
PhD (Queensland University of Technology), Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (James Cook Uni. of North Qld), Batchelor of Science (James Cook Uni. of North Qld)
Associate Professor Kameron Dunn is a Fellow in the Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy (CAB) within the QUT Faculty of Engineering. Assoc Prof Dunn was elected as a Chartered Chemical Engineer from the Institution of Chemical Engineers and is a Registered Professional Engineering in Queensland (RPEQ).
Assoc Prof Dunn is recognised as expert in the biorefining and biochemical production, pilot plant development, process engineering, process modelling and technoeconomic assessments. Assoc Prof Dunn’s works closely with industries, where consultancies typically include aspects of biomass utilisation and biofuel scoping studies, technical audits of factories, energy efficiency optimisation, design of process equipment and process modelling.
In 2009, Assoc Prof Dunn was awarded an industry PhD scholarship from the then Sugar Research Development Cooperation (SRDC) for a thesis titled "Conversion of sugarcane lignin into aromatic products and the fractionation of products for industrial use", which received a QUT 2014 Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award (Executive Dean’s Commendation Award).
Later in 2016 Assoc Prof Dunn was awarded an Advanced Queensland Industry Fellowship by the Queensland State Government to continue an R&D focus on transforming waste products via the thermochemical technologies, hydrothermal liquefaction and pyrolysis, to minimise and transform agricultural, petrochemical derived and sewage feedstocks, into value-adding products. The Fellowship project advanced recovery and fractionation of derived products via supercritical fluid techniques. The research is now used to drive the diversification of renewable biomass into biocrudes, biochemicals, phenolic resins, nutraceuticals, sugarcane lignin thermoplastics, carbon products (fibre and composites) and ceramic research. Aspects of these studies are now progressing in a second Mid-Career Advanced Queensland Industry Research Fellowship awarded to Assoc Prof Dunn in 2022 that is exploring advancements in agricultural derived renewable carbon products that have applications in mineral processing and advanced engineering materials.
Assoc Prof Dunn supported engineering upgrades at QUT's existing Mackay Biocommodities Pilot Plant Facility, to enhance the facilities capability in biomass processing, fermentation and downstream processing, and to develop the technologies and products in these growth areas that improve upon current capability that support research in synthetic biology, future foods, biomaterials, food and feed supplements, biofuels and biochemicals. In addition, Assoc Prof Dunn is has recently supported commissioning and development of pilot mineral processing and refinement at QUT’s Redlands Research Facility.
Assoc Prof Dunn is currently a Chief Investigator in an End Food Waste CRC project exploring opportunities to recover nutritional ingredients from agricultural food waste like grape marc and apple pomace at pilot.
Projects
- Biorefineries for Profit
- Hydrothermal treatment of sludge for deep dewatering and producing hydrochar soil amendments
- Hydrothermal treatment of sludge for deep dewatering and soil application
Additional information
Professional Experience:
- 2023 – Present, Associate Professor, Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, QUT.
- 2017 – 2023, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, QUT.
- 2016 – 2020, Advanced Queensland Research Fellow, QUT.
- 2005 – 2016, Chemical Engineer, Sugar Research and Innovation, QUT.
- 2000 – 2005, Process Engineer, Sugar Research Institute.
- 1997–1998, Process Engineer (vocational), Normandy Mt Leyshon Gold Mine.
- 1996–1997, Process Engineer (vocational), McArthur Mining (subsidiary of MIM).
- 1995–1996, Chemist (vocational), Environmental Research Institute of Supervising Scientist (ERISS).
Key Experience
- Process design and optimization
- Pilot plant design, construction and commissioning
- Sugar cane processing
- Energy audits and studies
- Cogeneration plant design and factory integration
- Training industry staff
- Technology evaluation
- Product recovery and loss reduction
Major areas of R&D and consultation:
- Heating, multiple effect evaporation and energy utilisation.
- Process modelling (HYSYS, visual basic applications, excel).
- Process design of sugar factories, ethanol distilleries and renewable energy plants.
- Renewable liquid fuel production (gasification, liquefaction and pyrolysis).
- Cogeneration plant design (conventional and gasification).
- Crystallisation.
- Supercritical processes.
- Sugar recovery and loss reduction.
- Hydrothermal liquefaction processing.
- Pyrolysis processing.
- Biomaterial and bioproducts.
- Factory energy audits.
- Plant design:– process piping (valving, pipe and pump sizing), flash tanks, S&T heaters, DC heaters, condensers, evaporators, re–heaters, stirrers, crystallisers and plant design using computation fluid dynamics (CFX).
- Pilot operation– flotation clarification, membranes, evaporators, belt press filters, wet scrubbers, hydrothermal liquefaction, supercritical CO2 fractionation and extraction.
- Type
- Fellowships
- Reference year
- 2023
- Details
- Advance Queensland - Mid Career Industry Research Fellowship
- Type
- Fellowships
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Advance Queensland - Early Career Industry Research Fellowship
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Journal referee for the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ASSCT)
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Journal referee for the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT)
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Awarded a 2014 Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award (Executive Dean's Commendation Award)
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Journal referee for the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ASSCT)
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2013
- Details
- Journal referee for the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT)
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2012
- Details
- Journal referee for the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ASSCT)
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2010
- Details
- Journal referee for the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ASSCT)
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2009
- Details
- SRDC scholarship
- Innovative Biorefineries of Grape Pomace for Valuable Functional Food Ingredients
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Zhanying Zhang - Recovery of second-generation products from food processing waste
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Zhanying Zhang - Retention of nutritional value and bioactivity of products from agrifood waste
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Floren Plaza - Sequential Pyrolytic distillation of Municipal Solid Waste
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Anthony Mann