COMMON ENGINEERING
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Microbubbles in Flotation and Other Applications
COMMON ENGINEERING
Ir Dr Lau , Ee Von Head of Common Engineering Associate Professor PhD , CEng ( IMechE ), PEng
Research expertise : Flotation technology , coated microbubbles , bubble-particle interactions , Environmental remediation , heat transfer
E : lau . ee . von @ monash . edu T : + 603 5514 6248
Flotation , albeit a commonly used process , is a highly effective and versatile technology in many applications if optimized accordingly . Our research focuses on the various applications of the flotation technology particularly for environmental remediation and other areas of sustainability . Besides exploring flotation technology applications , our research also focuses on understanding the fundamental aspects of bubble-particle interactions , bubble-bubble and bubble-particle interactions . Research projects include fundamental studies of bubblebubble and bubble-particle interactions via Atomic Force Microscopy ( AFM ), contact angle and zetasizer , as well as laboratory- scaled experimental investigations . Currently , we have several ongoing research projects including remediation of oil-contaminated soil , oil-in-water emulsions in wastewater remediation , polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ( PAH ) and microplastics removal from aqueous environment as well as microalgae extraction via flotation . Our current works also extend to heat transfer applications , exploring innovative avenues such as ionic wind as an alternative heat transfer technology and bubbly flow ( two-phase flows ) to enhance heat transfer .
Supply Chain Management : Inventory Routing Problem
Dr Lily Wong Lecturer PhD , Applied Mathematics
Research expertise : Applied Mathematics , Operational Research
E : lily . wong @ monash . edu T : + 603 5515 9748
Supply Chain Management ( SCM ) is the control of the supply chain to manage the flow of commodities both within and among the companies . In order to remain competitive , companies are proposing innovative ways of optimising their supply chain by integrating certain parts of the supply chain . The coordination and integration of the two components in SCM , that is inventory and transportation is known as Inventory Routing Problem ( IRP ). IRP is a challenging NP-hard problem , thus developing metaheuristic algorithms have been crucial and these have motivated us to seek good and efficient algorithms to solve the IRP problem . Since global warming has become one of the greatest challenges in this century , Greenhouse gas ( GHG ) , mainly carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) emissions are also increasingly becoming a focus of attention . In our current research , we focus on developing metaheuristics ( e . g . Ant Colony Optimization , Genetic Algorithm , Artificial Bee Colony ) for solving the Green Inventory Routing Problem ( GIRP ) which not only considers transportation and inventory costs but also takes into account fuel consumption or Greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions .
Flotation technology in industry
Synthesis of GO-coated microbubble to enhance PAH removal from aqueous environment via flotation
Figure illustrates inventory routing problem ( IRP ).
RESEARCHER PROFILE 2025 / 2026