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The Synthesis And Characterization Of Mesoporous Uranium Oxide Catalysts For Oxidative Destructions Of Volatile Organic Compounds And Clean Air Protection, Cyrus Khezr Riahi-Nezhad

Masters Theses

The overall goal of this research was to investigate a new class of mesoporous uranium oxide catalyst used to destroy a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including aromatics and chlorinated organic compounds under conditions which are applicable for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities and U.S. industries.

Uranium oxides are known to have high efficiency and long-term stability when used to destroy volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when compared with some of the commercial catalysts, such as precious metals, TiO₂, and Co₃O₄ catalysts. Two key factors limiting catalytic activities of uranium oxides prepared by conventional …

An Alternative Medium For The Measurement Of Soil Suction By The Filter Paper Method, Lori Ann Mcdowell

Masters Theses

Soil suction is the negative pressure within soil particles, which is a function of the moisture content. It plays an important role in agriculture, civil engineering, and geology. Suction is used in practice to identify expansive soils, to locate heave areas, to develop moisture requirements for arid land plants, to measure for collapse of soils around a footing, and to monitor flow movement of moisture. Soil suction varies with moisture content, and the relationship between suction and water content is known as the soil-moisture characteristic curve of a soil. There are several laboratory tests available to measure suction, but the …

Effect Of Micro-Fabric On Consolidation Behavior Of Reconstituted Kaolin Clay, Alexander Page Davis-Smith

Masters Theses

The effect of micro-fabric (i.e. geometric arrangement of platelets) on the one-dimensional consolidation behavior of reconstituted kaolin clay is evaluated using a series of controlled-rate-of-strain (CRS) and incremental load (IL) consolidation tests. The causes and implications of changes in micro-fabric are also explored. Micro-fabric has been altered by adding a dispersing agent to the slurry during specimen preparation; and the changes in micro-fabric have been observed with scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and x-ray diffraction analysis. Properties of the pore fluid are found to affect micro-fabric, even in the presence of significant mechanical stresses. It is observed that the changes …

Evaluation Of Factors Responsible For High Effluent Suspended Solids Events In The Kuwahee Wastewater Treatment Plant, Patricio Alejandro Moreno

Masters Theses

The potential factors causing high effluent suspended solids (ESS) in Kuwahee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) are studied in order to properly identify the reason or reasons that might lead to focus future studies in proper remedial actions in the facility. In this document an analysis protocol is established, and several factors are evaluated for potential associations with high ESS events. From the protocol some of the factors were collected from regular operational procedure and others were collected during a study sampling period.

The analysis of those factors included in the protocol showed no biological, or hydraulic, or settling parameters causing …

Verification Of The Correlation Between Peak Particle Velocity (Ppv) And The Response Of A Structure, Sagar Ramesh Kulkarni

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to verify the relation between the peak particle velocity (PPV) and the dynamic response of the structure. Based on the study of blast vibrations, the U.S Bureau of Mines correlated the PPV as the reliable parameter for gauging the strength of a blast wave. The prevalent practice of quantifying the ground wave motion is in terms of PPV. The bureau has published the threshold value of PPV=1/2 in/sec as the maximum safe value for a blast wave. This study simulates two structures having two different natural periods resembling the period of short buildings and …

Air Toxic Emissions Distribution And Performance Analysis Of The Cmaq Air Toxic Model - A Case Study Of Houston Area, Texas, Ramesh Ramachandran Gopal

Masters Theses

Air quality models have been used in the past to predict the ambient air toxic concentration but CMAQ air toxics model, used in this thesis, is the first air quality model, which accounts the toxic chemical reactions in the ambient atmosphere. The main objective of this thesis was to analyze the distribution of air toxics emission in the Houston region, Texas using an emission processing tool and to determine the performance of the advanced air toxics model (CMAQ) used. Each year large amount of air toxics are emitted in the state of Texas, particularly in the Houston region. A study …

On-Road Mobile Source Emissions In Tennessee For 2002 – An Inventory And Analysis, Jeongran Yun

Masters Theses

Annual on-road mobile source emissions must be updated every three years according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The year 2002 is the most recent year to update the emission inventory. The EPA’s computer model, MOBILE6.2, was used to develop the inventory, and the results presented in this report. Emissions of VOC, CO, NO_X, SO₂, NH₃, PM2.5, PM10, and CO₂ were estimated for each of the 95 counties in the state of Tennessee. The latest available traffic data for the year 2002 obtained from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) were used …

Determining End & Edge Distance Criteria For Tenon Joints In Timber Structures, Sally Summers Nichols

Masters Theses

Traditionally, timber-frame connections use hardwood pegs to hold the main member within the joint. Currently the end and edge distance criteria for these connections have either been established by tradition or by an equivalent steel bolt diameter approximation. The object of this research is to determine a more specific method to establish the end and edge distances for wood pegs in wood connections. This investigation entails two separate tests that were developed from the standard American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) testing methods for steel bolds in wood members.

End and edge distance tests were performed on ¾ inch …

Development Of High Performance Concrete For Use On Tennessee Bridge Decks And Overlays, Charles Herbert Hamblin Jr.

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to develop a High Performance Concrete mix design to be used on bridge decks and overlays in Tennessee. A total of eight mix designs were tested in this study. Both gap-graded and dense-graded aggregate combinations were used in the study.

Each mix was tested for fresh and hardened concrete properties. Fresh properties include slump, air content, unit weight, and temperature. Hardened properties include 7 and 28-day compressive strength, freeze-thaw durability, drying shrinkage, and chloride ion permeability.

Although further research is recommended, one promising mix was found as a result of this study. Mix 2F1 …

Microbial Community Changes In Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (Mtbe)-Contaminated Soils, Bo Yang

Masters Theses

This study addresses two questions regarding the microbial community structure shift in MTBE-contaminated soils: Are known MTBE-degradaers/utilizers present in MTBE-contaminated soils? How is the microbial community affected by the addition of oxygen and the addition of cometabolic substrate?

A new quantitative fingerprinting method, Real-time-t-RFLP, was applied to study the effects of aeration and cosubstrate (toluene) on the microbial community structure of MTBE-contaminated soils. Real-time-t-RFLP, developed from two novel molecular methods (Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (t-RFLP)), is capable of quantifying each ribotype in a microbial community. Results of this study showed that microbial community …

An Automated Approach To Analyzing Media Contribution To H-Piles Driven Into Compacted Fills, Alan D. Tackie

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to establish the contribution of a soil medium to the behavior of a laterally displaced pile in a displacement-controlled system. Engineers have often assumed that piles driven into well-compacted fills have a lateral response that correlates closely to those driven into undisturbed soils. An investigation into whether this assertion holds throughout the media cross-section forms the crux of this thesis. HPILE, a pile analytic program, was developed by the author of this thesis to foster a quicker analysis of a laterally loaded pile driven into a given media. HPILE uses strain data collected along …

The History Of Wrought And Cast Iron, Shawn Van Dyke

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to document the history, use and early application of cast and wrought iron in Structural Engineering from its beginnings in the mid eighteenth century to the early twentieth century.

Iron, like most historical building materials, has gone through a transformation from limited use and application based on availability, workability, and practical engineering knowledge, to wide use and applications through greater knowledge of engineering properties, to a decline at the advent of lighter, stronger, more efficient materials. Although many structures employing the material properties of cast and wrought iron are still in use today, lighter, …

A Factor Analysis Methodology For Analyzing The Factors That Contribute To Economic Development In The State Of Tennessee, Archana Niranjan

Masters Theses

Tennessee has been gifted with a good geographic location in Southeastern part of America and with abundant natural resources ready to be harnessed. Big companies such as Fedex, Saturn, etc. have their bases set up in Tennessee since it is accessible by rail, road and air and also because the cost of transportation is very competitive. In spite of the significant advantages, Tennessee has suffered and lost many big companies to neighboring states.

Understanding the factors that have shaped the industry’s growth is relevant and quintessential to the design, planning and implementation of policies that support sustainability on a long-term …

Anevaluation Of Lpile In Comparison To The Measured Behavior Of Prestressed Concrete Piles In Integral Abutments, Jarrell Brandon Tidwell

Masters Theses

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has designed and built integral abutment bridges with prestressed concrete piles for many years. A product of constructing integral bridge abutments is that the piles supporting the structure are exposed to lateral deflections, which come mainly from thermal expansion and contraction of the bridge structure. TDOT funded a project in which the University of Tennessee, Knoxville investigated the effects of the lateral displacement of four 14 inch square prestressed concrete piles that were driven into virgin clay soil.

The tests involved full scale lateral loading each of the four prestressed piles; each pile supported …

Pavement Deflection Data As A Tool For The Prediction Of Freeze/Thaw Response, Daner Patrise Truss

Masters Theses

Winter pavement overload permits and spring load restrictions are important to maximize pavement life. In cold regions freeze and thaw conditions have a great effect on the bearing capacity of asphalt concrete (AC) pavement and its sublayers. Studying AC surface deflections from falling weight deflectometer (FWD) tests assists in determining the condition of the surface, base, and subgrade layers of a pavement system. FWD test results are taken from the LTPP Information Management System (IMS). FWD data deflection basin indices can be calculated to analyze AC pavement at different seasonal conditions. This data will aid in determining times when load …

Laboratory Study Of Fatigue Characteristics Of Hma Surface Mixtures Containing Recycled Asphalt Pavement (Rap), William R. Kingery

Masters Theses

Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) has been used in the construction of asphalt pavements since the 1930’s. Conversely the use of RAP in load carrying layers has always been a sensitive issue due to the uniformity and rheological properties of the blended asphalt mixtures. Typically the inclusion of RAP will blend the long-term aged asphalt binder in the RAP with the fresh asphalt binder resulting in a stiffer mixture. Generally rutting will less likely be a problem with the inclusion of RAP. However, the fatigue crack resistance of the HMA mixtures containing RAP has been a key interest to designers and …