Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Enhancing Performance Of Gravity Driven Membranes For Water Purification In Small Rural Communities, Amr Ezzat Melligy Mr.

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the rapid population growth in Egypt, providing safe drinking water is becoming an ongoing challenge especially in rural scattered communities. It became more crucial than ever to find innovative and affordable solutions to purify water and reduce water-borne diseases. Ultrafiltration and micro-filtration membranes has been successful in large, centralized plants and is currently one of the popular solutions to provide high quality product water. However, using those membrane systems in rural areas is challenged by several parameters; among which are; the absence of skilled workers, stable energy sources and availability of chemicals. The goal of this thesis is …

Estimating Solar Energy Production In Urban Areas For Electric Vehicles, Shaimaa Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Cities have a high potential for solar energy from PVs installed on buildings' rooftops. There is an increased demand for solar energy in cities to reduce the negative effect of climate change. The thesis investigates solar energy potential in urban areas. It tries to determine how to detect and identify available rooftop areas, how to calculate suitable ones after excluding the effects of the shade, and the estimated energy generated from PVs. Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) are used in solar city planning. The goal of this research is to assess available and suitable rooftops areas using …

Nanopesticide Influence On Nitrogen Cycling In Soils, Jacob Richardson

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Nanotechnology has several applications in the agricultural industry, as the small size of nanoparticles and high reactivity enables targeted delivery of pesticides and fertilizers to the intended crop. Copper-based nanopesticides such as Kocide, are proposed as a more efficient method for targeted pest control. Despite the potential benefits of nanopesticides, little is known regarding the transport and implications of nanopesticides under long-term inundation conditions often found in downstream wetlands. Specifically, the impact of nanopesticides on microbial nitrogen processes in wetland environments remains unknown. Therefore, this thesis explores the impact of nanopesticides, specifically Kocide, on microbial nitrogen cycles in agricultural and …

Winter Dynamics Of Storm Water Management Ponds And Winter Tolerance In Three Aquatic Plant Species, Patrick Strzalkowski

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The vast majority of the research into the performance of stormwater management ponds (SWMPs) has been performed in warm regions or during the warmer seasons in temperate regions. It is presumed that SWMPs are inactive in the winter as any potential stormwater is trapped in snow and ice. The main goal of this thesis was to test this presumption and to study the dynamics and performance of three SWMPs during the winter. Remote water level loggers were installed into the three SWMPs and daily grab samples from the influents and effluents were taken and analyzed for total phosphorus (TP), chloride, …

Faceted Nanomaterial Synthesis, Characterizations And Applications In Reactive Electrochemical Membrane Filtration, Qingquan Ma

Dissertations

Facet engineering of nanomaterials, especially metals and metal oxides has become an important strategy for tuning catalytic properties and functions from heterogeneous catalysis to electrochemical catalysis, photocatalysis, biomedicine, fuel cells, and gas sensors. The catalytic properties are highly related to the surface electronic structures, surface electron transport characteristics, and active center structures of catalysts, which can be tailored by surface facet control. The aim of this doctoral dissertation research is to study the facet-dependent properties of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles using multiple advanced characterization techniques. Specifically, the novel atomic force microscope-scanning electrochemical microscope (AFM-SECM) and density functional theory (DFT) …

Design, Concept, And Visualization Of Urban Multi-Level Growing Table Systems In Hyper Urban Areas, Aaryan Manoj Nair, Shaheed Mohammed, Omar Rahama

Publications and Research

As of a 2019 study conducted by the National Urban Gardening Program (National Urban Gardening Program), urban farming accounts for approximately 19% of the total national farming output and is expected to triple to almost 45% by 2025. There is intensive research being conducted on aspects of reduced recidivism, communal health benefits, natural carbon capture systems, improved urban ecology and the necessity for reducing the carbon footprint of food, (informally dubbed “food miles”) there is little substantive research on optimisation, and maximation of crop productivity in hyper-urban areas.

The purpose of this report is to understand the functionalities of urban …

Reduction Of Embodied Carbon In Buildings Through Use Of Low Carbon Strategies And Standardization And Enforcement Of Life Cycle Assessment, Bhargavi Sai Sudhakar

Master's Projects and Capstones

The building and construction industry is energy intensive and as of 2021, this industry is responsible for 37% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. In previous studies of conventional buildings, the operational energy of a building contributed to 80% and the embodied energy contributed to 20% of the total life cycle energy. With increase in policies and standards that focus on reducing the operational energy, low energy and certified green buildings have emerged where the operational energy has considerably reduced. The relative and absolute share of embodied energy in these energy efficient buildings have increased due to excessive use …

Evaluation For Using Expended Bioelectrochemical Systems As Soil Amendments For Improved Corn Plant Growth And A Drought Resistant Soil., Jackson Lee Sauers

Theses and Dissertations

A long-held practice is to mix agricultural soil with a soil amendment to improve growing conditions in crops. A common soil amendment is biosolids produced from both municipal and dairy wastewater due to the macro- and micronutrients within it. Both the agricultural and wastewater industries are participating in the Circular Economy concept (CEC). Two experiments explored using expended bioelectrochemical systems (BES) that treated either synthetic dairy wastewater (DWW) or synthetic municipal wastewater (SWW) as soil amendments to improve corn plant growth when treated with three different nutrient treatments: 100%- 50%- and 0% Hoagland Nutrient Solutions. Biochar and used terracotta clay …

Effects Of Climate Change On The Probability Of Urban Tree Failures From Wind Gusts, Samuel J. Woolsey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Trees grown in urban environments provide environmental, economic and psychological benefits to their surrounding communities. However, urban trees also pose significant risks since damaged trees can cause serious harm to people, housing, and infrastructure by falling on sidewalks, roads, houses or power lines. To better understand the risk posed to trees by wind, models have been developed that estimates the required wind speed needed to damage a tree or group of trees, and the likelihood that such a wind speed is met or exceeded annually. The importance of such models is rising each year as the associated risk grows as …

Interlayered Thin Film Composite (Itfc) Membranes: The Synthesis And Assembly Of Active Layer From Conjugated Microporous Polymer, Febby Andini

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research

The pursuit of advanced materials with well-defined structures at sub-1 nm size, multi-functionalities, and superior chemical stability is essential for enhanced separation performance but technically challenging. Limitations of conventional TFC membranes for use in Organic Solvent Nanofiltration (OSN) can be addressed by manipulating the pore size and chemical properties of the film with novel materials. Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are promising in a few years because of their highly ordered structure and excellent stability. Porphyrin, one of the basic building blocks, can form a conjugated polymer. Herein, poly(5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)porphyrin) or PTAPP, is considerably selected as an active layer from CMPs using …

Using Xbeach To Describe The Performance Of An Intertidal Vegetation Shoreline Stabilization Treatment, Elizabeth Winter

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to predict the hydrodynamic and morphodynamics of an engineered vegetation-only shoreline restoration project in Little Lagoon, Alabama under different storm and sea level rise scenarios. Little Lagoon is a shallow, single-inlet lagoon located in Baldwin County, Alabama that has been experiencing shoreline erosion for the past 28 years. A living shoreline using vegetation only (Spartina alterniflora) was implemented in the southwest corner of the lagoon, located within Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, to create habitat, improve water quality, and prevent future erosion. This research compares “with-project” and “without-project” hydrodynamics and morphodynamics using XBeach in …

Mysteerio: Multi-Regional Environmentally Extended Input-Output Model For United States, Yash Srivastava

All Theses

This research work titled My State Environmentally Extended Regional Input-Output (MYSTEERIO) is based on the concept of multi-regional environmentally extended input-output (MREEIO), which is a combination of lifecycle thinking and economics principles. Numerous studies have highlighted the advantages of using this methodology to determine the environmental impacts associated with economic activities for a region. However, no prior attempt has been made to conduct a state-level analysis for the US. This research work thus tries to estimate the impacts embodied due to the consumption of goods and services at the state level by using the MREEIO principles. Extensive coverage of the …

Joint Failure Probability Of Dams Based On Probabilistic Flood Hazard Analysis, Matthew G. Montgomery

Masters Theses

Probabilistic risk methods are becoming increasingly accepted as a means of carrying out risk-informed decision making regarding the design and operation of structures such as dams. Probabilistic risk calculations require the quantification of epistemic and aleatory uncertainties not investigated through deterministic methodologies. In this hydrological study, a stochastic sampling methodology is employed to investigate the joint failure probability of three dams in adjacent, similarly sized watersheds within the same Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 6 basin. A Probabilistic Flood Hazard Analysis (PFHA) framework is used to simulate the hydrologic loading of a wide range of extreme precipitation events across the combined …

Optimization And Enhancement Of Co2 Sequestration In Industrial Wastes For Environmental Applications, Maisa El Gamal, Ameera F. Mohammad

All Works

This paper explores carbon capture and storage (CCS) through carbide lime waste (CLW), a by-product of acetylene production, under different conditions. This process is specifically designed to provide an onsite waste management solution for several industries that can easily be integrated into existing systems. In addition, the effect of the carbonation process on collected solids morphology and average particle size was studied. The structural and chemical characteristics of the carbonated carbide lime samples were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, TGA analysis, and Raman spectroscopy. The effect of carbonation conditions on the total dissolved solids and change in pH …

Influence Evaluation On Near-Road Concentrations Of Pm2.5 During Covid-19 Pandemic, Marcos Alan Banda Morales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19, was discovered in Wuhan, China in late 2019and spread rapidly worldwide in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and its quarantine periods influenced the number of people using their vehicles and the number of miles traveled, which correspondingly influenced the air quality of urban areas. The influence of the restrictions caused by the quarantine period on air quality differs from location to location. Previous research accounted for countries, but no research was done at the state level individually. This research attempts to evaluate the transportation-related air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic period using data from the Texas …

Sulfonated Styrene Grafted Sebs/Abs Made By Additive Manufacturing For Ion Exchange Applications, Avianna Elaine Gallegos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

An interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) for cation exchange applications was synthesized from a blend of styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which was 3D printed, grafted with crosslinked polystyrene (PS), and sulfonated. A method for styrene grafting was applied to reduce the damage to polymer phases caused by the sulfonation reaction. Styrene and divinylbenzene monomers were introduced to the IPN and induced with heat treatment to polymerize in situ. The graft copolymerization reaction was enhanced with varying quantities of benzoyl peroxide as a chemical initiator. The samples were subsequently sulfonated with chlorosulfonic acid in dichloroethane and functionalized for ion …

Direct Potable Reuse Piloting: Optimizing Chloramination, Operationalizing Ultrafiltration, And Understanding Zero Liquid Discharge Options, Marcela Carolina Herrera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A pilot study was deployed at the John T. Hickerson Water Reclamation facility to analyze the viability of high recovery direct potable water reuse (DPR), aiming for zero liquid discharge (ZLD). This pilot consists of a chloramination system and ultrafiltration (UF) as pretreatment for reserve osmosis (RO) followed by UV-peroxide, granular activated carbon (GAC), and concentrate-enhanced recovery reverse osmosis (CERRO). Stabilizing the chloramination and UF system was the first step to ensure efficiency during the downstream processes. The formation of monochloramine is essential for the mitigation of biofouling of the UF membranes. The formation of monochloramine occurs by specific liquid …

A Case Study In Design, Construction, And Operation Of A Meromictic Solar Pond In Texas, Usa, Bianca Paola Meneses Brassea

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Over the last four decades, meromictic solar ponds have been the subject of limnological studies and engineering research. A case of practical interest is the salinity gradient solar pond (SGSP). SGSP science and technologies have been systemically advanced in El Paso, Texas. This dissertation aims to share lessons learned in designing, constructing, and operating the El Paso Solar Pond, a NaCl-based solar pond that achieved high-temperature performance over two decades, commencing in 1984. Many of the practical lessons learned have not been published and are thus not readily available in archival journals, and this contribution provides a remedy. The value …

The Living Breakwaters Pdr Efforts Econcrete Resource Analysis, Guianina Ferrari, Shervon Stephens, Calvin O. Walters Jr.

Publications and Research

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy impacted 443,000 people and caused nearly $19 billion (about $58 per person in the US) worth of damage within New York City. As part of the New York City infrastructure reparation plan, the Living Breakwaters project in Tottenville addressed coastal resilience, allocating $100M of public funds to a series of artificial breakwaters by the southwest coast of Staten Island. Each breakwater is constructed and designed to mitigate water flow in storm events. ECOncrete, a primary element of the breakwater, is a specialty cast cementitious product that is marine organism-friendly that encourages biocalcification and photosynthesis. …

Ligand-Promoted Dissolution Of Uranyl Phosphate Across Scales, Brennan Ferguson

All Dissertations

The formation of uranyl phosphate precipitate is a remediation strategy because the low solubility of uranyl phosphate minerals, like chernikovite, limits the mobility of uranium in contaminated soils. However, organic ligands can complex with aqueous metal cations to form more soluble species. For example, citrate is a commonly occurring organic ligand produced by plants and microbes that increases the solubility of uranium and therefore the dissolution of uranyl phosphate minerals in the uranyl phosphate-citrate system. This effect is an important control on the mobility of uranium in organic-rich, and near-surface vegetated environments. Nevertheless, key aspects of the citrate-uranyl phosphate system …