Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Mixing Layer Dynamics In Separated Flow Over An Estuarine Sill With Variable Stratification, Stefan A. Talke, Alexander R. Horner-Devine, C. Chris Chickadel

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate the generation of a mixing layer in the separated flow behind an estuarine sill (height H ∼ 4 m) in the Snohomish River, Washington as part of a larger investigation of coherent structures using remote and in situ sensing. During increasing ebb flows the depth d and stratification decrease and a region of sheared flow characterized by elevated production of turbulent kinetic energy develops. Profiles of velocity and acoustic backscatter exhibit coherent fluctuations of order 0.1 Hz and are used to define the boundaries of the mixing layer. Variations in the mixing layer width and its embedded coherent …

The Effect Of Tidal Asymmetry And Temporal Settling Lag On Sediment Trapping In Tidal Estuaries, Alexander S. Chernetsky, Henk M. Schuttelaars, Stefan A. Talke

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over decades and centuries, the mean depth of estuaries changes due to sea-level rise, land subsidence, infilling, and dredging projects. These processes produce changes in relative roughness (friction) and mixing, resulting in fundamental changes in the characteristics of the horizontal (velocity) and vertical tides (sea surface elevation) and the dynamics of sediment trapping. To investigate such changes, a 2DV model is developed. The model equations consist of the width-averaged shallow water equations and a sediment balance equation. Together with the condition of morphodynamic equilibrium, these equations are solved analytically by making a regular expansion of the various physical variables in …

An Analysis Of The Travel Patterns And Preferences Of The Elderly, Sujan Sikder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The number of elderly is increasing; to meet their transportation needs, it is important to clearly understand their travel patterns and preferences. Since travel patterns and preferences depend on socio-demographic and other factors, it is essential to identify these factors first to understand the travel behavior of the elderly. The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze the travel patterns and preferences of the elderly age 65 and above using 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) data. This thesis presents a detailed descriptive analysis of 2009 NHTS data to understand the travel patterns of the elderly. Along with a …

Enhancement Of Predictive Capability Of Transit Boardings Estimation And Simulation Tool (Tbest) Using Parcel Data: An Exploratory Analysis, Tejsingh Rana

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

TBEST is a comprehensive third generation transit demand forecasting model, developed by the FDOT Public Transit Office (PTO) to help transit agencies in completing their Transit Development Plans (TDPs). The on-going project funded by FDOT, related to TBEST, aims at further enhancing the capabilities of the TBEST model based on additional opportunities identified by the research team. The project focuses on enhancing TBEST’s capabilities in following areas: 1) Improving the precision of socio- demographic data by using property appraisal data (parcel data) and, 2) Improving the quality of data regarding trip attraction. Based on the improvement areas, this study aims …

A Roof Runoff Strategy And Model For Augmenting Public Water Supply, Robert Carnahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water is the essential resource that is becoming extremely scarce worldwide. The 21st century will further stress all available water resources through the growth and expansion of developing nations. It is not only the quantity of cheap water that is being depleted, but the quality of these waters is being endangered. Florida is an example where rapid development and an exploding population are competing for shrinking groundwater resources. Current water use does not address the use of alternative supplies and reuses in the United States.

The objective of this research was to determine a strategy for augmenting existing water supplies …

Construction Cost Models, Barry Dikeman

Economics and Finance

The following are a series of cost estimate models similar in format to a typical engineer’s estimate that were developed in support of our financial impact assessment report for LD 1725. The models us current material costs, labor costs, and equipment costs for the region to provide a comparative cost analysis of seven culvert replacement scenarios. The models provide information about what the cost impact of LD 1725 would be for typical culvert replacements in Maine. However, due to the inherent restrictions of the cost modeling framework we were not able to include the abundance of variables that would be …

Development Of Streamflow 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 forecasts determined by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC). While these forecasts by the CBRFC are useful, water managers within the basin are interested in long-term projections of streamflow, particularly under changing climate conditions. In this study, a bias-corrected, statistically downscaled dataset of projected climate is used to force a …

Anaerobic Bio-Oxidation Of Vinyl Chloride And Ethene, Anthony Reid

All Theses

Tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene are among the most prevalent groundwater contaminants found at hazardous waste sites throughout the United States. Since implementing some of the common treatment methods to remediate these hazardous waste sites would exceed hundreds of billions of dollars, there is considerable interest in reducing costs while achieving remediation regulations. Under anaerobic conditions, these compounds can undergo reduction reactions known as reductive dechlorination. This occurs when an electron donor provides the reducing equivalents needed to replace the chlorine atoms with hydrogen atoms. The daughter products from higher chlorinated ethenes are ethene and ethane which can be used to document …

Investigation Of Potential Pathways And Multi-Cycle Bioregeneration Of Ion-Exchange Resin Laden With Perchlorate, Mohamadali Sharbatmaleki

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ion-exchange (IX) is possibly the most feasible technology for perchlorate removal and perchlorate-selective and non-selective IX resins are commercially available for this purpose. The use of both resins has shortcomings. Selective resins are incinerated after one time use, and non-selective resins produce a regenerant waste stream that contains high concentration of perchlorate. A process involving directly contacting of spent IX resin containing perchlorate with perchlorate-reducing bacteria (PRB) to bioregenerate the resin has been developed and proven recently. In this process PRB biodegrade perchlorate ions which are attached to the functional groups of the resin.

Although its feasibility has been proven, …

Analytical Solutions For Efficient Interpretation Of Single-Well Push-Pull Tracer Tests, Junqi Huang, John A. Christ, Mark N. Goltz

Faculty Publications

Single-well push-pull tracer tests have been used to characterize the extent, fate, and transport of subsurface contamination. Analytical solutions provide one alternative for interpreting test results. In this work, an exact analytical solution to two-dimensional equations describing the governing processes acting on a dissolved compound during a modified push-pull test (advection, longitudinal and transverse dispersion, first-order decay, and rate-limited sorption/partitioning in steady, divergent, and convergent flow fields) is developed. The coupling of this solution with inverse modeling to estimate aquifer parameters provides an efficient methodology for subsurface characterization. Synthetic data for single-well push-pull tests are employed to demonstrate the utility …

Automated Procedures For Quantification Of Rhizosphere Physical Properties In Micro Ct Images, Natarajan S. Pillai

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The rhizosphere, i.e. the zone of soil immediately surrounding plant roots plays a prominent role in supplying plants with water and nutrients. However, surprisingly little is known about rhizosphere physical properties and how they affect root growth, water and nutrient uptake. The lack of non-invasive and non-destructive imaging techniques necessary to observe living roots growing in undisturbed soil have been a main reason for this shortcoming. Recent advances in synchrotron X-ray micro tomography (CMT) provide the potential to directly observe soil physical properties around living roots in-situ.In this work we develop procedures for assisting scientist to study the soil properties …

Evaluating The Impacts Of Water Conservation Policies On Water Demand, Availability And Outdoor Water Use In The Las Vegas Valley, Kamal Qaiser

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Las Vegas Valley, located in the arid Southern Nevada region, with a growing population, limited water resources, and a prolonged drought, faces a challenge in meeting its future water needs. Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), the main water management agency in the Valley, is focusing on water conservation to reduce water demand. Current water use is 945 lpcd (250 gpcd) which SNWA aims to reduce to 752 lpcd (199 gpcd) by 2035. Presently the indoor outdoor water use proportion is about 40:60 in the Valley. An important component of the Valley's supply are the return flow credits which SNWA …

The Effects Of Physical Factors On The Adsorption Of Synthetic Organic Compounds By Activated Carbons And Activated Carbon Fibers, Hatice Kose

All Theses

Activated carbons (ACs) and activated carbon fibers (ACFs) have been extensively used for the removal of synthetic organic compounds (SOCs) that have been found to be toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic. Adsorption of these compounds on ACs and ACFs are controlled by both physical factors and chemical interactions, which depend on the characteristics of the adsorbent (surface area, pore size distribution (PSD), and surface chemistry), the nature of the adsorbate (molecular weight and size, functional groups, polarity, solubility), and the condition of the background solution (pH, temperature, presence of competitive solutes, ionic strength). Since there are several mechanisms that can …

A Life Cycle Cost Analysis Of Large-Scale Thermal Energy Storage Technologies For Buildings Using Combined Heat And Power, Kenneth Gaine, Aidan Duffy

Conference Papers

Buildings account for approximately 40% of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in developed economies, of which approximately 55% of building energy is used for heating and cooling. The reduction of building-related GHG emissions is a high international policy priority. For this reason and because there are many technical solutions for this, these polices should involve significant improvements in the uptake of small-scale energy efficient (EE) systems. However the widespread deployment of many technologies, must overcome a number of barriers, one of which is a temporal (diurnal or seasonal) mismatch between supply and demand. Costeffective thermal storage solutions have …

Ecotourism And Water Quality: Linking Management, Activities And Sustainability Indicators In The Caribbean, Ken Darrie Thomas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ecotourism from its genesis and founding theories has been set out to conserve and preserve the environment through sustainable operation that includes surrounding communities in efforts to reduce their poverty levels. Over the years ecotourism has been hypothesized to have departed from this ideal with several researchers, through social, qualitative analyses, have said that these non-sustainable ecotourism operations are simply due to poor management. This work sought to test this central hypothesis as a first approach to quantitatively linking ecotourism activities to management with surface water quality as the key indicator of sustainable ecotourism as a complex system through systems …

2010 Spring Engr333 Project Final Report, Eric Ledy, Rachel Jelgerhuis, Jasper Gondhi, Michael Gondhi, Steve Brink, John Mantel, Kyle Harvey, Jim Vanleeuwen, Jacob Speelman, Mitch Brummel, Tyler Van Dongen, Nathan Van Heukelum, Lynette Hromada, Jen Meneely, Matthew Brouwer, Marc Eberlein, Steve Demaagd, Tim Opperwall, Andrew Dejong, Joel Love, Alex Boelkins, Amanda Hollinger, Betsy Huyser, Jason Dornbos, Jason Handlogten, Justin Karsten, Matt Milan

ENGR 333

Calvin is developing plans for a new data center to provide business continuity and quick recovery in the event of a disaster. The new data center will not replace the existing data center; rather, it will provide redundancy for the operations of the campus. Because of the energy demands of data centers, there is a worldwide push for energy efficiency. So-called “green data centers” provide the same functionality as a normal data center with reduced energy usage and reduced energy costs. Calvin, like most organizations, must weigh the long-term economic benefits of energy efficiency projects against higher initial cost. The …

2010 Spring Engr333 Poster 1, Eric Ledy, Rachel Jelgerhuis, Jasper Gondhi, Michael Gondhi, Steve Brink, John Mantel, Kyle Harvey, Jim Venleeuwen, Jacob Speelman, Mitch Brummel, Tyler Van Dongen, Nathan Van Heukelum, Lynette Hromada, Jen Meneely, Matthew Brouwer, Marc Eberlein, Steve Demaagd, Tim Opperwall, Andrew Dejong, Joel Love, Alex Boelkins, Amanda Hollinger, Betsy Huyser, Jason Dornbos, Jason Handlogten, Justin Karsten, Matt Milan

ENGR 333

Calvin is developing plans for a new data center to provide business continuity and quick recovery in the event of a disaster. The new data center will not replace the existing data center; rather, it will provide redundancy for the operations of the campus. This new data center will be placed in the Spoelhof Complex. Because of the energy demands of data centers, there is a worldwide push for energy efficiency. So-called “green data centers” provide the same functionality as a normal data center with reduced energy usage and reduced energy costs. Calvin, like most organizations, must weigh the long-term …

2010 Spring Engr333 Poster 2, Eric Ledy, Rachel Jelgerhuis, Jasper Gondhi, Michael Gondhi, Steve Brink, John Mantel, Kyle Harvey, Jim Vanleeuwen, Jacob Speelman, Mitch Brummel, Tyler Van Dongen, Nathan Van Heukelum, Lynette Hromada, Jen Meneely, Matthew Brouwer, Marc Eberlein, Steve Demaagd, Tim Opperwall, Andrew Dejong, Joel Love, Alex Boelkins, Amanda Hollinger, Betsy Huyser, Jason Dornbos, Jason Handlogten, Justin Karsten, Matt Milan

ENGR 333

The new redundant data center requires that Network Operations Center personnel are able to monitor certain conditions within the data center for the safety of the server equipment. Server equipment will fail if it gets too hot or if the surrounding environment becomes too humid, therefore the baseline instrumentation design must monitor both temperature and humidity in the data center. The system must also be capable of remotely alerting NOC personnel when there is a problem.

Plutonium - Humic Acid Stability Constant Determination And Subsequent Studies Examining Sorption In The Ternary Pu(Iv) - Humic Acid - Gibbsite System, Trevor Zimmerman

All Theses

Plutonium has been released to the environment through a variety of intentional and unintentional mechanisms, including atmospheric testing, disposition from weapons manufacturing processes, and subsurface disposal. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the chemical, physical, and biological processes affecting plutonium transport is imperative. It has been shown that humic acid (HA) (a refractory component of natural organic matter (NOM)) can effectively solubilize plutonium (Santschi et al., 2002). Increased solubility may result in enhanced subsurface transport, due to the higher concentration of Pu in the aqueous phase. In contrast, the formation of ternary surface complexes may hinder actinide transport. Solution pH is …

Occurrence And Formation Of Disinfection By-Products In Indoor Swimming Pools Water, Amer Kanan

All Dissertations

Chlorination is used to prevent the spread of waterborne infectious diseases from swimming pools. This required disinfection practice also results in the formation of undesirable disinfection by-products (DBPs) from the reactions of chlorine with the organic matter (released by swimmers or present in the filling water of the pool) and bromide. Some of these DBPs have important adverse public health effects; as a result their concentrations in drinking waters are regulated. Unfortunately, DBPs formation and control in swimming pools have not been studied and investigated to the same extent as their formation and control in drinking water.
The main objective …