Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of The Fertilization Properties Of Algal Biomass And Assessment Of Koh-Induced Flocculation Of Pw95 Algal Cells, Olakunle Ogunsakin

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Microalgae from the Coal Bed Methane (CBM) ponds of the Powder River Basin (PRB) in Southeastern Montana have the potential to be utilized as fertilizer for use on the economically important plants of Montana. Three very important economic field crops of Montana (winter wheat - Triticum aestivum, potato - Solanum tuberosum, and flax - Linum usitatissimum) were used for the fertilization experiments. Isolates of unicellular green algae - PW95 (sequenced as Neospongiococcum sp.) from the CBM ponds, and blue-green microalgae – Cyanobacteria (Anabaena Cylindrica) were cultured in the laboratory and the cells were concentrated using gravity sedimentation. Nutrient analysis of …

Inertization, Utilization, And Safe Disposal Of Incineration Residues, Anil Mehrotra

Civil & Environmental Engineering Projects for D. Eng. Degree

Combustion of coal or Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) caused air pollution and produces solid residues which contain high levels of toxic elements. The toxic characteristics of residues generated from combustion of MSW in waste-to-energy plants are strictly controlled by Federal and State Waste Management Regulations. According to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), residue generated from combustion of MSW is considered hazardous and must be tested according to EPA Toxic Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) Method 1311 and suitably treated for its safe disposal to landfills. Experiments with various treatment chemicals as primary independent variable had earlier been conducted by several …

Pore Resolved Simulations Of Char Particle Gasification, Greg Hingwah Fong

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Coal is a significant source of energy in today’s world and many studies have been conducted in order to better understand and optimize its use. To address greenhouse effects associated with coal combustion, cleaner methods for harnessing its energy are being explored. One such method is gasification, a process which converts coal into syngas, a mixture consisting primarily of H2 and CO. Syngas can be used to generate electricity or to produce hydrocarbons that can be used as fuels. To better understand and optimize the process, simulations can be used to study the gasification of individual porous char particles that …

An Improved Method Of Arsenic (Iii) Removal By Reverse Osmosis Membrane, Yizhi Hou

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Arsenic is a Group 1 carcinogen as there is abundant research to support that ingestion of arsenic in drinking water and food can lead to liver, lung, kidney, or bladder cancer in humans. The recommend World Health Organization (WHO) arsenic standard in drinking water is 10 µg/L, while the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of arsenic in drinking water is 10 µg/L. Globally, at least 40 million people face more than 10 µg/L arsenic contamination in their drinking water. As(III) (trivalent state, such as arsenite), and As(V) (pentavalent state, such as arsenates) are the dominant arsenic forms …

Benchmarking The Energy Intensity Of Small Nebraska Wastewater Treatment Plants, Steven M. Hanna

Department of Environmental Engineering: Theses and Other Student Research

To help small communities improve the energy efficiency of their wastewater treatment plants, this study created energy benchmarking models for small wastewater plants serving populations of 10,000 or less and having average flows less than 1.5 million gallons per day (MGD). The purpose of these models is to allow comparisons among plants of similar type and size, identify what factors most significantly impact energy usage, and predict potential savings from changes in key plant characteristics.

Energy usage and plant data from 83 small, mechanical wastewater plants in Nebraska were collected and used to create energy benchmarking models. Data obtained from …

A Comparative Study Of The Effects Of External Selection On Settleability And Formation Of Aerobic Granular Sludge, Tyler A. Brickles

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) has shown much promise in the advancement of the wastewater treatment industry. AGS has been studied intensely since the early 1990’s due to highly desirable characteristics of nutrient removal efficiency, low footprint, and abnormally faster settling rates than conventional activated sludge. With the exception of a few on-going research projects, all AGS systems have been studied and implemented through the use of sequencing batch reactors (SBR). Recently, a novel approach to developing AGS and improving settling characteristics of activated sludge within conventional activated sludge (CAS) processes has being attempted through the use of external selection.

Activated …

Investigation And Analysis Of The Fluctuating Brominated To Total Trihalomethane Ratio In The Virginia Beach Distribution System, Christopher Steven Mihalkovic

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An increasing trend in the brominated-trihalomethane to total-trihalomethane concentration ratio from 2001 to 2016 in the Virginia Beach water distribution system was established and investigated. This study aimed at identifying factors contributing to fluctuations in trihalomethane speciation in finished water. Reservoir management practices, treatment processes, and source water conditions were examined to quantitatively and qualitatively discern the impact of their variations on finished water THM speciation. Data on water quality constituents and parameters from the Moore’s Bridges Treatment Facility and within the Virginia Beach distribution system were examined to interpret spatial and temporal relationships with trihalomethane concentrations using established research …

Simulated Dynamics Of Soil Water And Pore Vapor In A Semi-Arid Sandy Ecosystem, Shohreh Pedram

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Understanding dynamics of soil water content (SWC) and pore air relative humidity (RHpa), as influenced by wetting-drying cycles, is crucial for sustaining fragile ecosystems of desert lands across the world and needed for improving the prediction accuracy of global climate change. However, to date, such an understanding is still incomplete. The objective of this dissertation was to examine such dynamics at a typical desert site within the Horqin Sandy Land, located in Mongolian Plateau of north China. The examination was done by using a HYDRUS-1D computer simulation model and the continuous sensor-based soil water data for two calendar years. HYDRUS-1D …

Streambank Erosion Mapping On The Nottoway River Using Gps-Based Above-Water Video, Emine Fidan

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This project concerns the development of streambank erosion maps on military installations utilizing GPS-based above-water video mapping and image georeferencing techniques. The river mapped was the Nottoway River at the Fort Pickett military installation on October 10-11, 2015. Kayak-mounted above-water cameras were utilized to capture georeferenced images of streambank erosion. These GIS-based erosion classifications were utilized to develop erosion maps for determining streambank erosion conditions along the river. Areas of high erosion were identified as about two percent of the river (2167 ft. of streambank length). These maps allow for the opportunity to revisit the sites to determine changes in …

Carbon And Nutrient Balances In Microalgal Bioenergy System, Eunyoung Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated life cycle environmental impacts and benefits of an integrated microalgae system with wastewater treatment system using an integrated process modeling approach combined with experimentation. The overall goal of this research is to understand energy, carbon and nutrient balances in the integrated system and to evaluate the environmental impacts and benefits of the integrated system from a carbon, nutrient, and energy perspective. In this study, four major research tasks were designed to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the environmental and economic sustainability of the integrated system, which included development of an integrated co-limitation kinetic model for microalgae …

Everglades Drainage District: Biennial Report 1927-1928 To The Board Of Commissioners Of Everglades Drainage District, F C. Elliot

City and Regional Planning -- Florida

Everglades Drainage District report 1927-1928

Comprehensive Silica Removal With Ferric Compounds For Industrial Wastewater Reuse, Ehren D. Baca

Civil Engineering ETDs

Cooling towers, integrated circuit (IC) manufacture and reverse osmosis (RO) generate copious amounts of wastewater high in colloidal and reactive silica inhibiting on-site or synergistic reuse. Silica present in cooling water can reach solubility limits via evaporation and form impervious scale on heat transfer surfaces that decreases efficiency. When water is treated by RO operating at high rejection, silica forms difficult-to-remove scale on the membrane feed side in the form of glassy patches and communities of aggregate particles, inhibiting aspirations for zero liquid discharge. Current methods for silica scale mitigation include abundant dosing with chemical antiscalents or complex operating schemes. …

Reducing Costs While Maintaining Learning Outcomes Using Blended, Flipped, And Mastery Pedagogy To Teach Introduction To Environmental Engineering, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

As part of a cost-savings initiative, an existing course of 'introduction to environmental engineering' offered using a 'traditional' format of didactic class meetings supplemented with hands-on laboratory sessions, was changed significantly. The 'modified' format uses 'blended', 'flipped', and 'mastery' approaches to teach "2601: Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering" to approximately 60 sophomores pursuing baccalaureate degrees in environmental, civil, or architectural engineering, each semester. This paper presents a summary of the results from eight course offerings over a period of four years to more than 450 total students. Assessments included student grades; open-ended invitations for anonymous feedback at the end of each …

Impact Of Macropores And Gravel Outcrops On Phosphorus Leaching At The Plot Scale In Silt Loam Soils, Derek M. Heeren, Garey A. Fox, Chad Penn, Todd Halihan, Daniel E. Storm, Brian Haggard

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

In response to increased nutrient loads in surface waters, scientists and engineers need to identify critical nutrient source areas and transport mechanisms within a catchment to protect beneficial uses of aquatic systems in a cost-effective manner. It was hypothesized that hydrologic heterogeneities (e.g., macropores and gravel outcrops) in the vadose zone play an integral role in affecting flow and solute transport between the soil surface and shallow alluvial aquifers. The objective of this research was to characterize phosphorus (P) leaching through silt loam soils to alluvial gravel aquifers in the floodplains of the Ozark ecoregion at the plot scale. Solute …

Diplomacy Lab Provides Term-Length Group Projects Integrating Policy Analysis And Liberal Arts Into The Traditional Engineering Classroom, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Science in diplomacy, the use of trained scientist to inform and support foreign policy objectives, has been a part of U.S. foreign policy since the time of Benjamin Franklin. The Diplomacy Laboratory project, a public-private partnership, allows the Department of State to 'course source' projects to seek input from universities and to recruit talented students to consider careers in diplomacy. This paper provides a summary of a case study using a DipLab project as part of a term-length, writing assignment in courses for undergraduate and graduate environmental engineering students. An overview of DipLab and suggested best practices to integrate DipLab …

Using Nursing Theory To Improve The Teaching Of Engineering Practice, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Engineering education includes both classroom training in sciences and professional skills as well as learning-through-doing to integrate practice and engineering design into the future licensed Professional Engineer (PE). In a similar manner, nursing education includes both classroom training in sciences and professional skills as well as learning through doing to integrate practice and caring into the future licensed Registered Nurse (RN). From the mid-19th century until modern day, the fields of environmental engineering and community health nursing have worked side-by-side to prevent disease while promoting health and wellness. This paper provides a synthesis of previously published case studies by the …

Building Information Modelling In Ireland 2017, Barry Mcauley, Alan Hore, Roger West

Reports

BIM is perhaps the most topical issue in construction throughout the world at present, as it is associated with solving so many of the present concerns in our industry.

Our lack of housing, shortage of skilled workers, poor document management, overrunning project budgets and sustainability challenges are just a few of the challenges that BIM promises to assist in solving.

The increasing importance of “digitisation” to modern construction and engineering businesses is becoming more apparent as more and more clients are explicitly asking for BIM in the design and delivery of new facilities and infrastructure.

This report provides a snapshot …

Influence Of Activated Carbon Surface Oxygen Functionality On Elemental Mercury Adsorption From Aqueous Solution, Emily K. Faulconer, David W. Mazyck

Publications

Mercury (Hg), though naturally occurring, is a toxic element. Exposure to various forms of mercury can be harmful for humans and ecosystems. Mercury-contaminated wastewater can be treated using activated carbon to adsorb the mercury, allowing for safe discharge. Wet chemical oxidation of activated carbon was performed to enhanced surface oxygen functionality, with the objective of enhancing aqueous ionic (Hg(II)) and elemental (Hg(0)) mercury adsorption. Characterization of the modified carbons included nitrogen adsorption-desorption, elemental analysis, point of zero charge, and total acidity titration. The concentration and identity of the modifying reagent influenced the characteristics of the carbons, including the surface oxygen …

Geometry-Based Mass Grading Of Mango Fruits Using Image Processing, M. A. Momin, Md Towfiqur Rahman, M. S. Sultana, C. Igathinathane, A. T. M. Ziauddin, T. E. Grift

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Mango (Mangifera indica) is an important, and popular fruit in Bangladesh. However, the post-harvest processing of it is still mostly performed manually, a situation far from satisfactory, in terms of accuracy and throughput. To automate the grading of mangos (geometry and shape), we developed an image acquisition and processing system to extract projected area, perimeter, and roundness features. In this system, images were acquired using a XGA format color camera of 8-bit gray levels using fluorescent lighting. An image processing algorithm based on region based global thresholding color binarization, combined with median filter and morphological analysis was developed …

Regulatory Barriers To Approval Of New Technologies For Small Drinking Water Systems, Deanna T. Ringenberg

Department of Environmental Engineering: Theses and Other Student Research

Small drinking water systems face different challenges than large drinking water systems. Innovative technologies can provide cost and reliability benefits to small systems, but new technologies are not frequently considered. One important barrier to the implementation of new technologies is obtaining state drinking water agency approval.

To identify specific state regulatory barriers, a survey including sixteen questions was sent to the 49 state agencies. The survey included questions regarding their acceptance programs, experiences with new technologies, barriers, data needs for technology approval, and interest in a shared approach for acceptance of new technologies. The survey was sent in 2015 and …