Dewatering of particulate suspensions Rheology of particulate suspension

Current areas of research involve solid-liquid separation processes in a wide range of industries including mineral processing, water treatment, waste-water treatment and bio-sludges. Work is continuing on the development and validation of experimental characterisation methods and modelling tools for sedimentation, thickening, filtration and centrifugation applications. A strategic goal is to incorporate shear effects into characterisation methods and dewatering models, thereby enabling optimisation of dewatering processes.

Skinner S, Stickland A, White L, Lester DR, Usher S, Scales P. Analysis of Centrifugal Settling of Strongly Flocculated Suspensions. 12th World Filtration Congress (WFC). 2016. Spehar R, Kiviti-Manor A, Fawell P, Usher S, Rudman M, Scales P. Aggregate densification in the thickening of flocculated suspensions in an un-networked bed. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE. Pergamon-Elsevier Science. 2015, Vol. 122. Hunter TN, Usher S, Biggs S, Scales P, Stickland A, Franks G. Characterization of bed densification in a laboratory scale thickener, by novel application of an acoustic backscatter system. Procedia Engineering. Elsevier BV. 2015, Vol. 102. Scales P, Kumar A, Van Deventer B, Stickland A, Usher S. COMPRESSIONAL DEWATERING OF FLOCCULATED MINERAL SUSPENSIONS. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. 2015, Vol. 93, Issue 3. Zhang Y, Grassia P, Martin A, Usher S, Scales P. Designing thickeners by matching hindered settling and gelled suspension zones in the presence of aggregate densification. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE. Pergamon-Elsevier Science. 2015, Vol. 134. Chellappan S, Rees CA, Devadas M, Usher S, Stickland A, Scales P. Determination of Breakthrough Concentration and Cracking Time during Drying of Wastewater Sludge. APCChE 2015 Congress incorporating Chemeca 2015. Institution of Chemical Engineers. 2015. Chellappan S, Usher S, Dassanayake K, Stickland A, Scales P, Rees CA, Devadas M. Implementation of ‘dry stacking’ operation in wastewater treatment sludge drying pans. OzWater 2015. Australian Water Association. 2015. Zhang Y, Grassia P, Martin A, Usher S, Scales P. Mathematical modelling of batch sedimentation subject to slow aggregate densification. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE. Pergamon-Elsevier Science. 2015, Vol. 128. Skinner S, Studer LJ, Dixon D, Hillis P, Rees C, Wall RC, Cavalida R, Usher S, Stickland A, Scales P. Quantification of wastewater sludge dewatering. WATER RESEARCH. Pergamon-Elsevier Science. 2015, Vol. 82. Skinner S, Stickland A, Cavalida R, Usher S, Scales P. Sewage sludge dewatering properties for predicting performance of industrial thickeners, centrifuges and filters. APCChE 2015 Congress incorporating Chemeca 2015. Institution of Chemical Engineers. 2015.