Engineering Commons^™

Modeling Passive Solar Distillation Production In Las Vegas, Nevada, Noe I. Santos

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A study has been performed to examine the effects of daily weather on the performance of commercial solar distillation basins (solar stills). The objectives of this study were to evaluate the long term performance of solar stills, to instrument two solar stills and record sub-hourly thermal properties, to evaluate existing heat transfer modeling methods for hourly production, and to create new models to predict daily production using experimental distillate production and local weather data by utilizing artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, and multivariate regression. A system dynamics model was also created to determine the required basin area and storage volume …

Hydroclimatic Forecasting In The Western United States Using Paleoclimate Reconstructions And Data-Driven Models, Christopher Allen Carrier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis investigated climate variability and their associated hydrologic responses in the western United States. The western United States faces the problem of water scarcity, where the management and mitigation of available water supplies are further complicated by climate variability. Climate variability associated with the phases of oceanic-atmospheric oscillations has been shown to influence streamflow and precipitation, where predictive relationships have led to the possibility of producing long-range forecasts. Based on literature review, four oceanic-atmospheric oscillation indices were identified in having the most prominent influence over the western United States including the El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal …

Fall Prevention Training And Its Impact To Southern Nevada Construction Workers, Vedaspati Joshi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Death and injury from falls are a long-standing and continuing problem in construction, responsible for at least a third of the construction deaths in the U.S. from 2004 to 2007. Each of those years, Nevada has exceeded the national percentage. Although 29 CFR 1926.503 sets forth Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)'s requirements that construction employers train employees exposed to fall hazards and document such training, the incidence of deaths and injuries from falls are an indicator that this training was not provided or else was not effective.

Conventional fall protection training is more narrowly focused on recognizing fall hazards …

Effects Of High-Impedance-Contrast Boundary Upon Multi-Modal Seismic Surface Wave Data, Prajwol Tamrakar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Synthetic studies and analyses of an experimental dataset were conducted to address the use of Rayleigh-type surface waves for estimation of shear wave velocity (VS) profiles of shallow bedrock sites. The shallow bedrock presents a high impedance contrast boundary which causes surface wave energy to be partitioned to higher modes. Idealized studies of hypothetical datasets and root-mean-squared calculations of error surfaces showed that if reliable dispersion data are available over a broad frequency spectrum, the VS profile can be recovered using the fundamental mode alone. However, when dispersion data are limited to a relatively narrow frequency band representing what might …

Correlation Between Grain Dislocation Density And Orientation For Naturally Deformed Mantle Xenolith From Jagersfontein Mine, Quinton Guerrero, Quinlan Smith

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Determining the reaction of poly-crystalline structures to induced stress is an extremely difficult problem in contemporary engineering and geology. The main challenge lies in the inhomogeneity of the grains inside of the poly-crystalline structures. To predict the response of a certain polycrystalline structure to a specific stress, you must resort to one of two views on grain interaction, an orientation or propagation based model. For every material there may be certain correlations between the prediction model used and the actual deformation that occurred. Our work centers around describing the correlation of these prediction models with a sample of naturally deformed …

Recycling Waste Latex Paint In Overlays, Rigid Pavements, And Pervious Concrete, Oscar Inez Quiroz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With over 16 million gallons of latex paint (WLP) being disposed every year it is the largest by volume, liquid hazardous waste in the United States. WLP is difficult to recycle and hazardous to the environment due to the volatile organic compounds it contains. Several methods exist for disposing WLP including paint swaps, combustion, drying and discarding in a landfill, and by placing pigments in cement. Many communities are moving to dispose WLP by drying and placing in a landfill due to the reduced cost. However, this is the least preferred technique for the environment because it creates a need …

Groundwater Contamination Potential In Northern Nevada From Mining, Associated Communities, And Agriculture As Forecasted By Two Vulnerability Methods, John L. Swatzell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Two methodologies, DRASTIC and the NDEP method, were used to compare the groundwater vulnerability of mining, associated towns, and agricultural areas in northern Nevada. The DRASTIC and NDEP methods were compared to determine which method produces a more accurate depiction of vulnerability. Vulnerability maps were created using the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) DRASTIC and Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP) methodologies. The DRASTIC map uses seven aspect layers of geologic and hydrologic information with assigned values and weights that are applied to a mathematical equation. The NDEP method uses field data collection for potential contaminant sources and well …

Comparison Of Design-Build And Design-Bid-Build Performance Of Public University Projects, James David Fernane

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With an unsure market and scarce work, owners across the United States, especially universities, are finding themselves in situations where they are unable to complete their projects within cost and schedule using the traditional delivery method: Design-Bid-Build (DBB). Under the DBB project delivery method, many competent contractors are electing to send low bids on projects just to keep work on their books, with plans to receive change orders once the project is underway; this practice is leading to cost and schedule overruns. Public universities across the United States are beginning to elect to use Design-Build (DB) as an alternate project …

Seismic Characterization Of Select Engineered Nanoparticles In Essentially Saturated Glass Beads, Mohamed Nihad Rajabdeen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A laboratory testing apparatus was developed for the study of seismic body wave propagation through nanoparticles dispersed in pore fluid that is essentially saturating glass beads. First, the responses of water-saturated glass bead specimens were studied to establish baseline signatures. Then the seismic responses in the presence of engineered nanoparticles of various concentrations dispersed in the pore fluid of the specimen chamber were studied to observe variances from baseline.

The testing apparatus incorporates piezoceramic bender elements to actuate and receive seismic body waves through a cylindrical column filled with glass beads and back-saturated at ambient pressure with liquid. The system …

Development Of Sstreamflow Projections Under Changing Climate Conditions Over Colorado River Basin Headwaters, W. P. Miller, Thomas C. Piechota, S. Gangopadhyay, T. Pruitt

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

The current drought over the Colorado River Basin has raised concerns that the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) may impose water shortages over the lower portion of the basin for the first time in history. The guidelines that determine levels of shortage are affected by relatively short-term (3 to 7 month) forecasts determined by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) using the National Weather Service (NWS) River Forecasting System (RFS) hydrologic model. While these forecasts by the CBRFC are useful, water managers within the basin are interested in long-term projections of streamflow, particularly under changing …

Unlv Stars Unabridged Report, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Reports (USI)

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, by earning a 2011 Silver Rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Ratings System (STARS), is ahead of the curve among public universities – and improving.

STARS is a voluntary, self–reporting framework developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to help measure sustainability performance over time and among colleges and universities nationwide. The UNLV Sustainability Council oversaw STARS, which by measuring sustainability can help UNLV to reduce energy consumption and waste, improve education, attract research, and generate jobs.

A rating of Silver puts UNLV in great company – with …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2011, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge. The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Spring 2011, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

Taming The Waters That Taketh From The Devil’S Playground: A History Of Flood Control In Clark County, Nevada, 1955-2010, Jarvis Marlow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Las Vegas valley is the driest metropolis in the United States, with an annual rainfall of less than five inches. A large majority of the annual precipitation occurs between May and September in the form of high intensity thunderstorms. Since the founding of Las Vegas in 1905 until the formation of the Clark County Regional Flood Control District in 1986, the five jurisdictions that make up the Las Vegas valley: Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and Clark County, struggled to manage stormwater. The principal defect was that they reflected the particular whims of each government entity, …

Evaluating Changes And Estimating Seasonal Precipitation For Colorado River Basin Using Stochastic Non-Parametric Disaggregation Technique, Ajay Kalra, Sajjad Ahmad

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Precipitation estimation is an important and challenging task in hydrology because of high variability and changing climate. This research involves (1) analyzing changes (trend and step) in seasonal precipitation and (2) estimating seasonal precipitation by disaggregating water year precipitation using a k-nearest neighbor (KNN) nonparametric technique for 29 climate divisions encompassing the Colorado River Basin. Water year precipitation data from 1900 to 2008 are subdivided into four seasons (i.e., autumn, winter, spring, and summer). Two statistical tests (Mann-Kendall and Spearman’s rho) are used to evaluate trend changes, and a rank sum test is used to identify the step change in …

Association Of Oceanic-Atmospheric Oscillations And Hydroclimatic Variables In The Colorado River Basin, Ajay Kalra

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With increasing evidence of climatic variability, there is a need to improve forecast for hydroclimatic variables i.e., precipitation and streamflow preserving their spatial and temporal variability. Climatologists have identified different oceanic-atmospheric oscillations that seem to influence the behavior of these variables and in turn can be used to extend the forecast lead time. In the absence of a good physical understanding of the linkages between oceanic-atmospheric oscillations and hydrological processes, it is difficult to construct a physical model. An attractive alternative to physically based models are the Artificial Intelligence (AI) type models, also referred to as machine learning or data-driven …

Complex Vs Profiles To 100 M Depth From Rayleigh Waves And 3-D Vs Model For Las Vegas Valley, Helena Murvosh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A three-dimensional (3-D) shear wave velocity (VS) model was developed for the heterogeneous shallow sediments (to nearly 400 m) of the Las Vegas Valley (LVV), Nevada. The model was based on more than 200 VS profiles and 1400 geologic well logs. Five sediment units including a cemented unit were defined from geologic log descriptions. A characteristic VS profile for four of the units was obtained by correlating between closely spaced pairs of VS and sediment data; a constant VS was assigned to the cemented unit. VS profiles were then assigned to each well location based on type of sediment according …

An Empirical Comparison Of Life Cycle Cost Of Green School Buildings And Non-Green School Buildings, Nitisha Pushpala

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One of the major economic concerns today of the world is reduction of energy consumption because of depleting energy sources in the world. The construction sector in the United States is also contributing in reducing the energy consumption and construction cost of the buildings by constructing cost and energy efficient buildings with energy efficient materials and techniques. The U.S Department of Energy introduced the Building Technologies Program that develops techniques, tools and technologies for making buildings more energy efficient. Other private bodies like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is developed by the U.S. Green Building Council …

Impact Of Design Cost On Project Performance Of Design Bid Build Projects, Nirajan Mani

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The majority of public projects in the United States are procured and constructed by state or local governments using the design-bid-build (DBB) project delivery method. In the DBB method, the detailed design is completed by a design firm, then, a contractor builds the project according to the plans and specifications prepared by the design firm. Some studies show that a project's performance depends upon the quality of the design. If the errors in a design are minimized, the construction cost and schedule growth of the project also will be minimized.

This study analyzed data from Clark County, Nevada public works …

Impacts Of Climate Change And Weather Modification On Hydrologic Characteristics Of Watersheds In The Western United States, Anil Acharya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research quantifies the impacts of climate change and weather modification (WM) on hydrologic characteristics of watersheds in the arid regions of the western United States. This research performs a long-term simulation of streamflow for present and future climate conditions in the North Platte (NP) Watershed, Wyoming; a shorter duration simulation is then performed to observe the likely impacts of event based changes in an urban watershed in Las Vegas, Nevada.

First, a study is carried out in Chapter 3 that evaluates the impacts of WM on water supply by developing a hydrologic model for the NP Watershed. The variable …

Structure Studies On Lanthanide Technetium Pyrochlores As Prospective Host Phases To Immobilize 99- Technetium And Fission Lanthanides From Effluents Of Reprocessed Used Nuclear Fuels, Thomas Hartmann, Ariana Alaniz

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

We performed a systematic investigation of the incorporation of 99Tc into pyrochlore oxide structures, Ln2Tc2O7, where Ln represents trivalent lanthanide Ln3+ cations, while 99Tc is atetravalent, Tc4+, metal cation. Pyrochlore compounds are high-melting temperature oxides and are recognized for their durability. Our goal in this preliminary study is to characterize and quantify the range of stability of the lanthanum technetium pyrochlore oxide phase. Hereby, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld analysis were used to determine and characterize the crystalline phase content with high accuracy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the microstructure and homogeneity of the synthesized …

Event Program, Carl Reiber, Nicholle Booker

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

UNLV Undergraduates from all departments, programs and colleges participated in a campus-wide symposium on April 16, 2011. Undergraduate posters from all disciplines and also oral presentations of research activities, readings and other creative endeavors were exhibited throughout the festival.

Keynote 2: The Alberta Oil Sands — Wrestling Bitumen Out Of The Wild North, David Rudolph

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Athabasca Oil Sand Reserve:

- Oil sands are contained within the Cretaceous McMurray Formation. (149,000 km2)

- 2.5 trillion barrels of extractable oil (~ 25 % of Canada Crude Oil Production)

- Surface mineable deposits cover 2,800 km2

- 450 billion L of process water used annually

- Currently over 130 km2 of tailings ponds (largest man-made structures in the world)

Panel Discussion Presentation: U.S. – Mexico Transboundary Perspectives, Martin J. Pasqualetti

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

Principal Question: What are the implications of the energy/ water nexus at the US/Mexico border?

1. Water Supply and Demand

2. Water Costs of Electricity

3. Virtual Water Transfers

4. Renewable Energy Resources

5. Solar/Water nexus at the US/Mexico Border

Panel Discussion Presentation: Canada-U.S. Transboundary Perspectives, David Rudolph

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspectives

Longest international border in the world: 8,890km, over 3,000km are water!

- Major transboundary river systems (Columbia, Red River)

- 1997 Red River Flood

- Strategies for future power and water needs

- Canadian resource-based economy

Panel Discussion Presentation: Regional Politics, International Dreams, Kathryn Furlong

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspective

The Main Idea:

What are the drivers of hydro-electric development? What are the influences of domestic politics? In what ways are they international?

Panel Discussion Presentation: Columbia River Treaty, Kelvin Ketchum

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspectives

Slide titles:

- Columbia River Treaty – the setting

- What does the Treaty Do?

- Social & Environmental Costs of the Treaty in Canada

- Treaty benefits and term

- Treaty priorities for water usage

- Example of Flood Control Curves

- Actual Treaty operations

- Supplemental operating agreements

- Treaty Implementation

- Reasons for Treaty Success

Event Program, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

The North American Energy-Water Nexus roundtable was held April 1, 2011, to promote the discussion of how energy and water issues converge in addressing international relations. The roundtable focused on water issues specific to the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders, including stakeholder-driven solutions for water policies and water technologies. The event was co-sponsored by the UNLV Urban Sustainability Initiative; Desert Research Institute; the Canadian Consulate of Los Angeles; and the government of Ontario, Canada.

The Carbon Footprint Associated With Water Management Policy Options In The Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, Eleeja Shrestha, Sajjad Ahmad, Walter Johnson, Jacimaria R. Batista

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

A system dynamics model was developed to estimate the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions associated with conveyance of water from the water source to the distribution laterals of the Las Vegas Valley. In addition, the impact of several water management policies, including water conservation, reuse, and population growth rate change was evaluated. The results show that, at present, nearly 0.53 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions per year are released due to energy use for water conveyance in distribution laterals of the Valley from Lake Mead, located 32.2 km (20 miles) southeast of the Las Vegas at an …