Thermal Simulator . The new SSSTS delivers 30,000 suns with near top-hat profile. The fibre optical delivery feature enables the ease of direction onto a suitable target, without the need of large ellipsoidal reflectors usually employed for the conventional arc solar simulators. The electro-power efficiency was evaluated to be 55%. The maximum value of uniform radiation flux exceeds 36.6MWm-2, which is relevant to solar thermal applications that are not wavelength-sensitive or where narrow line-width is desirable.

    Using this simulator, we manage to heat by radiation process micron-size-particles and then directly measure their temperature as a function of radiation flux. The unique characteristics of the SSSTS namely, the uniformity, high power flux, efficiency, ease of delivery, and precise control of the level of the radiation flux responds to the current demands in solar thermal research for example chemical processing including mineral and gasification.

    Solar Simulator Facility

    A three lamp solar simulator is under construction by Dr Woei Saw. This simulator consists of three metal halide discharge arc lamps, HMI 6000, with an electrode separation of 23 mm, which will be able to provide a radiant power of ~5kW. The spectral irradiance of the metal halide lamp is a closer mater to that of the sun over the range of 350-900 nm, as compared to the xenon arc lamp that has been used commonly in other solar simulators. Contact Dr Woei Saw.