Dr David Harris is the leader of CSIRO’s low emission electricity research and has over 20 years of experience in the energy field.
Current activities
Dr Harris is Theme Leader and Senior Principal Research Scientist, for Low Emissions Electricity.
He is also Project Leader for a number of research projects on coal and coke combustion and gasification reactivity within CSIRO and the Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development (CCSD).
He manages CCSD’s high pressure coal gasification research facility at the Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies (QCAT) Pullenvale, Queensland, and takes a leading role in the management of CCSD’s research on coal performance in integrated gasification combined cycle technology.
He is also leading the gasification work at the Centre for Low Emmisions Technology (cLET), Kenmore, Queensland.
Background
Dr Harris joined CSIRO in 1987. Previously, he was involved in research areas that included lead and copper smelting, combustion processes and coke properties and behaviour.
In the 1990s Dr Harris initiated work on coal gasification and advanced power generation technologies where much of his focus remains today.
His areas of expertise include:
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high temperature heterogeneous reactions
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reaction kinetics
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high temperature industrial processes
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advanced coal gasification
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low emission power generation technologies.
Dr Harris was the Program Manager for the Coal Matter Reactions Program area in the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Black Coal Utilisation from 1995 to 2002. This centre has now concluded and he has taken the lead in the coal gasification research program in the CRC for Coal in Sustainable Development (CCSD).
Dr Harris has played a key role in the development of the Centre for Low Emission Technology (cLET), a joint venture involving CSIRO, the Queensland State Government, University of Queensland, Stanwell Corporation, Tarong Energy and the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP).
cLET has a significant research program facilitating the development of key gasification and gas processing technologies required to enable the development and implementation of low emissions power generation technologies in Australia.
Dr Harris' research is fundamental to the emergence and implementation of new gasification based technologies for power generation applications.
Academic qualifications
Dr Harris was awarded a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Industrial Chemistry from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.
He subsequently earned a doctorate in Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, also from the University of New South Wales.
Achievements
Throughout his more than 20 years in the field, Dr Harris has published over 140 research reports and papers on high temperature combustion and gasification reactions with applications in the power generation and metallurgical industries.
Dr Harris is a member of both the Australian Institute of Energy and the American Chemical Society Division of Fuel Chemistry.
Learn more about CSIRO's work with Energy from oil & gas.
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