Engineering Commons^™

Double Vault Composting Latrines In Rural Paraguay : Feasible Construction And Optimal Use, Paul T. Pebler

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Water resource depletion and sanitation are growing problems around the world. A solution to both of these problems is the use of composting latrines, as it requires no water and has been recommended by the World Health Organization as an improved sanitation technology. However, little analysis has been done on the decomposition process occurring inside the latrine, including what temperatures are reached and what variables most affect the composting process. Having better knowledge of how outside variables affect composting latrines can aid development workers on the choice of implementing such technology, and to better educate the users on the appropriate …

Advanced Computational Modeling Of The Internal Structure Of Smart Wind-Turbine Blades, Sanket Seetaram Bhogle

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Implementation of stable aeroelastic models with the ability to capture the complex features of Multi concept smartblades is a prime step in reducing the uncertainties that come along with blade dynamics. The numerical simulations of fluid structure interaction can thus be used to test a realistic scenarios comprising of full-scale blades at a reasonably low computational cost.

A code which was a combination of two advanced numerical models was designed and was run with the help of paralell HPC supercomputer platform. The first model was based on a variation of dimensional reduction technique proposed by Hodges and Yu. This model …

Flood Risk Assessment Under Historical And Predicted Land Use Change Using Continuous Hydrologic Modeling, Jonathan T. Nelson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Current procedures for flood risk estimation assume flood distributions are stationary over time, meaning annual maximum flood (AMF) series are not affected by climatic variation, land use/land cover (LULC) change, or management practices. Thus, changes in LULC and climate are generally not accounted for in policy and design related to flood risk/control, and historical flood events are deemed representative of future flood risk. These assumptions need to be re-evaluated, however, as climate change and anthropogenic activities have been observed to have large impacts on flood risk in many areas. In particular, understanding the effects of LULC change is essential to …

Automated Scour Detection Arrays Using Bio-Inspired Magnetostrictive Flow Sensors, Baibhav Rajbhandari

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Scour is the most common cause of catastrophic bridge failures worldwide. Approximately over 60% of bridge failures reported in the United States from 1966 to 2005 are scour related. To ensure the continued safe operation of bridges, monitoring bridge scour is of paramount importance. Most monitoring regimes that are widely used are based on expensive underwater instrumentation. This research focuses on scour detection using automated remote flow detection arrays based on bio-inspired flow sensors. This study employs an array of bio inspired flow sensors that are inexpensive and robust versions of buried-rod scour sensor arrays, coupled with low-power wireless sensor …

Evaluating The Potential For Passive Greywater Irrigation In Northern Ghana, Chelsea L. Fagan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Water scarcity, malaria, and malnutrition are all concerns facing the people of Chirifoyili and the Northern Region of Ghana. Greywater pooling outside of homes increases human exposure to pathogens and provides breeding grounds for disease carrying insects, especially malaria spreading mosquitoes. This project looks at draining this water away from the home and using it to irrigate vegetables, fruit trees and other beneficial plants.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the effects of greywater irrigation on the growth of plants commonly found in village home gardens. The field project consisted of constructing and managing household greywater irrigation systems …

The Use Of Jatropha Curcas To Achieve A Self Sufficient Water Distribution System: A Case Study In Rural Senegal, Alexandra Archer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The use of Jatropha curcas as a source of oil for fueling water pumps holds promise for rural communities struggling to achieve water security in arid climates. The potential for use in developing communities as an affordable, sustainable fuel source has been highly recommended for many reasons: it is easily propagated, drought resistant, grows rapidly, and has high-oil-content seeds, as well as medicinal and economic potential. This study uses a rural community in Senegal, West Africa, and calculates at what level of Jatropha curcas production the village is able to be self-sufficient in fueling their water system to meet drinking, …

A Sub-Basin Water Resource Quantification And Aquifer Productivity Assessment For The Northwest Borehole Scheme Near Opuwo, Namibia, Lucas C. Moilanen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Namibia is the most arid country in southern Africa, and is classified as experiencing medium-water stress from 2010-2014 by the Water Resources Institute (WRI) (World Bank, 2015) (Gassert, 2013). Increased water-resources management responsibility at the municipal level, population growth and urbanization trends necessitate community-scale quantification of water resources.

An annual water balance for the contributing sub-basin to Opuwo, Namibia was performed. The Behnke and Maxey method was used to estimate PET, and the methodology outlined by Allen, et al was used to determine soil moisture response to individual rainfall events for one hypothetical year. Water balance results indicate that of …