Civil Engineering Commons^™

Performance Evaluation And Integrated Management Of Airport Surface Operations, Qing Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The demand for aviation has been steadily growing over the past few decades and will keep increasing in the future. The anticipated growth of traffic demand will cause the current airspace system, one that is already burdened by heavy operations and inefficient usage, to become even more congested than its current state. Because busy airports in the United States (U.S.) are becoming "bottlenecks" of the National Airspace System (NAS), it is of great importance to discover the most efficient means of using existing facilities to improve airport operations.

This dissertation aims at designing an efficient airport surface operations management system …

Operation Optimization And Water Quality Simulation Of Potable Water Distribution System, Xiongfei Xie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A potable water distribution system (WDS) consists of pipes, pumps, valves, storage tanks, control and supporting components. Traditionally, it has two basic functions. First, provides end users with potable water at sufficient pressures and good water quality. Second, provides sufficient pressure and flow for fire fighting. Currently, potable water is still the least expensive material for fire fighting. To accomplish these two goals, water utilities have to consider the integrity and security of the water network. As a result, this research selected three research topics that are closely related to the daily operation of water utilities and water quality simulation. …

Improving Functionality And Sustainability Of Commercial Insulation: Experimental Study, Heat Transfer Modeling, Environmental Assessment, Celine Manoosingh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

he Department of Energy names executing and integrating high-performance sustainable design and green building best practices a Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan goal under the Executive Order 13514 (U.S DOE, 2009). As sustainability becomes a primary

goal for engineers, a decision making framework is needed to guide their choice of materials and processes; and then to carry out the evaluation of their chosen design. Sustainable design process, and the products developed through its application, work concurrently with functionality and sustainability evaluation methodologies to cultivate a continuous loop of design, implementation, assessment and improvement. In this context, an alternative insulation prototype exploring …

Forecasting Corrosion Of Steel In Concrete Introducing Chloride Threshold Dependence On Steel Potential, Andrea Nathalie Sanchez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Corrosion initiates in reinforced concrete structures exposed to marine environments when the chloride ion concentration at the surface of an embedded steel reinforcing bar exceeds the chloride corrosion threshold (CT) value. The value of CT is generally assumed to have a conservative fixed value ranging from 0.2% to - 0.5 % of chloride ions by weight of cement. However, extensive experimental investigations confirmed that CT is not a fixed value and that the value of CT depends on many variables. Among those, the potential of passive steel embedded in concrete is a key influential factor on the value of CT …

Comparison Of Different Approaches To Estimating Budgets For Kuhn-Tucker Demand Systems: Applications For Individuals' Time-Use Analysis And Households' Vehicle Ownership And Utilization Analysis, Bertho Augustin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis compares different approaches to estimating budgets for Kuhn-Tucker (KT) demand systems, more specifically for the multiple discrete-continuous extreme value (MDCEV) model. The approaches tested include: (1) The log-linear regression approach (2) The stochastic frontier regression approach, and (3) arbitrarily assumed budgets that are not necessarily modeled as a function of decision maker characteristics and choice-environment characteristics.

The log-linear regression approach has been used in the literature to model the observed total expenditure as way of estimating budgets for the MDCEV models. This approach allows the total expenditure to depend on the characteristics of the choice-maker and the choice …

Deriving Statewide Freight Truck Flows From Global Positioning System (Gps) Data, Akbar Bakhshi Zanjani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An accelerated growth in the volume of freight shipped on Florida's highways has led to a significant increase in truck traffic, influencing traffic operations, safety, and the state of repair of highway infrastructure. Traffic congestion in turn has impeded the speed and reliability of freight movement on the highway system. Appropriate planning and decision making processes are necessary to address these issues. However, a main challenge in establishing such processes is the lack of adequate data on statewide freight movements. As traditional data sources on freight movement are either inadequate or no longer available, new sources of data must be …

Evaluation And Modeling Of Internal Water Storage Zone Performance In Denitrifying Bioretention Systems, Thomas Joseph Lynn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nitrate (NO3) loadings from stormwater runoff promote eutrophication in surface waters. Low Impact Development (LID) is a type of best management practice aimed at restoring the hydrologic function of watersheds and removing contaminants before they are discharged into ground and surface waters. Also known as rain gardens, a bioretention system is a LID technology that is capable of increasing infliltration, reducing runoff rates and removing pollutants. They can be planted with visually appealing vegetation, which plays a role in nutrient uptake. A modified bioretention system incorporates a submerged internal water storage zone (IWSZ) that includes an electron donor to support …

A Multi-Period Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model For Desalination And Electricity Co-Generation In Kuwait, Nael Abdulhameed Alqattan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water is the root of life and the engine that drives agriculture, industry, economy and services. The demand for water often necessitates desalination, particularly in arid coastal environments where there are several desalination technologies in use today such as Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO). The key utility requirement for technologies such as desalination and population in general include energy in one form or another. Therefore, desalination and co-generation are often integrated. Another key utility is electricity which is generated from either renewable or non-renewable sources. The demands for water and electricity change over time and are subject to …

Low-Cost Household Groundwater Supply Systems For Developing Communities, Michael Maccarthy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Self-supply is widely reported across various contexts, filling gaps left by other forms of water supply provision. This research assesses low-cost household groundwater supply technologies in markets in developing country contexts of sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, with a focus on the potential for improving Self-supply technology implementation and markets in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, a mature and unsubsidized Self-supply market for Pitcher Pump systems (suction pumps fitted onto hand-driven boreholes) is studied in an urban context in Madagascar, EMAS low-cost water supply technologies are assessed in Bolivia, and a technical comparison is completed with manual EMAS Pumps and family …

Diffuse Nutrient Pollution From Residential Catchments, Melissa Rachelle Butcher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nonpoint source nutrient pollution is diffuse pollution lacking discrete origin and conveyance. This thesis synthesizes and critically reviews research on residential nitrogen and phosphorus loss to stormwater runoff and leaching. The evaluation pulls from research covering influential socio-demographic indicators, such as use of lawn maintenance services and homeowner fertilizer practices. The extent to which such social and economic factors may influence the prevalence and fate of diffuse nutrients in stormwater runoff from residential areas has not been adequately established. Understanding the source and influencing factors of diffuse nutrient pollution is important in order to effectively protect surface and groundwater resources. …

An Assessment Of The Emas Pump And Its Potential For Use In Household Water Systems In Uganda, Jacob Daniel Carpenter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rural improved water supply coverage in Uganda has stagnated around 64% for a number of years and at this point more than 10 million rural people do not have access to an improved drinking water source. It has been recognized that progress toward improved water supply coverage and increased service levels may be gained through Government and nongovernmental organization (NGO) support of private investment in household and shared water supplies, commonly known as Self-supply. Self-supply can be promoted by introducing and building local capacity in appropriate and affordable water supply technologies such as hand-dug wells, manually drilled boreholes, low-cost pumps, …

Numerical Simulation Of Flow In Ozonation Process, Jie Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the last two decades, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has shown great potential as a powerful and cost-efficient tool to troubleshoot existing disinfection contactors and improve future designs for the water and wastewater treatment utilities.

In the first part of this dissertation two CFD simulation methodologies or strategies for computing turbulent flow are evaluated in terms of the predicted hydraulic performance of contactors. In the LES (large eddy simulation) methodology, the more energetic, larger scales of the turbulence are explicitly computed or resolved by the grid. In the less computationally intensive RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes) methodology, only the mean component of …

Evaluation Of Hand Augered Well Technologies' Capacity To Improve Access To Water In Coastal Ng[Oumlaut]Be Communities In Panama, Sarah Hayman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Amid the global efforts surrounding United Nations' Millennium Development Goal Target 7c to improve access to safe and sustainable drinking water among populations who lack this resource, it has become essential to monitor and evaluate progress. Development initiatives working to achieve improved drinking water access often introduce appropriate technologies designed to be sustainably owned and operated by populations in rural areas suffering from water related hardships. It is valuable to thoroughly examine the degree to which these technologies satisfy intended objectives and affect user experienced water access. The accurate reflection of impact and progress can be complex, as the evaluation …