Thursday, November 17, 2016
2:00pm-3:00pm
Mechanical Engineering Building, MC102
5 King's College Road
Speaker: Anthony Murphy
Affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization
Location: MC 102
Date and time: November 17, 2016, 2-3 PM
Abstract
There have been remarkable advances in the computational modelling of thermal plasma processes, such as arc welding, over the past 25 years. Once limited to explaining experimental results, modelling is now used to develop and design industrial processes. Much of this progress has been based on improved scientific understanding of thermal plasmas, and in particular, their interaction with materials.
I will discuss some of the thermal plasma research that has been carried out at CSIRO, and its contribution to the development of thermal plasma modelling. I will present examples showing the value of computational modelling of thermal plasma processes to industry, including the development of predictive arc welding software for a car manufacturer, and the adaptation of the PLASCON plasma waste treatment process to the destruction of ozone-depleting substances.
Speaker biosketch
Tony Murphy is a Chief Research Scientist with CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australia’s main government research organisation. His main research area is thermal plasma processes, including arc welding, waste treatment, and plasma property calculation. He was a member of the team that developed the PLASCON waste destruction process, which is used around the world to destroy wastes including ozone-depleting substances, hydrofluorocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and organic liquids, and has led large plasma modelling projects with companies including General Motors and Boeing. He has over 200 refereed journal publications and over 4000 citations in the ISI Web of Science, and has been awarded medals by the Institute of Physics (UK), Australian Academy of Science, Australian Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of NSW. He is Editor-in-Chief of ‘Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing’, and a member of the Editorial Boards of ‘Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics’ and ‘Scientific Reports’.
