Dr Madoc Sheehan ~ Senior Lecturer

Dr Madoc Sheehan completed his PhD in chemical/environmental engineering (molecular dynamics and quantum mechanics modelling of solvent reactions) at UMIST in Manchester in 1999 before joining as a lecturer in the Chemical Engineering discipline at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. He is currently a senior lecturer at James Cook University. Dr Sheehan has a diverse range of interdisciplinary research interests associated with process modelling, energy conservation, drying and de-watering. These include the development, validation and use of CFD, geometry and process systems models in the multi-scale modelling of particulate drying systems, particularly flighted rotary drying. Dr Sheehan has been modelling flighted rotary dryers for more than 20 years with direct experience in industries such as minerals processing (nickel and zinc), raw sugar milling and bagasse and macro algae drying. Dr Sheehan also researches bioreactor design, optimisation and life cycle analysis in bio-film microalgae and other applications. Dr Sheehan is a passionate teacher and has worked on the design and mapping of engineering curriculum in order to embed sustainability into undergraduate education. He has received National and Institutional teaching and learning awards for both his curriculum work as well as for innovations in his assessment and teaching practices. 

Teaching

• CL2501: Process Analysis (Level 2; TSV)
• CL4071: Chemical Engineering Design (Part 1 of 2) (Level 4; TSV)
• CL4538: Bioprocess Engineering (Level 4; TSV)

Interests

Research

• Drying Heat and mass transfer algae bio-films multiscale modelling Particles algae Drying CFD simulation Image analysis
• Enhancing energy productivity in sugar mill cogeneration systems: boiler and dryer modelling, bagasse drying rates, sustainability and life cycle analysis

Teaching

• Systems analysis Modelling Life cycle assessment Sustainability Design

Research Disciplines

• Interdisciplinary Engineering (0915)
• Industrial Biotechnology (1003)
• Chemical Engineering (0904)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Energy Conservation and Efficiency (8507)
• Renewable Energy (8505)

Awards

• 2017 - Co-author in best Student Paper award - Aust Soc Sugar Cane Tech. conference, Townsville (Harrison Slogrove: bagasse drying models
• 2014 - Highly Commended: Education and Training award, 2014 IChemE Global Awards.
• 2014 - Co-author in best Student Paper award - Aust Soc Sugar Cane Tech. conference, Townsville (Jarrah May: bagasse dryer design)
• 2013 - Co-author in best Student Paper award - Aust Soc Sugar Cane Tech. conference, Townsville (Jon Gilberd: bagasse dryer integration)
• 2013 - JCU Teaching citation - Embedding sustainability
• 2012 - JCU TropEco curriculum award (highly commended)
• 2007 - JCU Teaching citation - Complex systems analysis
• 2007 - ALTC - Carrick Australian award in T&L - Complex systems analysis

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Palma H, Killoran E, Sheehan M, Berner F and Heimann K (2017) Assessment of microalga biofilms for simultaneous remediation and biofuel generation in mine tailings water. Bioresource Technology, 234. pp. 327-335
• Yin S, Tuladhar R, Sheehan M, Combe M and Collister T (2016) A life cycle assessment of recycled polypropylene fibre in concrete footpaths. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112 (Part 4). pp. 2231-2242
• Afshar S, Sheehan M and Fazlollahi A (2015) Using CFD to derive reduced order models for heat transfer in particle curtains. Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, 15 (2). pp. 71-80
• Ajayi O and Sheehan M (2015) Pseudophysical compartment modeling of an industrial flighted rotary dryer with flighted and unflighted sections: energy. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 54 (49). pp. 12331-12341
• Berner F, Heimann K and Sheehan M (2015) Microalgal biofilms for biomass production. Journal of Applied Phycology, 27 (5). pp. 1793-1804
• Ajayi O and Sheehan M (2014) Pseudophysical compartment modeling of an industrial rotary dryer with flighted and unflighted sections: solids transport. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 53. pp. 15980-15989

Book Chapters

• Sheehan M (2014) Designing sustainability curricula: a case following chemical engineering curriculum redesign. In: Handbook of Research on Pedagogical Innovations for Sustainable Development. Practice, Progress and Proficiency in Sustainability. IGI Global, Hershey, PA, USA, pp. 474-493

Conference Papers

• Berner F, Heimann K and Sheehan M (2015) A perfused membrane biofilm reactor for microalgae cultivation in tropical conditions. Proceedings of the 16th Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering Congress. In: APCChE 2015: 16th Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering Congress, 27 September - 1 October 2015, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
• Walker C, Cole A and Sheehan M (2015) Modelling of thin layer drying of macroalgae. Proceedings of the 16th Asian Pacific Confederation of Chemical Congress. In: APCChE 2015: 16th Asian Pacific Confederation of Chemical Congress, 27 September - 1 October 2015, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
• Lee A, Sheehan M and Schneider P (2014) Multi-scale process models to enable the embedding of CFD derived functions: curtain drag in flighted rotary dryers. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics in the Oil and Gas, Metallurgical and Process Industries. In: CFD 2014: 10th International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics in the Oil and Gas, Metallurgical and Process Industries, 17-19 June 2014, Trondheim, Norway
• May J, Sheehan M, Ajayi O and Hickey T (2014) Bagasse dryer design using multi-scale compartment models. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists. In: ASSCT 2014: 36th Annual Conference of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, 28 April - 1 May 2014, Broadbeach, QLD, Australia
• Afshar S and Sheehan M (2013) CFD and experimental study of convectional heat transfer in free falling particle curtains. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics. In: ICNAAM 2013: 11th International Conference of Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics, 21-27 September 2013, Rhodes, Greece

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Harnessing the Forecasting Power of Seasonal GCMs for Water and Agricultural Management (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Kinetic Investigations of Struvite Crystallisation in Poiseuille Flow Using Discretised Population Balance Methods (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Development and experimental validation of a dynamic model describing nutrient recovery (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Effects of Surface Cooling and Wind Shear on Night-Time Thermally Statified Riverine Flows (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Sustainability Evaluation for Macroalgae Processing (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Sph Modeling of the Physics of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage in Heavy Oil Recovery. (PhD , Advsor Mentor)

Completed

• Assessment & design of perfused microalgal biofilm cultivation processes (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Modelling and infrared thermal imagery of hot particle curtains (2015, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• A study of struvite nucleation, crystal growth and aggregation (2012, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Mechanisms of acid mist formation in electrowinning (2012, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Multiscale modelling of industrial flighted rotary dryers (2012, PhD , Primary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.