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A Literature Review Of Wetland Treatment Systems Used To Treat Runoff Mixtures Containing Antibiotics And Pesticides From Urban And Agricultural Landscapes, Emily R. Nottingham, Tiffany L. Messer Dec 2021

A Literature Review Of Wetland Treatment Systems Used To Treat Runoff Mixtures Containing Antibiotics And Pesticides From Urban And Agricultural Landscapes, Emily R. Nottingham, Tiffany L. Messer

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Wetland treatment systems are used extensively across the world to mitigate surface runoff. While wetland treatment for nitrogen mitigation has been comprehensively reviewed, the implications of common-use pesticides and antibiotics on nitrogen reduction remain relatively unreviewed. Therefore, this review seeks to comprehensively assess the removal of commonly used pesticides and antibiotics and their implications for nitrogen removal in wetland treatment systems receiving non-point source runoff from urban and agricultural landscapes. A total of 181 primary studies were identified spanning 37 countries. Most of the reviewed publications studied pesticides (n = 153) entering wetlands systems, while antibiotics (n = 29) had …


Effects Of The Inclusion Of Rice Hull Derived Bio-Oil On Wood Pellet Production, Tyler E. Lowe Dec 2021

Effects Of The Inclusion Of Rice Hull Derived Bio-Oil On Wood Pellet Production, Tyler E. Lowe

Theses and Dissertations

Wood pellet production has become an advancing industry for the sake of reducing greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere especially, in European Union countries. Researchers and industry executives seek new methods and materials to improve the pelletization process. Rice hulls or husks has the potential to aid in wood pelletization as they possess high calorific values. This study focuses on using rice hull derived bio-oil from pyrolysis, which will also decrease ash content, as an additive to aid in the wood pelletization process. Using two groups of rice hull derived bio-oil as an additive in wood pelletization: Group 1 uses heavy …


Evaluation Of A Novel Approach For Assessing Biological Activity In Agricultural Soils, Karla Melgar Dec 2021

Evaluation Of A Novel Approach For Assessing Biological Activity In Agricultural Soils, Karla Melgar

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Soil health is a key factor impacting soil resilience and fertility in crop production systems. Favorable soil physical and biological conditions facilitate plant nutrient absorption and nutrient cycling. Demonstrating to farmers the impacts and changes in soil biological activity under different soil management practices has been a challenge due to the limited availability of inexpensive tools for quantifying this component of soil health. The primary goal of this study was to present a simple and readily accessible tool for evaluating soil biological activity to promote the use of organic amendments in crop fields. Research plots were established in two studies …


Uavs For Vegetation Monitoring: Overview And Recent Scientific Contributions, Ana I. De Castro, Yeyin Shi, Joe Mari Maja, Jose M. Peña May 2021

Uavs For Vegetation Monitoring: Overview And Recent Scientific Contributions, Ana I. De Castro, Yeyin Shi, Joe Mari Maja, Jose M. Peña

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

This paper reviewed a set of twenty-one original and innovative papers included in a special issue on UAVs for vegetation monitoring, which proposed new methods and techniques applied to diverse agricultural and forestry scenarios. Three general categories were considered: (1) sensors and vegetation indices used, (2) technological goals pursued, and (3) agroforestry applications. Some investigations focused on issues related to UAV flight operations, spatial resolution requirements, and computation and data analytics, while others studied the ability of UAVs for characterizing relevant vegetation features (mainly canopy cover and crop height) or for detecting different plant/crop stressors, such as nutrient content/deficiencies, water …


Assessment And Improvement Of Performance Of Septic Systems In Cold Climates (Year 1), Stu Geza, Todd Menkhaus, Lianping Li, Galen Hoogestraat May 2021

Assessment And Improvement Of Performance Of Septic Systems In Cold Climates (Year 1), Stu Geza, Todd Menkhaus, Lianping Li, Galen Hoogestraat

SDWRI Publications and Reports

Onsite septic systems are used for wastewater treatment for households not connected to sewers. There is a concern about surface and groundwater pollution when effectiveness becomes limited due to soil texture, soil temperature, neighborhood density, and distance to water resources. The goal of this study was to assess treatment performance of local soils and selected treatment media. Lab-scale column experiments were conducted using wastewater from Wastewater Reclamation Facility in Rapid City. The experiments were conducted inside and outside the lab to evaluate the effect of temperature. The columns outside the lab were subject to seasonal variation in temperature. Moisture content, …


Develop Biochar-Based Controlled Release Nitrogen Fertilizers, Zhisheng Cen Jan 2021

Develop Biochar-Based Controlled Release Nitrogen Fertilizers, Zhisheng Cen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current efficiency of conventional nitrogenous fertilizers (e.g. urea, ammonium sulfate, etc.) in agricultural practices is low, fluctuating from 30 to 40%. Approximately 60% of nitrogenous fertilizers were wasted due to vaporization into the air, runoff or leaching into water systems. The lost nitrogen (N) resulted in not only high production cost but also serious environmental problems, such as greenhouse gas (N2O) emission in the atmosphere, algal blooms, oxygen depletion, fish kills, and loss of biodiversity in surface water due to eutrophication or pollution. To address these problems, this study aimed to utilize low-cost biochar-based materials to develop a controllable, …


Development Of Bio-Based Nanocomposites For Biosensor And Indicator Applications In Smart Food Packaging, Abdus Sobhan Jan 2021

Development Of Bio-Based Nanocomposites For Biosensor And Indicator Applications In Smart Food Packaging, Abdus Sobhan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Smart food packaging based on biosensors has been attracting more and more interest to the industrial community because of the concerns of food quality and safety. A food packaging with biosensor has a scope to enable real-time monitoring of microbial breakdown products of packaged foods. Furthermore, one of the biggest challenges in implementing biosensor for smart packaging materials is the development of bio-sensing active materials that can leverage their electrical, thermal, biodegradable and other functional properties. In this regard, nanocellulose-based activated carbon (NAC) nanocomposite was developed using the activated carbon and nanocellulose gel using the casting method with their different …


Biomass-Derived Electrode Materials And Sustainable Processes For Supercapacitors, Katelyn M. Shell Jan 2021

Biomass-Derived Electrode Materials And Sustainable Processes For Supercapacitors, Katelyn M. Shell

Theses and Dissertations

Biomass is one of the most abundant natural resources and has been used as a source of energy for thousands of years. Biomass as a precursor for energy storage materials is still relatively novel and faces several obstacles before becoming commonly used in today’s electrical devices. Currently, energy storage devices, such as batteries, capacitors, and supercapacitors, utilize petroleum-derived graphitic carbons for anodes, generating a need for more sustainable materials. Biomass, as a carbon-rich source for electrode materials, presents a viable and economically feasible alternative due to the prevalent lignocellulosic compounds: lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Preliminary studies on the solid residues …


Long Term Evaluation Of E. Coli Removal From Stormwater Using Recycled Steel Byproducts, Brenden Olevson Jan 2021

Long Term Evaluation Of E. Coli Removal From Stormwater Using Recycled Steel Byproducts, Brenden Olevson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff often carries a variety of pollutants and pathogens that can endanger public health and wildlife. One contaminant of concern often highlighted in stormwater quality is Escherichia Coli (E.Coli) because its presence indicates microbial contamination in water. Different types of media filtration are being studied to reduce contaminant concentrations in stormwater. In this study, steel byproducts were examined as a potential material to use in media filtration to remove E. Coli and other contaminants from stormwater. Batch scale studies were conducted in laboratory to evaluate the E. Coli removal potential of steel chips and steel slag over a 24-hour …