Engineering Commons^™

Durability Of Reinforced Concrete Incorporating Crushed Waste Brick As Coarse Aggregate, Matthew Adamson

All Theses

Using crushed bricks as aggregates in concrete is of particular interest to preserve natural aggregate sources as well as to reduce waste, as it has been estimated that 10% to 30% of all waste in landfills in the united States comes from construction and demolition wastes. By recycling some of these wastes, the sustainability of a project can be improved. However, it is important concrete incorporating these wastes is as durable or more durable then conventional concrete, or will it have a shorter service life. Durability of concrete is its ability to resist deterioration from its external environment such as …

The Impact Of Advanced Wastewater Treatment Technologies And Wastewater Strength On The Energy Consumption Of Large Wastewater Treatment Plants, Timothy Stephen Newell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Wastewater treatment is an energy intensive process often requiring the use of advanced treatment technologies. Stricter effluent standards have resulted in an increase in the number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with advanced treatment over time. Accordingly, associated energy consumption has also increased. Concerns about lowering operating costs for WWTPs and reducing associated greenhouse gas generation present an incentive to investigate energy use in WWTPs. This research investigated the impact of wastewater strength and the introduction of advanced treatment technologies, to replace traditional technologies on energy use to treat wastewater in WWTPs. Major unit processes were designed for a 100 …

Design Of Advanced Fouling-Resistant And Self-Cleaning Membranes For Treatment Of Oily And Impaired Waters, Daniel Wandera

All Dissertations

The overall goal of my Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) research was to design and develop advanced anti-fouling and self-cleaning membranes for treating impaired waters. Initial work focused on the development of membranes to treat produced water, which is oily wastewater that is co-produced during oil and gas exploration. Economical, environmentally sustainable treatment of the large volumes of produced water is a grand challenge for oil and gas companies. While membranes offer many advantages over more conventional treatment methods, membrane-based treatment processes for oily waters often fail due to membrane fouling. Therefore, the primary objective of my doctoral research was to …

Energy Harvesting From Elliptical Machines: Dc-Dc Converter Design Using Sepic Topology, Martin Kou

Master's Theses

Cal Poly’s ongoing Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) project is a very convenient and cost-effective way for generating DC power from physical exercise and sending it back to the electrical grid as AC power, providing a renewable energy source for the future. The EHFEM project consists of numerous subprojects involving converting different types of exercise machines for power generation. This project is a continuation of one of the previous subprojects, specifically involving an elliptical machine, and focuses on improving system functionality at different machine settings without altering the elliptical user’s experience by selecting a new DC-DC converter design, while …

Sustainability Analysis Of Personal Transportation For Near Urban Commuting, Theodore Ansink, Matthew Atchley, Virginia Browning, Yue Cao, Michelle Everett, James Hall Jr, William R. Henson, Eugene Ng, Michael Picklesimer, Justin Ridenour, Scott Teeters, James Wilson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Expert System Based Approach For Material Selection Of Automobile Body-In-White Structural Panels Using Numerical Ranking And Sustainability Indices, Ahmad Mayyas

All Dissertations

The goal of this work is to establish a set of quantifiable measures for design for sustainability (DFS) that can be applied to automotive applications in terms of environmental, social, economic and technical aspects. In this study, a comprehensive analysis was made in order to develop a methodology that can evaluate different body-in-white designs in terms of major sustainability aspects. Besides the complete life cycle analysis, environmental impacts and cost factors will be analyzed over vehicle's entire life-cycle (fuel extraction and refining, Pre-manufacturing, Manufacturing, Use, and
Post-use stages). The considered material options include: conventional steel, high strength steel, aluminum, magnesium, …

Legal Issues In Green Construction, Namrata Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The most recent "green construction movement", made a significant impact on the design and construction industry in the United States. Organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) have lobbied governmental entities to provide financial incentives to promote green construction. The green construction community also promotes the notion that a healthier working and living environment is achieved. Due to finical incentives coupled with projected long-term energy cost savings, many owners of new construction are considering green construction as an option. Accompanying the "green construction movement", new kinds of legal issues, particularly relating to green aspects such as certification, energy …

Rainwater Harvesting Storage Methods And Self Supply In Uganda, Jonathan Peter Blanchard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self supply is an emerging approach to water supply which focuses on fostering household investment in incremental improvements to their water sources. When successful, it can lower costs and increase sustainability by offering users a larger share

of ownership in their own supply, and harnessing the already existing strengths of a community rather than trying to impose an external perspective. In addition to well upgrading and source protection, one of the key self supply areas is rainwater harvesting.

Uganda has a diverse selection of rainwater storage options, but many of them are scattered and disparate.

The objective of this study …

Recycling Concrete For Sustainable Construction, Joseph M. Dardis

ETD Archive

The demolition of concrete structures has made concrete debris the largest portion of the waste stream in the U.S. With landfills becoming scarcer, the need to recycle demolition debris is becoming increasingly relevant. An effective way to recycle this material is to produce recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and use this material in the reconstruction of buildings and roads. Producing and re-using RCA will reduce landfill waste and save energy by minimizing the production and transport of natural aggregates. The focus of this thesis is to quantify how much energy can be saved by producing and re-using RCA instead of landfilling …

Geospatial Assessment Of Sustainable Built Infrastructure Assets And Flood Disaster Protection, Alper Durmus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research was initiated with a review and synthesis of infrastructure related to city and urban growth, built infrastructure to meet transportation needs and travel demand, and role of mass transit in reducing adverse impacts on the environment and greenhouse gas emissions. Floods are the most frequently occurring natural disaster in the world, which so far claimed millions of lives and resulted in billion-dollar economic costs. Built infrastructure assets in urban and rural areas are not spared from floods' aftermath. A major motivation for this thesis was the 2011 megaflood disaster of Thailand which devastated the green campus of Asian …

A Socio-Technical Analysis Of Widespread Electric Vehicle Adoption, Onanwa Nneka Egbue

Doctoral Dissertations

A combination of high fuel costs, concerns about petroleum availability, and environmental issues associated with conventional vehicles powered by fossil fuels are driving interests in electric vehicles (EVs). Large-scale deployment of EVs can play a significant role in addressing some of these problems. In spite of the benefits of EVs, several obstacles need to be overcome before EVs will be widely adopted. This research focuses on two socio-technical issues that affect widespread adoption and sustainability of EVs, consumer attitudes and perceptions, and supply chain risks of raw materials for EV battery technology. A major barrier is that consumers tend to …