Engineering Commons^™

College Students' Perceptions Of Sustainability: A Regional Survey, Michael Myung Jeong, Younghan Jung, Dan Daehyun Koo

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Understanding college students’ perception of sustainability is paramount as today’s students will soon be driving our economy and taking on the responsibility of maintaining a sustainable society. This study conducted a survey of college students attending two regional universities in the United States to capture their current experience levels, expectations, and perceptions with regard to various aspects of sustainability utilizing a questionnaire consisting of structured questions about sustainability knowledge/familiarity levels, green product purchase behavior, attitude-behavior relationship, and sustainability education. The results reveal useful insights into the students’ views on these topics and the demographic data collected were further analyzed to …

Designing A Resilient Building In The Coastal Zone, Don Kranbuehl, David Pryor

October 30, 2015: Beyond Toolkits: Adaptation Strategies and Lessons

No abstract provided.

Corps Efforts On Sea Level Rise In Hampton Roads, Greg Steele

October 30, 2015: Beyond Toolkits: Adaptation Strategies and Lessons

No abstract provided.

Panel Presentation: Regional Working Group, Regional Working Group

October 30, 2015: Beyond Toolkits: Adaptation Strategies and Lessons

No abstract provided.

Panel Presentation: Norfolk: Thriving With Water, Norfolk Working Group

October 30, 2015: Beyond Toolkits: Adaptation Strategies and Lessons

No abstract provided.

Techno-Economic Analysis Of Protein Concentrate Produced By Flash Hydrolysis Of Microalgae, Alexander Nana Yaw Asiedu

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Process simulation and techno-economic analysis of 95wt.% protein concentrate from microalgae has been performed using SuperPro Designer v. 9.0. This work, first of its kind, is focused on the economic analysis of protein concentrate that includes processes such as microalgae cultivation, harvesting, protein extraction and drying steps. A baseline capacity of 160 MT/day protein concentrate production on commercial basis has been analyzed. This throughput requires 336 MT/day dry algae (54 wt.% protein). The amount of carbon dioxide required to grow this quantum of algae is estimated to be 648 MT/day, which is produced from an in situ 21 MW power …

A Risk Assessment Of The Impacts Of Coastal Flooding And Sea Level Rise On The Existing And New Pump Stations 113, Norfolk, Va, David A. Pezza

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The author assessed the risk to a wastewater pump station and a planned replacement located nearby due to coastal flooding and rising sea levels. The locations for the pump stations are in the Larchmont neighborhood by the Lafayette River tidal estuaries in Norfolk, Virginia. The Lafayette River is a tributary to the Elizabeth River, which flows to the Chesapeake Bay. The low-lying areas along the river are subject to coastal surges caused by tropical and extra-tropical storms that flood the bay.

The region is considered one of the urban areas most exposed to the accelerating rate of rising sea levels. …

Comparing Nutrient Recovery Via Rapid (Flash Hydrolysis) And Conventional Hydrothermal Liquefaction Processes For Microalgae Cultivation, Caleb Richard Talbot

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Algal biofuels have the potential to provide a scalable source of renewable fuels in the near future. The high nutrient use in algae cultivation and its recovery and recycling is one of the challenges that may limit the scalability and sustainability of algal biofuels. The present study evaluates the use of Hydrolysate obtained after Flash Hydrolysis (FH) of Scenedesmus at 280 C as a nutrient source for microalgae cultivation. FH Hydrolysate nutrient recycling was compared with low temperature batch Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) nutrient recycling. Oocystis and Scenedesmus were cultivated using Hydrolysate as a partial phosphorous (P) and nitrogen (N) source. …

Behavior And Strength Of Pultruded Frp I-Section Columns Including Uniaxial And Biaxial Bending, Emad M. Amin

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents the outcome of a study of the behavior and strength of pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) I-section columns including uniaxial and biaxial applied bending moments. Also included in the study is a critical assessment of ASCE-LRFD Pre-standard for pultruded FRP structures in view of the rigorous analysis presented herein. The theoretical solution is based on a system of three coupled differential equations of equilibrium combined with pinned flexural and torsional boundary conditions. Effects of induced warping due to second-order terms as well as initial out-of-straightness are accounted-for in the governing differential equations. Detailed investigations into the …

Experimental And Predicted Behavior Of Frp Beam-Columns Including Retrofitting, Ali Al-Huazy

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents the outcome of a theoretical and experimental study of Fiber Reinforce Polymer (FRP) beam-columns with uniaxial bending and including retrofitting. The research involved the design and fabrication of a testing apparatus which was then used for a series of beam-column tests. Three different types of beam-column cross sections were used, namely, channel section, I-section, and square tube section. Six non-retrofitted beam-columns were tested in addition to two retrofitted ones. The members were subjected to an eccentric vertical load applied through a lever arm generating gradually increasing axial load and uniaxial bending moment up to the maximum load. …

Household Bush Burning Practice And Related Respiratory Symptoms In Grenada, The Caribbean, Muge Akpinar-Elci, Kareem Coomansingh, James Blando, Larissa Mark

Center for Global Health Publications

The practice of household bush burning in Grenada occurs frequently, though it is not well documented. The effects of the emissions from bush burning on respiratory health of the population have never been researched in Grenada. The goal of the study was to measure the frequency of bush burning and to investigate the relationship between bush burning practice and respiratory health in Grenada. In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was used to gather information from households in the parishes of St. George and St. Andrew, Grenada. In total, 225 participants were recruited and their responses on household bush burning and …

Inelastic Behavior And Strength Of Steel Beam-Columns With Applied Torsion, Mamadou Konate

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents the outcome of an experimental and theoretical study of the inelastic behavior and strength of steel beam-columns with applied torsion. Although the international steel design specifications contain interaction relations for biaxially loaded beam-columns, the influence of applied torsion on such members has been completely ignored in the past. A series of hollow square section steel members are tested using an apparatus specially designed to apply torsion in the presence of an axial load and biaxial bending. The theoretical analysis involves formulation of a system of materially nonlinear differential equations and their solution based on a finite integral …

Accuracy Comparison Of Numerical Integration Algorithms For Real-Time Hybrid Simulations, Ganesh Anant Reddy

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The use of accurate numerical integration algorithms is one of the key factors for a successful real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS). In RTHSs, explicit integration algorithms are preferred more than implicit methods since all calculations need to be completed within a given time step during simulation. Explicit methods require the use of effective stiffness and damping for experimental substructures, which are incorporated into the calculation of the integration parameters. In general, those values that are greater than the expected stiffness and damping of the experimental substructure are used to ensure the stability of simulation. If a rate-dependent and nonlinear experimental substructure …

Characterizing Queue Dynamics At Signalized Intersections From Probe Vehicle Data, Semuel Yacob Recky Rompis

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Probe vehicles instrumented with location-tracking technologies have become increasingly popular for collecting traffic flow data. While probe vehicle data have been used for estimating speeds and travel times, there has been limited research on predicting queuing dynamics from such data. In this research, a methodology is developed for identifying the travel lanes of the GPS-instrumented vehicles when they are standing in a queue at signalized intersections with multilane approaches. In particular, the proposed methodology exploits the unequal queue lengths across the lanes to infer the specific lanes the probe vehicles occupy. Various supervised and unsupervised clustering methods were developed and …

Hydrothermal Catalytic Liquefaction And Deoxygenation Of Biomass For Renewable Fuel Production, Sergiy Popov

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, sub- and supercritical water technologies received an increasing attention because of the numerous advantages they offer for biomass converting into biofuels. Water at elevated temperatures and pressures provides an ideal medium for chemical transformations. It serves as a reactant, reaction medium, and catalyst that helps biomass compounds undergo hydrolysis, depolymerization, dehydration, decarboxylation, and condensation/repolymerization reactions. Biomass is the fourth largest source of energy in the world after coal, oil, and natural gas that has the potential to provide the large scale substitution of hydrocarbon-based liquid transportation fuels and minimize the environmental issues. Biomass typically contains 40-60% oxygen. …

Reducing Coastal Risk – Structural Protection Around Greater New Orleans, Rick Luettich

May 22, 2015: Megaproject Protective Structures for Hampton Roads

No abstract provided.

Planning And Design For Hurricane Protection With Sea Level Rise, Bob Ivarson

May 22, 2015: Megaproject Protective Structures for Hampton Roads

No abstract provided.

You're Going To Need A Bigger Boat..., Michelle Hamor

May 22, 2015: Megaproject Protective Structures for Hampton Roads

No abstract provided.

Odu Students Work On Nation's First Climate Change Adapted Neighborhood, Jugal Patel

News Items

No abstract provided.

Java Animated Software For Teaching The Frank-Wolfe Algorithm For Static Traffic Network Equilibrium, Zhi Li

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The popular Frank-Wolfe (FW) algorithm for solving the network equilibrium problems plays an important role in transportation simulation. Not only has the basic Frank Wolfe algorithm been studied, but also other variations of the FW algorithm (such as Conjugate Frank Wolfe and Bi-Conjugate Frank Wolfe algorithms) have been extensively studied by the research communities.

In this work, the basic Frank Wolfe algorithm is re-visited for the purpose of developing a useful, user-friendly, and appealing Java computer animation for enhancing the teaching effectiveness of this fundamental transportation static network equilibrium algorithm. Since the shortest path (SP) algorithms (such as the well-known …

Analyzing Driver Behavior And Traffic Flow Breakdowns At The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, Michelle L. Allen

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) is a major link for activity in Hampton Roads. The eastbound direction also suffers from congestion during both morning and peak hours. During these periods of congestion, the flow rate varies in regards to the location of the congestion. This study focuses on investigating driver behavior during these different conditions and briefly investigates the cost of delay due to the different capacities. To accomplish this, per vehicle record data (PVR) is used. This data, collected at the exit of the tunnel, provides information on arrival time, speed, lane location, vehicle class, and time headway. …

Counting And Classification Of Highway Vehicles By Regression Analysis, Mingpei Liang, Xinyu Huang, Chung-Hao Chen, Alade Tokuta

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, we describe a novel algorithm that counts and classifies highway vehicles based on regression analysis. This algorithm requires no explicit segmentation or tracking of individual vehicles, which is usually an important part of many existing algorithms. Therefore, this algorithm is particularly useful when there are severe occlusions or vehicle resolution is low, in which extracted features are highly unreliable. There are mainly two contributions in our proposed algorithm. First, a warping method is developed to detect the foreground segments that contain unclassified vehicles. The common used modeling and tracking (e.g., Kalman filtering) of individual vehicles are not …

Polychlorinated Biphenyl Source Identification In Fish Tissue Using A Multivariate Statistical Evaluation Of Congeners And Stable Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry, William Edward Corl Iii

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were commercially produced mixtures primarily utilized as dielectric fluids in the electrical industry. However, due to their stability, they were widely used in many other applications. Although production of PCBs ceased in the 1970's, they continue to be a contaminant in the environment due to their widespread use, their recalcitrant behavior, and their proposed toxicological effects.

In 2008, a routine environmental investigation of an abandoned, concrete-lined pool at a Department of Defense (DoD) training facility in Williamsburg, Virginia led to the discovery of a PCB release from the facility into an adjacent reservoir. A forensic study was …

Vapor Flow Resistance Of Dry Soil Layer To Soil Water Evaporation In Arid Environment: An Overview, Xixi Wang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Evaporation from bare sandy soils is the core component of the hydrologic cycle in arid environments, where vertical water movement dominates. Although extensive measurement and modeling studies have been conducted and reported in existing literature, the physics of dry soil and its function in evaporation is still a challenging topic with significant remaining issues. Thus, an overview of the previous findings will be very beneficial for identifying further research needs that aim to advance our understanding of the vapor flow resistance (VFR) effect on soil water evaporation as influenced by characteristics of the dry soil layer (DSL) and evaporation zone …

Spatio-Temporal Patterns Of Water Table And Vegetation Status Of A Deserted Area, Limin Duan, Tingxi Liu, Xixi Wang, Yanyun Luo

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Understanding groundwater-vegetation interactions is crucial for sustaining fragile environments of desert areas such as the Horqin Sandy Land (HSL) in northern China. This study examined spatio-temporal variations in the water table and the associated vegetation status of a 9.71 km² area that contains meadowland, sandy dunes, and intermediate transitional zones. The depth of the water table and hydrometeorologic parameters were monitored and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data were utilized to assess the vegetation cover. Spatio-temporal variations over the six-year study period were examined and descriptive groundwater-vegetation associations developed by overlaying a water table …

Exploring A Toll Auction Mechanism Enabled By Vehicle-To-Infrastructure Technology, Andrew J. Collins, Erika Frydenlund, R. Michael Robinson, Mecit Cetin

VMASC Publications

High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes—an increasingly popular solution for congested roadway networks—give drivers the option to access express lanes. The cost of entry often varies with demand, although no standard method of optimizing these price points exists. Using the principles of a Vickrey auction that incentivizes true-value bids, this paper proposes a tolling system that uses vehicle-to-infrastructure technology to optimize toll operator revenue with HOT lane usage. In the scenario, a roadway network consists of a HOT lane and a general-purpose lane, each with identical physical properties. Drivers can access the HOT lane at the start of the facility or at …

Evaluation Of A Modified Monod Model For Predicting Algal Dynamics In Lake Tai, Jian Huang, Qiujin Xu, Xixi Wang, Beidou Xi, Keli Jia, Shouliang Huo, Hongliang Liu, Changyou Li, Bingbing Xu

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Several modified versions of the Monod model have been proposed to simulate algal dynamics in lakes by keeping the parent model's advantages of simplicity and low data requirement. This study evaluated the performance of a widely-used modified Monod model in predicting algal dynamics at various time scales in Lake Tai, a typical shallow lake in east China, using multiple time series. Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration was used as a surrogate for algal (CyanoHABs: cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms) growth and the independent variables were total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and either water temperature or air temperature. The evaluation indicated that the …