Research Fellow. Dept of Theoretical Physics. (College of Physical Sciences)

Academic Qualifications

1997 PhD, Macquarie University (Australia)

1993 BSc Honours Class 1 + University Medal, Macquarie University (Australia)

Professional Background

Rowena Ball's research background is multidisciplinary in physical chemistry, applied mathematics, and physics, with a strong chemical engineering component.

Adapts methodologies from these disciplines to develop new paradigms for treating complex problems that require an interdisciplinary and synergistic, yet rigorous, approach. 

Specialises in modelling and stability analysis of complex dynamical systems.

Co-inventor of Endex concepts and principles, which are the basis of a new, economically viable, flue gas carbon capture technology that she is developing in collaboration with an Australian company.

Identified and characterised the BioPy thermokinetic relaxation oscillator, the fundamental mechanism by which nature distributes the products of biomass thermal decomposition between flammable volatiles and unreactive char.

The  BioPy oscillator and Endex principles are the basis of a new highly optimised biomass pyrolysis technology, currently under development, that has the potential to achieve significant net sequestration of dispersed, oxidised atmospheric carbon.

Research and teaching interests

Keywords: Nonlinear and complex dynamical systems, Carbon capture, Carbon sequestration, Thermochemical instabilities, Chemical reactor design, Pyrolysis, Biofuels, Biochar, Global carbon cycles, Combustion theory and modelling, Self-organizing processes and emergent structure, Quasi two-dimensional turbulent flows, Stability and chaos theory, Railways, Country pub lunches.

Current research: “The charXive challenge and the clean coal quest: new technologies for capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide.”

The term “charXive” was coined as a succinct description of the concepts and process of sequestering oxidized atmospheric carbon in the global black carbon reservoir. (It is pronounced ‘tcharckiving’ – X is the Greek letter ‘Chi’. In future web and print graphics for outreach purposes the visual effect will have potentially strong appeal and impact.) As a mnemonic term it is expressive of the long timescales involved: carbon is archived, i.e., a valuable substance is safely stored for the long term. A somewhat whimsical word-play (cha cha, jive) also suggests the importance of periodic action on shorter timescales. Indeed, charXiving is a pretty lively process because it is based on the BioPy thermokinetic relaxation oscillator.

Notable publications

Ball R (2008). Combustion of Biomass as a Global Carbon Sink. The Open Thermodynamics Journal 2, 106.

Ball R (2008). The case of the trapped singularities. Complexity International 12, www.complexity.org.au/vol12/msid64, 21 pp.

Rowena Ball and Philip Holmes (2007). Dynamical systems, stability, and chaos. Chapter 1 in: JP Denier and JS Frederiksen (editors), Frontiers in Turbulence and Coherent Structures. World Scientific Lecture Notes in Complex Systems Vol. 6, pp. 1–27.  Freely available at www.worldscibooks.com/chaos/6320.html.

Ball, R (2005). Suppression of turbulence at low power input in a model for plasma confinement transitions. Physics of Plasmas 12, 090904-1–8.

Ball R (2005). Fairy Rings of Mushrooms. In: Alwyn Scott (editor), Encyclopedia of Nonlinear Science. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group New York.

Ball R, McIntosh AC, and Brindley J (2004). Feedback processes in cellulose thermal decomposition. Implications for fire-retarding strategies and treatments. Combustion Theory and Modelling 8, 281–291.

Ball R and Dewar RL (2000). Singularity theory study of overdetermination in models for L–H transitions. Physical Review Letters 84(14), 3077–3080.

Ball R and Gray BF. (1999). Thermal stabilization of chemical reactors. II. Bifurcation analysis of the Endex reactor. Proc. Royal Society of London Series A 455, 4223-4243.