Research Areas/Expertise

• combustion science and fuel technology, ignition and flames, spontaneous combustion
•  coal pyrolysis, combustion and gasification
•  natural gas combustion and reforming
•  gas to liquid and coal to liquid
•  Thermochemical and biological conversion and utilisation of biomass and organic wastes
•  chemical reaction engineering and kinetics, applied catalysis and surface science
•  Electrochemistry and electrolysis
•  mining and minerals processing, industrial explosives
•  power generation and energy efficiency
•  energy options and sustainable energy development

Director
Centre for Petroleum, Fuels and Energy
The University of Western Australia

 

WA:ERA projects

The Homogeneously Catalysed Direct Conversion of Natural Gas to Methanol (Project Leader)

Plasma Conversion of Methane to Higher Alcohols (Project Leader)

 

Background

Dong-ke was Professor of Chemical Engineering and the Director for the Centre for Fuels and Energy at Curtin University of Technology.  Prior to his position at Curtin he was Associate Professor and Deputy Head of Department of Chemical Engineering at the Adelaide University.  He participated in the CRC for Clean Power from Lignite (formerly CRC for New Technologies for Power Generation from Low-rank Coal) as the Principal Researcher and project leader.  He is one of the founding members and currently a project leader in the CRC for Coal in Sustainable Development. He is one of Australia’s advocates for sustainable energy development and also a member of the Technical Advisory Group of Australia’s COAL21 program, which is a joint initiative between Australian coal industry and Governments.  Professor Dong-ke Zhang was elected to the Fellowship (FTSE) of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) in as one of the youngest fellows in the Academy’s history, and was elected Councillor at-Large of the Academy.

He has also served in senior technical consultant and senior scientific adviser posts with BHP-Billition Iron Ore Pty Ltd, Chemeq Ltd, Devereaux Holding Pty Ltd, Wesfarmers, and Hydrogen Technology Ltd

Education

Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering)

 

Grants

Professor Zhang has successfully raised and managed funding for research, valued more than A$18 millions over his 14 years academic career, from the Commonwealth and States Governments, and Australian and overseas industries.

Professor Dong-ke Zhang was the winner of the Combustion Institute’s David Warren Fellowship in 1996, named the Postgraduate Supervisor of the Year at Adelaide University in 1998, and awarded the Shedden Uhde Medal by Engineers Australia and Institution of Chemical Engineers in 2000, the Young Investigators Award by the Combustion Institute at the Asian-Pacific Conference on Combustion (ASPACC) in 2001, and, the John A Brodie Medal of Engineers Australia in 2007.

 

Publications

No Publications List Available

Contacts

Email: dongke.zhang(at)uwa.edu.au