Professor Richard Brown
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Biography
Area of Focus: Energy and Fluid MechanicsRichard Brown is a Professor in the Science and Engineering Faculty at QUT, Director of the Biofuel Engine Research Facility and leader of the Environmental Fluid Mechanics Group. His disciplines of expertise are Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, which are commonly referred to as Thermofluids because of their close relationship in many Engineering applications. Richard's research interests include applied thermodynamics, internal combustion engines, renewable/alternative energy, smog formation, emissions/dispersion, environmental fluid mechanics. He leads an active research group consisting of postdocs, Research Fellows, Early- Mid- Career Academics and around half a dozen PhD students. To support the work of this group, in 2008 QUT opened the Biofuel Engine Research Facility (BERF) which was conceived as a result of his initiative and leadership. Through the work of this facility and related achievements his research funding exceeds $5 M in grants (over 50 % of which he is First Chief Investigator) – Richard has gained national and international recognition and significantly contributed to the development of QUT’s research culture. He has had over 6,200 citations in Scopus (March, 2022) and published over 190 refereed journal papers (over 70 % are in Q1 journals). His areas of interest include:
- Environmental Fluid Mechanics
- Turbulence and Pollutant Dispersion in the Environment
- Emissions, Pollution, Smog Formation
- Renewable/Alternative Energy
- Energy management
- Applied Thermodynamics
- Internal Combustion Engines
- Research funding 2022 – present for Prof Richard Brown (RAD) (Total funding $5M) 20 grants from 2000 – 2022 (value $460,000 not shown)YearAmountSchemeProjectTeam and Role 2015-2018 $60,000 Vietnam International Education Development (VIED) Measurement and Management of Emissions from Shipping Including Use of HFO and Biofuel Brown , Chu Van 2014-2018 $582,928 ARC Linkage – Projects + Sunshine Coast Regional Council Advances in real-time Satellite Monitoring of flow in Rivers and Estuaries (SE12) Brown, Feng, Saha, Fairweather (USC), Sidle (USC), Borgas (CSIRO), Allan (Sunshine Coast Regional Council) 2015-2017 $10,000 International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) Development of a Methodology to Measure and Assess Ship Emissions (SE11) Garaniya (UTAS), Khan (AMC), Brown, Kimball (Maine Maritime Academy - USA), Ristovski 2014-2016 $247,250 Australian Coal Association Research Program Holistic Evaluation of Diesel Exhaust Filters and related Measuring Instrumentation Ristovski, O'Beirne (SkillPro Services P/L - Australia), Brown 2013-2014 $100,000 Department of Industry - Enterprise Connect (OCS) + Peak 3 P/L (OCS) Researchers in Business (RIB) - Vehicle Particle Emission Monitoring Brown, Ristovski, Bodisco, Lorensuhewa (Dept of Innovation, Industry, Sci. and Res.), Chandler (Peak 3 P/L) 2012-2015 $433,298 ARC Linkage Projects with APAI or APDI + Mainline Automotive Equipment Optimising gaseous and particulate emissions from diesel engines Brown, Ristovski, Gu, Situ(JCU), Ayoko, De Pellegrin, Chandler (Peak 3 P/L), Koschel (LCR P/L) 2012-2014 $557,625 ARC Linkage – Projects + Peak 3 P/L Developing New Technologies for Reducing the Toxicity of Diesel Engine Particle Emissions into Confined Environments Ristovski, Brown, Millar, Bottle, Miljevic, Morgan (Peak 3 P/L) 2011-2012 $118,500 Australian Coal Association Research Program Ext C20036 DPM Risk Factors Extension: Effect of Cooled Exhaust and Scrubber on Toxic Particulates Ristovski, O'Beirne (SkillPro Services P/L - Australia), Gilbert, Brown 2009-2011 $27,382 Peak 3 P/L (OCS) Optimisation of LPG/Diesel system for Optimum Emission and Performance Ristovski, Brown, Morgan (Peak 3 P/L - Australia) 2009 $23,728 Beijing Etung Tecnhology Inc. (OCS) MOU with Beijing Etung Technology Inc - grant application funding Brown, Zhou, Situ, Zhinjian (Beijing Etung Technology Inc. -PRC) 2008-2010 $523,991 ARC Linkage (APAI /APDI) + Built Environ. Res. Unit – Qld Primary Industries and Fisheries Novel Nanomaterials for Photocatalytic Water Purification - Science and Application Bell, Martens, Frost, Will, Brown, Goonetilleke, Rasul (CQU), Gilbert, Ball (Qld Dept Public Works , T Student 2008-2009 $9,500 Smart State PhD Research Grants Better Quality Paper Products from Australian (AET) cane Fibre: Increase Range of Products & Rev-enue Produced Qld Sugar Industry Brown, Doherty,Rainey, Pietzner (Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries - Queensland) 2007-2011 $13,743 Country Energy (OCS) Temperature Increases in Water Pipes (J. Bell) Bell, Brown, Tesfamichael, Dekkers, Allen (Cntry Energy) 2007-2009 $384,216 ARC Linkage Projects with APAI or APDI + Alternative Engine Technology Optimisation of Dual Fuel Compression Ignition (Diesel) Engines For Engine Performance and Pollutant Emissions Brown, Ristovski, Hargreaves, Kruger (Alternative Engine Technologies (AET) P/L.), Hodgson, Bodisco * - Requested
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Keywords
fluid mechanics, internal combustion engines, thermodynamics, turbulence, environmental fluid mechanics
Research field
Interdisciplinary Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (University of Sydney)
- BTh (Sydney College of Divinity)
Professional memberships and associations
- Co-Chair, 22nd Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference, Brisbane, December, 2020
- Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society (AFMS) (2000 – Present)
- The Combustion Institute (Australia and New Zealand Section) (2006 – Present)
- Member, Institution of Engineers, Australia (1996 - Present)
- National Board Member, Environmental Engineering Society, IEAust (2003 - 2005)
- Committee Member (Queensland), Environmental Engineering Society, IEAust (2000 - 2009)
- Member, Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand (1993 - 2003)
- Member, Environmental Engineering Society, IEAust
- Technical Panel Chair and Editor for Conference Proceedings (over 60 papers): “IEAust National Environment Conference”,Brisbane (18-20 June, 2003)
- Technical Panel Chair and Editor for Conference Proceedings (over 100 papers): “4th Environmental Engineering Society Conference” (Brisbane, 22-23 May, 2002)
Teaching
Course coordination, unit teaching and coordination Professor Brown coordinates 34 units and course coordination of the Master of Engineering Management (2005) since commencing at QUT. He was also a regular examiner and curriculum reviewer for QUT/Crossfields off-shore teaching in Asia (Bachelor of Engineering Management). He has supervised (to successful completion) more than 100 Engineering students for their final year projects (July 2001 - February 2017). Teaching development Professor Richard Brown actively leads teaching collaborations to explore effective teaching and learning and share these developments with the wider University teaching community as demonstrated below:
- 2008: Poster for the QUT Teaching & Learning Expo - Online interactive tutorials to support on- and off- campus learning for ENB222 Thermodynamics
- 2004: Paper at QUT online learning & teaching conference - Presented paper on development of an e-learning environment to enhance student learning in
- 2003: Paper at the A2E2 Conference (with Mr Graham Dawson, QUT Engineering Librarian with whom I closely collaborate) on improvements to student information literacy, peer coaching and technical reporting skills to the university teaching community
- 2001: Paper at the Australian Association of Engineering Education Conference (A2E2) on the use of peer tutoring in Thermodynamics. This compared student cohorts at the University of Sydney and QUT and evaluated and compared the use of peer tutoring in technical and humanities environments.
Teaching innovation Professor Richard Brown's experiential/discovery/real world approach to teaching and learning in engineering has been shaped by his professional engineering experience, comprising five years with NSW Railways, community development work overseas, experimentally-based postgraduate study and subsequent professional research. He values connecting practical engineering to theoretical understanding and take students to industrial/ engineering sites whenever relevant/possible. Significant student numbers and limited resources have led Professor Brown to develop interactive web-based tutorials and literacy and information literacy resources, specifically:
- 2006: initiated a collaboration with the Queensland Maritime Museum to enable Thermodynamics students to undertake a practical laboratory at the museum.
- Online interactive laboratory preparation tutorial developed in conjunction with a final year undergraduate project student. This tutorial contains highly interactive material to prepare students for the Diesel Engine Practical in the Thermodynamics Laboratory. It includes an integrated, summative assessment tool (quiz) which the students must complete before attending the laboratory.
Experience
External collaborations
- Peak 3 P/L
- Prof Satoru Komori (Mechanical Engineering, Kyoto University)
- Industry Partner CM Concrete P/L
- GRG Engineering P/L
- Honda Japan R&D Co.,Ltd
- Honda R&D Co, Ltd.
- Qld Dept Public Works
- Country Energy
- Ra Energy Ltd
- Brisbane Airport Corp
- DACO Bldg Services
- Prof Stephen Clarke (Flinders) Specialist in biofuels
- Prof Hubert Chanson (Univ Queensland) - Environmental Fluid Mechanics
- Prof Damon Honnery (Monash University) - Internal combustion engines
- Prof Akiyoshi Iida (Toyohashi University, Japan) -Aero-Acoustic Flows
- Prof Norimasa Iida (Keo University, Japan) - HCCI Combustion
- Prof Pulagala Venkateswara Rao (Andhra University, India) - Biodiesel properties and combustion
- Prof Tarmo Soomere (President Estonian Academy of Sciencesis Leading Research Scientist and Head of Wave Engineering Laboratory in the Institute of Cybernetics of Tallinn University of Technology and Head of Division of Informatics and Engineering in the
Professional service and Conference service: organisation, scientific committee membership, and review
- 22th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (AFMC) 5 – 8 Dec., 2020, Brisbane, QLD, Co-Chair
- 20th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (AFMC) 5 – 8 Dec., 2016, Perth, WA
- Australian Combustion Symposium, 7-9 December 2015, Melbourne
- 36th IAHR WORLD CONGRESS 28 June – 3 July, 2015 Delft – The Hague, Netherlands
- 19th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (AFMC) 8 - 11 Dec., 2014, Melbourne
- 18th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference 3 – 7 Dec., 2012, Launceston Tasmania
- Invited to join International Scientific Advisory Committee 3rd International Conference on Tribology and Design (11 – 13 May, 2010, Algarve, Portugal)
- Invited to join Scientific Advisory Committee of 6th International Symposium on Gas Transfer at Water Surfaces (Kyoto, 16-21 May, 2010)
- Invited to join International Scientific Advisory Committee 3rd International Conference on Tribology and Design (11 - 13 May, 2010, Algarve, Portugal)
- Invited to join Scientific Advisory Committee of 6th International Symposium on Gas Transfer at Water Surfaces (Kyoto,16-21 May, 2010)
- Invited Session Chair and Member of the Editorial Panel, 16th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (2007)
- Invited member of the editorial panel for Engineers Australia National Committee on Water Engineering, 8th National Conference on Hydraulics in Water Engineering, ANA Hotel Gold Coast, Australia (13-16 July 2004)
- Editor for the Proceedings of the National Environment Conference (IEAust), Brisbane (18-20 June, 2003)
- Editor for the Proceedings of the 4th Environmental Engineering Society Conference (IEAust), Brisbane (22-23 May, 2002)
Publications
- Ghosh, A., Suara, K., McCue, S., Yu, Y., Soomere, T. & Brown, R. (2021). Persistency of debris accumulation in tidal estuaries using Lagrangian coherent structures. Science of the Total Environment, 781. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/213199
- Suara, K., Khanarmuei, M., Ghosh, A., Yu, Y., Zhang, H., Soomere, T. & Brown, R. (2020). Material and debris transport patterns in Moreton Bay, Australia: The influence of Lagrangian coherent structures. Science of the Total Environment, 721. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/198395
- Ristovski, Z., Brown, R., Chu Van, T., Ramirez, J. & Rainey, T. (2019). Global impacts of recent IMO regulations on marine fuel oil refining processes and ship emissions. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 70, 123–134. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/128190
- Islam, M., Heimann, K. & Brown, R. (2017). Microalgae biodiesel: Current status and future needs for engine performance and emissions. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 79, 1160–1170. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/117592
- Zhang, Y., Yang, X., Brown, R., Yang, L., Morawska, L., Ristovski, Z., Fu, Q. & Huang, C. (2017). Shipping emissions and their impacts on air quality in China. Science of the Total Environment, 581 - 582, 186–198. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/104576
- Talebizadeh, P., Babaie, M., Brown, R., Rahimzadeh, H., Ristovski, Z. & Arai, M. (2014). The role of non-thermal plasma technique in NOx treatment: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 40, 886–901. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/83017
- Islam, M., Magnusson, M., Brown, R., Ayoko, G., Nabi, N. & Heimann, K. (2013). Microalgal species selection for biodiesel production based on fuel properties derived from fatty acid profiles. Energies, 6(11), 5676–5702. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/63832
- Brown, R. & Chanson, H. (2012). Suspended sediment properties and suspended sediment flux estimates in an inundated urban environment during a major flood event. Water Resources Research, 48(11), 1–15. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/55060
- Ahmed, S., Rasul, M., Brown, R. & Hashib, M. (2011). Influence of parameters on the heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of pesticides and phenolic contaminants in wastewater: A short review. Journal of Environmental Management, 92(3), 311–330. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/41759
- Brown, R. & Bilger, R. (1996). An experimental study of a reactive plume in grid turbulence. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 312, 373–407. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/47421
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Richard, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Selected research projects
- Title
- Understanding Pollutant Transport in Estuaries and Coastal Rivers
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP190103379
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Title
- Secondary Aerosol Formation from Engine Exhaust Emissions
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP180102632
- Start year
- 2018
- Keywords
- Title
- Advances in real-time Satellite Monitoring of flow in Rivers and Estuaries
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP150101172
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Title
- Holistic Evaluation of Diesel Exhaust Filters and related Measuring Instrumentation
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- C24022
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
- Diesel; Dpm; Filtration; Monitoring; Undergound Mines
- Title
- Optimising gaseous and particulate emissions from diesel engines
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP110200158
- Start year
- 2012
- Keywords
- Internal combustion engines; particulate emissions; dual fuel technology; Alternative fuels; transport emissions
- Title
- DPM Risk Factors Extension: Effect of Cooled Exhaust and Scrubber on Toxic Particulate Formation: Ext C20036
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 51073
- Start year
- 2011
- Keywords
- Diesel Exhaust Particles; Toxic Particles; Underground Coals Mines; Wet Scrubbers
- Title
- Novel Nanomaterials for Photocatalytic Water Purification - Science and Application
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP0776793
- Start year
- 2008
- Keywords
- Titania; Photocatalysis; Water Reuse; Water Treatment; Surface Chemistry; Fluid Dynamics
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Investigation of Ship Emission Factors Using On-board and Test-bench Measurements
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Zoran Ristovski, Dr Kabir Adewale Suara, Dr Thuy Chu Van - Characterisation of the soot particles from diesel engine under different engine operating conditions
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Zoran Ristovski
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Fractional Distillation of Hydrothermal Liquefaction Biocrude (2021)
- Improving Flow Characterisations in Complex Estuary and Coastal Waterways Using Lagrangian Drifter Data (2021)
- Condition Monitoring and Diagnostics for Internal Combustion Engines Using In-cylinder Pressure and Acoustic Emission (2020)
- Dewatering of Microalgae from Dilute Suspensions for Biofuels Production: A Single Stage Approach (2020)
- Numerical Investigation of Muco-ciliary Transport (2020)
- The Effect of Biodiesel Soot Structure on Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) Performance (2020)
- Measurement and Assessment of Ship Emissions (2019)
- Nitrogen in HTL Microalgae Biocrude: Production, Engine Performance and Emissions (2019)
- Role of Oxygenated Fuels on Morphology and Nanostructure of Soot Particles of a Diesel Engine (2019)
- Experimental Investigation of Essential Oils in a Diesel Engine (2018)