Engineering Commons^™

Modeling Of Ground Water Aquifer Remediation By Pulsed Pumping When Contaminant Transport Is Affected By Physical, Non-Equilibrium Sorption And Desorption, Jeffrey L. Caspers

Theses and Dissertations

This research postulates and demonstrates a modification incorporating rate-limited sorption effects in the USGS SUTRA code for cleanup of a hypothetical sandy aquifer by pump-and-treat remediation methods. Contaminant transport is assumed to be affected by advection, dispersion, and rate-limited sorption/desorption. Sorption is assumed to be either equilibrium or rate-limited, with the rate-limitation described by either a first-order law, or by Fickian diffusion of contaminant through a spherical immobile pore region. Solutions are arrived at by split operator methods for the transport and one-dimensional Galerkin solutions for the solute concentration equations. The resulting model is tested against an analytical Laplace transform …

Use Of Infrared Spectrometry To Determine The Effect Of Trichloroethylene Resident Time On Desorption Rates From Flint Clay, Peter T. Lapuma

Theses and Dissertations

This laboratory based thesis investigated the desorption rate of trichloroethylene (TCE) from flint clay while varying the resident time of TCE exposed to the clay. It is thought that in long contaminated soil, a majority of contaminant mass will become entrained within the interior of the soil particles to slowly desorb out of the soil over long periods of time. Recent studies suggest that the longer a contaminant is resident in soil, the longer the contaminant will take to desorb from the soil. To understand more about soil desorption, this experiment was developed using infrared spectroscopy to detect TCE vapor …

Effects Of Thickness And Curvature On The Natural Frequencies Of Cylindrical Composite Shells, Jose L. Monteverde E.

Theses and Dissertations

An analytical study is performed to determine the dynamic response, natural frequencies and mode shapes, of deep composite cylindrical shells, including the effect of through the thickness shear strain. The DSHELL finite element program is used to predict the first four natural frequencies and the results are compared to a reference using the Galerkin technique. The program was extended to problems considering simply supported-free boundary conditions. As is well know, the free boundary is rather difficult to represent using the Galerkin technique approach. The mode shapes are created by plotting a surface-contour plot of the eigenvector output from DSHELL.

A …

The Application Of Nepa Requirements To Cercla Remedial Actions, Connie L. Strobbe

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the application of National Environmental Policy Act NEPA requirements to Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act CERCLA actions. Similarities in the documentation and public participation requirements of NEPA and CERCLA include identification and evaluation of alternatives and public participation. Differences include document contents and timing of public participation. This study presented four options for ensuring NEPA compliance at CERCLA sites. Option one included a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement PEIS with subsequent combined FSEIS report for each subunit. Option two eliminated the PEIS, but retained a stand-alone NEPA document for each CERCLA subunit. Option three included a …

Modeling Of Natural Settling In A Trapezoidal Sedimentation Basin, Kent S. Wilkerson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objectives of this thesis are to 1) review current theory relative to numerically modeling a trapezoidal settling basin, 2) develop a more appropriate model to better predict settling and deposition within a basin, and 3) confirm the accuracy of the model. The TSB (Trapezoidal Settling Basin) model was developed as part of this thesis. The Bureau of Reclamation's SETSIZE model performs similar analysis, but the TSB model makes significant improvements. The TSB model improves numerical modeling of a trapezoidal basin by allowing both sediment and sieve particle data, complex basin geometries with a multidimensional sediment deposition, and improved hydrograph …

Use Of Multispectral Aerial Videography For Jurisdictional Delineation Of Wetland Areas, James A. Shoemaker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Multispectral aerial videography was used to reproduce the jurisdictional delineation of wetland area of approximately 50 hectares in Davis County, Utah Imagery from the system consisted of three-band composite with wavelengths covering 550 nm (±10 nm), 650 nm (±10 nm), and 850 nm (±10 nm). The site was overflown at three different flight dates during the 1992 growing season (June 2, July 22, October 1). Imagery resolution varied from 0.56 m to 0.81 m. Mosaiced images were analyzed with a Supervised clustering/maximum likelihood classifier, ISODATA clustering/Euclidan classifier, statistical clustering/maximum likelihood classifier, and fuzzy c-means clustering. Overall accuracies for wetland/upland designations …

Evaluation Of Flood Routing Techniques For Incremental Damage Assessment, Enan Fakhri Jayyousi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Incremental damage assessment is a tool used to assess the justification for expensive modifications of inadequate dams. The input data to incremental damage assessment are the output from the breach analysis and flood routing. For this reason, flood routing should be conducted carefully. Distorted results from the flood routing technique or unstable modeling of the problem will distort the results of an incremental damage assessment, because an error in the estimated incremental stage will cause a certain error in the estimated incremental damages.

The objectives of this study were (1) to perform a comprehensive survey of the available dam break …

Design And Evaluation Of Stepped Spillways For High Dams, Jeffrey Scott Rau

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to investigate the hydraulic performance of stepped spillways. A thorough investigation was made of all printed material on stepped spillways, and a summary of this material is presented in the text. Data from experiments in the laboratory were used to develop a design procedure for stepped spillways and hydraulic jump stilling basins. The experimental study was conducted at Utah State University - Utah Water Research Laboratory in Logan, Utah. Four models were built and tested in the laboratory under various flowrates.

The crest of the model spillway was constructed in the shape of a …

Load Transfer Mechanisms For Piles In Soft Soils, Andrew L. Palmer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to interpret pile load test data for several instrumented piles to determine the load transfer characteristics of driven piles in soft soils. Piles develop resistance to axial loads through two different mechanisms, side friction and end bearing. The rate that resistance develops is dependent upon soil type, pile type, and movement of the pile with respect to the soil. This thesis addresses load transfer for driven pipe piles in deep lacustrine deposits along the Wasatch Front area of Utah. The piles used in this study were installed for the support of highway structures in …

Behavior Of Biaxially Loaded Concrete-Encased Composite Columns, Pedro Ricardo Munoz

Dissertations

The theory of nonlinear behavior of biaxially loaded short and slender composite columns is used to study the load-deformation and moment-curvature of four pin-ended composite column specimens tested under axial compressive load and biaxial bending moments in a single curvature. The accuracy of the test results is verified by comparison with analytical results obtained by a method of analysis that includes the nonlinear material properties of concrete and steel and covers the ascending and descending branches of the linear segmented column specimen. A computational method is presented to model the analytical behavior of the biaxially loaded composite column. Its validity …

Engineered Vs. Traditional: A Comparison Of Wood Beams, Richard Humphrey

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Geotechnical Characterization Of Water Treatment Plant Residuals, Zhengyuan Xia

Theses

Evaluation of engineering properties of water treatment plant (WTP) residuals is a critical part in predicting their behaviors in monofills. In this study, ten WTP residual samples were collected from ten water treatment plants across the United States. Their general chemical/physical and geotechnical properties including liquid and plastic limits, compaction) shear strength, permeability and durability characteristics were determined.

It was observed that the geotechnical properties of WTP residuals are influenced by various factors such as mineral particle composition, organic content, type and amount of chemical additives) and time of aging, etc. Based on this study, the behavior of WTP residual …

Fluid Flow Modeling For Pneumatically Fractured Formations, Deepak Nautiyal

Theses

This thesis investigates the flow of compressible fluids in pneumatically fractured formations. Pneumatic fracturing is a recently developed technique for increasing permeability in geologic formations by the controlled injection of high pressure air. The artificially induced fractures enhance the flow rate of liquids and vapors in the subsurface, and can be applied to in situ remediation of hazardous waste sites, and for other hydrogeological applications.

A flow model for discrete fractures is derived based on the assumptions of viscous, laminar fluid flow through planar fractures (Poiseuille type flow). The model takes into account non-linearity introduced by gas compressibility effects. Provision …

Design, Construction, And Operation Of Water Treatment Plant Residual Monofills, Haitao Bian

Theses

Due to the stringent environmental regulations, landfilling becomes the most viable option for ultimate disposal of water treatment plant (WTP) residues. At present, most states apply the regulations for municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills to the landfilling of WTP residues. This is too stringent since the WTP residues are not hazardous. Therefore, development of suitable criteria for WTP residual monofills is necessary and urgent.

A set of environmental and geotechnical experiments was conducted to characterize WTP residues. It can be concluded that very little leachate will be produced and migration of leachate is unlikely. Also it was noted that insignificant …

The Use Of Cod As An Indicator For Evaluation Of Pretreatment Of Nitrocellulose With Acid Hydrolysis, Han-Chung Lee

Theses

Nitrocellulose is a toxic waste by definition. It is widely used in military and commercial industries. Nitrocellulose fines escaped from the manufacture's process has created problems in receiving water. However, little information is available for the treatment of nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose is difficult to treat by microorganisms without any pretreatment. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to use acid hydrolysis to break down this material before biological treatment, and find the optimal operation conditions in this process.

In this work, the results indicate that percentage of nitrocellulose decomposing in hydrolysis depends on types of acid, acid concentration, reaction temperature, …

Modeling Arsenic Transformation In Clay Soils, Chao-Yi Chung

Theses

This project is designed to estimate the possible transformation forms of arsenic in clay soil. A computer model was established to simulate arsenic transformations. The amount of arsenic species adsorbed, dissolved, and the predominant soluble species are calculated by the model, which is mainly based on the Freundlich adsorption isotherm, solubility data collected by Keaton and Kardos, and pH-Eh diagram established by Ferguson and Garvis. The computer language used is Turbo PASCAL version 5.5.

The clay soil environment is considered to be in standard state: 25°C 1 atm. Environmental factors of the soil system which are accounted for by the …

Development And Evaluation Of A Nfweav Simulation Model For Weaving Areas Under Non-Freeway Condition, Wen-Min Pan

Theses

The development of a microscopic digital computer simulation model representing vehicle interaction at a weaving area under non-freeway condition is presented. Weaving areas are classified into two categories: 1. Weaving caused by merging and diverging of a ramp with an arterial, 2. On/off ramps connecting an arterial with a highway. The principal characteristics of the simulation model are the following: 1) a car following and lane changing model were used to represent vehicle movements; 2) an anti-collision check algorithm was developed for all vehicle movements; 3) driver merging urgency and follower courtesy model were developed for weaving vehicles. The simulation …

Sulfuric Acid Resistance Of Fly Ash Mortar, Walairat Bumrongjaroen

Theses

Crown corrosion of concrete pipe and its subsequent repair is a topic much discussed in recent years. Present protective methods have not worked effectively. Due to its properties and its low cost, fly ash was used as a cement replacement of mortar to investigate its sulfuric acid resistance.

Different types and different percentages of fly ashes were mixed with and without admixtures including microsilica, and superplasticizer. The main parameters investigated included the chemical compounds, the fineness and the volume of fly ash. 2"x2" cubes were immersed in a 10% sulfuric acid pond. The weight of each cube was determined continuously …

Introduction Of An Information Feedback Loop To Enhance The Urban Transportation Modeling System, Kyle B. Winslow

Theses

The Urban Transportation Modeling System (UTMS) is a methodology used to estimate urban travel demand. This demand is measured as the volume of traffic that flows through a system of streets and highways. Through the use of traffic assignment software, parts of UTMS have become automated. One of the newest automated processes is the extraction of a subarea from a larger model. This extraction process is important to the local planner because it maintains a linkage from the regional model to the local model and it allows the user to extract an already distributed trip table rather than building one …

Landfill Leachate Production And Gas Generation Numerical Model, John Edward Riester Jr.

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Numerous processes occur in landfills which lend themselves to modeling. Many of the processes are mutually interdependent. An unsteady numerical model is developed combining the major processes. The three-dimensional moisture transport equations and boundary conditions are solved using an implicit finite difference scheme. The boundaries are determined through a two-dimensional runoff model for the landfill surface and a one-dimensional leachate liner flow model at the bottom of the landfill. The runoff model accounts for evapotranspiration, runoff, infiltration, and leachate recirculation. Richard's equation is solved for saturated and unsaturated vertical flows and Darcy's Equation is solved for lateral flow between adjacent …