Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Modeling Canopy Effect In The Great Lakes Cladophora Model, Ankita Bakshi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Cladophora glomerata is a filamentous green alga native to the Great Lakes. However, its nuisance growth in phosphorus rich waters negatively affects the lakes’ aesthetic and water quality. The Great Lakes Cladophora Model (GLCM) v1, developed in 1982, was the first mechanistic model to simulate Cladophora growth basing phosphorus availability and environmental conditions followed by Cladophora Growth Model and GLCM v2. In this study, the light and temperature mediation factors for Cladophora net growth are revised as a necessary step prior to the development of a self-shading algorithm. The concept of a fixed-value, maximum achievable biomass (carrying capacity) employed in …

Three-Dimensional Modeling Of Nitrate-N Transport In Vadose Zone: Roles Of Soil Heterogeneity And Groundwater Flux, Simin Akbariyeh, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Daniel D. Snow, Xu Li, Zhenghong Tang, Yusong Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Contamination of groundwater from nitrogen fertilizers in agricultural lands is an important environmental and water quality management issue. It is well recognized that in agriculturally intensive areas, fertilizers and pesticides may leach through the vadose zone and eventually reach groundwater. While numerical models are commonly used to simulate fate and transport of agricultural contaminants, few models have considered a controlled field work to investigate the influence of soil heterogeneity and groundwater flow on nitrate-N distribution in both root zone and deep vadose zone.

In this work, a numerical model was developed to simulate nitrate-N transport and transformation beneath a center …

Wildfire Emissions In The Context Of Global Change And The Implications For Mercury Pollution, Aditya Kumar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Wildfires are episodic disturbances that exert a significant influence on the Earth system. They emit substantial amounts of atmospheric pollutants, which can impact atmospheric chemistry/composition and the Earth’s climate at the global and regional scales. This work presents a collection of studies aimed at better estimating wildfire emissions of atmospheric pollutants, quantifying their impacts on remote ecosystems and determining the implications of 2000s-2050s global environmental change (land use/land cover, climate) for wildfire emissions following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B socioeconomic scenario.

A global fire emissions model is developed to compile global wildfire emission inventories for major atmospheric …

เชื้อเพลิงขยะอัดแท่งเตรียมจากขยะทั่วไปโดยใช้โพลิไวนิลแอลกอฮอล์ ดินสอพอง และใบจามจุรีที่ผ่านการหมักแล้วเป็นตัวประสาน, ชนมน วิริยะจารุ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การเปลี่ยนขยะให้เป็นพลังงานถือเป็นทางเลือกหนึ่งในการช่วยแก้ปัญหาขยะมูลฝอยชุมชน รวมทั้งช่วยลดปริมาณการใช้เชื้อเพลิงฟอสซิสในกระบวนการเผาไหม้ของโรงงานอุตสาหกรรม งานวิจัยนี้ศึกษาสภาวะที่เหมาะสมและประเภทของตัวประสานที่เหมาะสมในขั้นตอนการผลิตเชื้อเพลิงขยะอัดแท่ง ให้เชื้อเพลิงขยะอัดแท่งมีสมบัติทางกายภาพและเคมีเหมาะสมสำหรับใช้เป็นเชื้อเพลิงร่วมในกระบวนการเผาไหม้ของโรงงานปูนซีเมนต์ โดยใช้ขยะทั่วไปส่วนที่รีไซเคิลไม่ได้เก็บรวบรวมภายในจุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัยเป็นส่วนประกอบหลักของเชื้อเพลิงขยะอัดแท่ง สำหรับตัวประสานที่ใช้ในงานวิจัยนี้คือ โพลิไวนิลแอลกอฮอล์ ดินสอพองและใบจามจุรีที่ผ่านการหมักแล้ว และทำการทดสอบการเผาไหม้โดยใช้เตาแก๊สซิไฟเออร์แบบไหลลง จากการวิจัยพบว่าที่สัดส่วนพลาสติก กระดาษ และกากกาแฟ 5:1:3 ตามลำดับ มีค่าความร้อนสูงที่สุดคือ 32.9 เมกะจูลต่อกิโลกรัม สภาวะที่เหมาะสมในการอัดแท่งเชื้อเพลิงคือแรงดันไม่ควรต่ำกว่า 100 บาร์ อุณหภูมิควรอยู่ในช่วง 250-300 องศาเซลเซียสและเวลาจะขึ้นอยู่กับอุณหภูมิที่ใช้ การใช้โพลิไวนิลแอลกอฮอล์เป็นตัวประสานที่ปริมาณ 0.2 มีสมบัติทางกายภาพและเคมีเหมาะสมที่สุดคือมีค่าความร้อน 33.3 เมกะจูลต่อกิโลกรัม ความหนาแน่น 869.5 กิโลกรัมต่อลูกบาศก์เมตร ค่ากำลังต้านทานแรงอัด 3.8 เมกะปาสคาล ก๊าซที่เกิดขึ้นมีค่าความร้อนก๊าซเฉลี่ย 3.04 เมกะจูลต่อลูกบาศก์มาตรฐาน และสมบัติทางกายภาพและเคมีผ่านเกณฑ์กำหนด ทนต่อการเผาไหม้ ให้อุณหภูมิในระหว่างการเผาไหม้สูง ติดไฟได้ง่าย เหมาะสำหรับใช้เป็นเชื้อเพลิงร่วมในกระบวนการเผาไหม้ของโรงงานปูนซีเมนต์

Tio2 Nanoparticles Coated Forward Osmosis Membranes For Treatment Of Industrial Textile Effluent, Kaung Ko Ko Sint

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Textile wastewater occur as demanding water bodies to be treated by membrane separation due to the complex composition and presence of reactive constituents such as heavy metals and salts as well as nutrients, e.g. nitrogen, sulphate and phosphate. Numerous combination of osmosis process with photocatalysts has been experimentally conceived for the water and wastewater treatment and reuse of textile wastewater. The present work was devoted to study the operating feasibility using photocatalyst as TiO2 nano-particles were coated onto two commercially available FO membranes, a cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane and an aquaporin (AqP) membrane through a specially designed 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate–polymethyl …

Numerical Modeling Of Capillary-Driven Flow In Open Microchannels: An Implication Of Optimized Wicking Fabric Design, Mehrad Gholizadeh Ansari

Masters Theses

"The use of microfluidics to transfer fluids without applying any exterior energy source is a promising technology in different fields of science and engineering due to their compactness, simplicity and cost-effective design. In geotechnical engineering, to increase the soil's strength, hydrophilic wicking fibers as type of microfluidics have been employed to transport and drain water out of soil spontaneously by taking advantage of natural capillary force without using any pumps or other auxiliary devices. The objective of this study is to understand the scientific mechanisms of the capability for wicking fiber to drain both gravity and capillary water out of …

Optimizing Nature-Based Features For Wave Dissipation And Land-Water Connectivity, Maura Boswell, Navid Tahvildari

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Living shorelines integrate structural and natural features to stabilize the shoreline, through reduction of erosion from the wave climate, while keeping the connectivity between land and aquatic ecosystems. This study includes field study for two different types of living shoreline systems to quantify and compare their wave dissipation services and provide physics-based guidance for the design of living shoreline systems that are efficient in wave dissipation yet maximize land-water connectivity.

Evaluation Of Brackish Water Desalination By Membrane Capacitive Deionization Systems: Performance Tradeoffs In Salt Removal, Hydraulic Recovery, Charge Efficiency, And Specific Energy Consumption, Oluwaseye Michael Owoseni

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As potable water demand continues to exceed availability in several regions of the world, alternative water sources such as desalination and direct potable reuse have become of high importance in water sustainability discussions. The conventional desalination technologies include reverse osmosis (RO) and thermal distillation. Major barriers to the applicability of these technologies for desalination include inorganic scaling (RO) and high energy requirements respectively. This research provides an evaluation for the feasibility of Membrane Capacitive Deionization (MCDI), which is a technology gaining interest due to its theoretically low energy requirements for brackish water (less than 3 g/L) desalination. The motivation for …

Evaluation, Improvement, And Application Of Models Of Environmental Fate And Transport Of Atmosphere-Surface Exchangeable Pollutants (Aseps), Tanvir Khan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Certain toxic, semivolatile chemicals, also known as atmosphere-surface exchangeable pollutants (ASEPs) are emitted into the environment from anthropogenic activities and natural sources. This dissertation focused on the (i) evaluation and improvement of dry particle deposition and atmosphere-surface exchange parameterizations of ASEPs for use in chemical transport models (CTMs), and (ii) application of a dynamic multimedia model to examine recovery of Lake Superior from historical inputs of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds (a class of ASEPs) contamination.

Current knowledge has been inadequate to propose quantitative measures of the relative performance of available dry particle deposition parameterizations. In Chapter 1 of this dissertation, …

Molecular Biogeochemistry Of A Poor Fen, Zhimin Song

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Variations in climate may rapidly change the carbon balance of peatlands and increase greenhouse gas emissions through accelerated decomposition of peat and dissolved organic matter (DOM). In this study, porewater samples were collected monthly from May to October in 2017 to study the effects of plant functional groups (PFGs) on DOM, dissolved inorganic and organic nitrogen through the season in a poor fen with replicate plots dominated by different PFGs in Nestoria, Michigan, USA (46.34˚N 88.16˚W). The composition of the peat porewater showed strong statistical significance with plot type and season.The observed PFG and season impact on the composition of …

2017 Fall Engr333 Project Final Report (Section A), Trevor Nyeholt, Francis Kapesa, Justin Thalmayer, Erik Karlson, Kyle Van Veen, Kirk Brink, Steven Tarske, Brent Homan, Nathan De Haan, Paul Bootsma, Megan Anders, Philip Holmes, Melanie Fox, Noah Pirrotta, Abigail Berkompas, Ben Wellman, Halley Press, Christopher Greaves, Josh Templeman, Tim Bosch, Jake Zandstra, Hendrik Vermeulen

ENGR 333

Calvin College currently spends $836,000 annually on natural gas consumption. The engineering 333-A class was tasked with the question, "What would it take for Calvin College to save $75,000 per year on natural gas costs". The class was split into five groups (Boilers, Dorms and Dining Hall, Academic Buildings, Finance, and PE Complex) to research possible areas of savings. Through the class' research, it was determined that Calvin College has the potential savings of $87,000 a year through the reduction of natural gas usage.

2017 Fall Engr333 Project Final Report (Section B), Eric Ball, Mitchell Debruin, Raymond Kolocek, Edwin Kpodzro, Jacob Vandekieft, Nate Anderson, Brennan Steenhoek, Darbi Meyer, Derek Vermerris, Jessica Bouma, Devon Loerop, Reuben Saarloos, Richmond Amoh, Matthew Boelens, Tyson Butler, Laura Van Winkle, Alex Keizer, Kwame Ohemeng, Cameron Richman, Julie Van De Riet

ENGR 333

Currently, Calvin College spends $2.8M on electricity and natural gas. In the recent past Calvin has alleviated some of these costs by running a cogeneration system that combusts fuel and produces electricity and heat, this old system has since been removed due to age. With the old system removed Calvin is fully reliant on grid, leading to increased electricity cost. In addition to saving Calvin money, President Leroy formally signed the President’s Carbon Commitment that announced Calvin’s intent to be Carbon neutral by 2057. To meet both the cost and emissions saving needs, the objective of the energy savings project …

Moving Bed Biofilm Reactors: Evaluation Of Geometry, Attachment Surface Material And Biofilm Populations On The Uptake Of Ammonia And Synthetic Organic Contaminants In Wastewater., Patrick D. Mclee

Civil Engineering ETDs

Plastic biofilm carriers are used in biological wastewater treatment to encourage the attachment and retention of microorganisms that metabolize pollutants. The following research was conducted to better understand how different characteristics of the biofilm carrier affect the treatment performance of the attached biofilms in moving bed bioreactors. Lab scale reactors were used in this study to grow nitrifying biofilms in reactors with contrasting and controlled conditions. The effect of surface geometry on nitrification performance was evaluated by testing commercially available moving bed bioreactor media that contrast in physical design, and by varying operational parameters. Additionally, mature biofilm from a similar …

Multi-Scale Studies To Develop A Holistic Understanding Of Solid Fuel Combustion At Residential Scale, Sameer Patel

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Nearly 3 billion people rely on solid fuels for their cooking and heating needs, classifying them as “energy poor”. This poverty can be attributed to several factors, including a lack of resources (fuel), inefficient infrastructure (production and distribution), limited purchasing power (poverty), and ill-devised policies. Solid fuels, such as biomass, coal, and dung cakes, are burned in inefficient cookstoves. They generate products of incomplete combustion (PIC), such as CO, particulate matter (PM), and CH4, causing household air pollution (HAP) whose adverse impacts on both health and the environment have been well established.

HAP causes diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary …

Coupling Of Oxidation-Reduction Reactions Of Chromium, Iron And Manganese: Implications For The Fate And Mobility Of Chromium In Aquatic Environments, Chao Pan

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Both within the United States and internationally, hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a contaminant of concern in drinking water supplies. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering a Cr(VI)-specific standard. Thus improved technologies for Cr(VI) removal in drinking water are needed. Iron electrocoagulation for Cr(VI) removal was examined at conditions directly relevant to drinking water treatment, and humic acid (HA) affects the performance of electrocoagulation in multiple ways. The success of the chromium treatment or remediation also relies on the stability of the Cr(III)-containing solids with respect to reoxidation under groundwater conditions. Manganese is ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments, and …

2017 Fall Engr333 Seminar Preservation, Trevor Nyeholt, Erik Karlson, Cam Richman, Tyson Butler

ENGR 333

File for student presentation, given by students in the Fall 2017 class of ENGR333.

2017 Fall Engr333 Poster (Section B), Eric Ball, Mitchell Debruin, Raymond Kolocek, Edwin Kpodzro, Jacob Vandekieft, Nate Anderson, Brennan Steenhoek, Darbi Meyer, Derek Vermerris, Jessica Bouma, Devon Loerop, Reuben Saarloos, Richard Amoh, Matthew Boelens, Tyson Butler, Laura Van Winkle, Alex Keizer, Kwame Ohemeng, Cameron Richman, Julie Van De Riet

ENGR 333

Previously, Calvin College had a cogeneration system with the purpose of generating electricity and heat, through the combustion of natural gas, for Calvin’s campus. The original co-gen system was removed in 2017 due to high costs associated with maintenance and operations. Without a co-gen system, Calvin College is fully dependent on the grid. To save money and help in the President’s Carbon Commitment, PCC, the mechanical engineering students of ENGR 333 (section B) propose the implementation of a new co-gen system.

2017 Fall Engr333 Poster (Section A), Trevor Nyeholt, Francis Kapesa, Justin Thalmayer, Erik Karlson, Kyle Van Veen, Kirk Brink, Steven Tarske, Brent Homan, Nathan De Haan, Paul Bootsma, Megan Anders, Philip Holmes, Melanie Fox, Noah Pirrotta, Abigail Berkompas, Ben Wellman, Halley Press, Christopher Greaves, Josh Templeman, Tim Bosch, Jake Zandstra, Hendrik Vermeulen

ENGR 333

Calvin College uses 161,000 MMBTU of natural gas per year, which correlates to $836,000 of annual expenses. However Calvin could save as much as $240,000 on natural gas if they were as efficient as the top performer in an energy audit of similar colleges and universities in the Midwest, conducted by Sightlines Institute. The goal of this project was to see what actions could be taken to save the college $75,000 in annual natural gas costs.

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2017, 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 …

Increase In The Reduction Potential Of Uranyl Upon Interaction With Graphene Oxide Surfaces, V. N. Bliznyuk, N. Conroy, Y. Xie, R. Podila, A. Rao, Brian A. Powell

Publications

Coordination of uranyl (U(VI)) with carboxylate groups on functionalized graphene oxide (GO) surfaces has been shown to alter the reduction potential of the sorbed uranium ion. A quantitative measure of the reduction potential and qualitative estimation of sorption/desorption processes were conducted using cyclic voltammetry, and the proposed coordination environment was determined using the surface sensitive attenuated total reflection mode of infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). GO is a nanostructured material possessing a large amount of oxygen-containing functional groups both on basal planes and at the edges, which can form strong surface complexes with radionuclides. The presence of these functional groups on the …