Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Frontier: Discipline-Based Education Research To Advance Authentic Learning In Agricultural And Biological Engineering, Heidi A. Diefes-Dux

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Discipline-based education research (DBER) is research activity aimed at investigating “learning and teaching in a discipline from a perspective that reflects the discipline’s priorities, worldview, knowledge, and practices” for the purpose of producing research-based evidence to improve education in that discipline. DBER arose out of concerns about the quality of post-secondary science education. Physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, geosciences, and astronomy education each have unique DBER histories in the U.S. that date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s when colleges and university systems were expanding and formalizing. The DBER fields accelerated in the 1950s and 1960s as a result …

Impact Of Preferential Flow, Source Water Connectivity, And Agricultural Management Practices On Sediment And Particulate Phosphorus Dynamics In Midwestern Tile-Drained Landscapes, Saeid Nazari

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Tile drainage is recognized as a significant transporter of sediment and particulate phosphorus (PP) in the Midwestern U.S., leading to proliferation of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Numerous studies have focused on Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus (DRP) and Nitrogen (N) flux dynamics in tile-drained landscapes; however, the impact of preferential flow and agricultural management practices on fate and transport of sediment and PP has remained poorly understood. The overarching objective of this study was to improve understanding of sediment P delivery in tile-drained landscapes. This dissertation focuses on four studies. In the first study, forms and flow pathway dynamics of total phosphorus …

Evaluation Of Liquid Ice Melting Additives For Winter Maintenance Applications, Erin Lammers-Staats

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Winter weather can often pose difficulties for transportation agencies as they work to clear roads of snow and ice quickly so that motorists can travel safely and efficiently. Kentucky has made efforts to maximize efficiency within its winter maintenance program by focusing on optimized equipment usage and personnel time management. This study’s objective was to evaluate novel anti-icers and calculate how their performance compared to the current performance of brine and calcium chloride mixture. New brine additives claim to offer better results, but there is very little guidance about how to systematically evaluate new anti-icers. The author developed a testing …

Combined Coagulation-Microfiltration Process For Dye Wastewater Treatment, Alexander Ekenatanse Eguagie, Yung-Tse Hung, Howard Hao-Che Paul

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The performance of combined coagulation-microfiltration process for the removal of dyes in a binary mixture of dye wastewater of varied concentrations and fruit drink wastewater at three different strengths; low (10ppm), medium (50ppm) and high (100ppm) was investigated. Synthetic dye wastewater was prepared in the laboratory while fruit drink wastewater was purchased from the grocery store. Color removal efficiency was also investigated for the three coagulants; Ferric Chloride, Aluminum Sulfate and Ferrous Sulfate. Transmittance and Absorbance values were used as indices to measure the efficacy of the combined coagulation- microfiltration process.

Transmittance and absorbance values of 99.8% and 0.001 respectively …

Nitrate And Phosphate Removal From Denitrification Bioreactors Using Woodchips, Steel Chips And Agricultural Residue Media, Abdoul Aziz Kouanda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nitrate and phosphate present in agricultural subsurface drainage water can impact surface water quality thus impacting the environment and human health by causing eutrophication and Methemoglobinemia in young infant. Biological denitrification and phosphate adsorption filters are treatments options that can help reduce nitrate and phosphate concentration from agricultural subsurface drainage before it can be discharged in surface water. The first objective of this dissertation was to determine the Michaelis-Menten kinetics model parameters for nitrate removal in bioreactors using the fresh, aged, and composted woodchips. The composted woodchips achieved a denitrification rate 2.4 times higher than the fresh woodchips which was …

Laboratory Measurements Of Bed Shear Stress In Open Channel Flow And Soil Erosion Rate In Cohesive Soils, Gunnar Schurmann Kern

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between soil erosion rate and bed shear stress is an important problem in sediment transport and scour. However, reliable measurements of the soil erosion function are challenging, both in the field and in the laboratory. The objective of this study is to investigate an experimental setup for conducting bed shear stress and soil erosion rate measurements using an open channel flume with a rough bed. These experiments were performed in an A-8 Hydraulic Channel with a fixed gravel bed. The flow discharge was kept constant at 0.158 ft.3/s, and bed shear stress was varied by changing the channel …

The Effects Of Critical Micelle Concentration And Environmental Factors On Oil Separation In Simulated Bilgewater Emulsions, Kelsey Rodriguez Doran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Improved bilgewater treatment is necessary because of technological challenges often faced when meeting existing ocean discharge criteria regulations. Since bilgewater is a waste mixture including hydraulic oils, cleaning agents, and seawater, the success of its management is largely attributed to understanding oil-in-water emulsion characterizations. However, the study of bilgewater emulsions is complex due to the multivariate nature of real-shipboard samples. The objective of this study is to develop the relationship between parameters commonly found in bilgewater and emulsion stability. This work is a continuation of a 3-year research project supported by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). Previous …

Combining Multivariate Statistical And Numerical Modeling For Coastal Hazards Analysis, Victor Malagon Santos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Increased population density along the world's coastlines is driven by the wide range of services provided by costal systems, such as transportation, fisheries, trade, and tourism. Despite offering fundamental services, coastal systems are exposed to a range of natural hazards such as riverine and/or coastal flooding, and erosion, thus robust risk analyses are needed to protect coastal ecosystems, infrastructure, and people dwelling in proximity to the shoreline. Numerical and multivariate statistical models have become crucial tools in coastal risk management to support robust risk analyses, and their combined use provides many benefits in the analysis of coastal hazards. This dissertation …

Investigating The Removal Of Total Trihalomethanes In Tray And Spray Aeration Processes At Two Central Florida Groundwater Treatment Facilities, Zachary Protas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

An investigation has been completed that assessed the efficiency of tray and spray aeration processes on the removal of regulated total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) at two publicly owned potable groundwater treatment facilities located in Polk County, Florida: the Providence and Van Fleet water treatment plants (WTPs). Finished water from each of these facilities was fed to a pilot-plant that could be operated as either a tray, spray, or combined configuration. A series of four pilot aerator configurations were tested at each WTP. Test 1 evaluated the tray aerator operated in a recirculated multiple-pass mode. It was shown that three passes across …

New York State Materials Recycling Facilities Report 2019, Firman Firmansyah, Yiyi Wang, Sameena Manzur, Sayidana Brannan-Douglas, Justin Lee, Andersson Lora, John O'Halloran, Elizabeth Hewitt, Krista L. Thyberg, David J. Tonjes

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

The composition of collected recyclables reported on here has some consistency across the three systems in terms of the general kinds of recyclables collected (but that is true for most US waste management systems). The grab samples analyzed here varied considerably in terms of overall composition. Clearly some of that has to do with the nature of the collection programs (single stream and dual stream, residential alone versus residential plus commercial) but it may also relate to the service areas for the systems, indicating that waste is highly context-driven and location-specific. Islip is an affluent suburban setting; Delaware County collects …

Exposure Assessment Of Emerging Contaminants: Rapid Screening And Modeling Of Plant Uptake, Majid Bagheri

Doctoral Dissertations

"With the advent of new chemicals and their increasing uses in every aspect of our life, considerable number of emerging contaminants are introduced to environment yearly. Emerging contaminants in forms of pharmaceuticals, detergents, biosolids, and reclaimed wastewater can cross plant roots and translocate to various parts of the plants. Long-term human exposure to emerging contaminants through food consumption is assumed to be a pathway of interest. Thus, uptake and translocation of emerging contaminants in plants are important for the assessment of health risks associated with human exposure to emerging contaminants. To have a better understanding over fate of emerging contaminants …

Water Quality Engineering And Wastewater Treatment, Yung-Tse Hung, Hamidi Abdul Aziz, Issam A. Al-Khatib, Rehab O. Abdel Rahman, Mario Gr Cora-Hernandez

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Long Term Evaluation Of E. Coli Removal From Stormwater Using Recycled Steel Byproducts, Brenden Olevson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff often carries a variety of pollutants and pathogens that can endanger public health and wildlife. One contaminant of concern often highlighted in stormwater quality is Escherichia Coli (E.Coli) because its presence indicates microbial contamination in water. Different types of media filtration are being studied to reduce contaminant concentrations in stormwater. In this study, steel byproducts were examined as a potential material to use in media filtration to remove E. Coli and other contaminants from stormwater. Batch scale studies were conducted in laboratory to evaluate the E. Coli removal potential of steel chips and steel slag over a 24-hour …

A Speciation Modeling Study Of Heavy Metal Adsorption To Plastic In Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Units, Kaitlyn Hague

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microplastics are an emerging concern due to their harmful effect to organisms and their ability to facilitate transport of contaminants including heavy metals. Microplastics can enter the environment through wastewater treatment plants, landfill leachate, and littering. Once in the environment microplastics can be distributed throughout rivers, the ocean, and lakes. In order to understand the adsorption of heavy metals to microplastics a geochemical modeling study was completed using Visual Minteq. Lab tests were completed to better understand what constituents are available in wastewater at four different locations: influent, clarifiers, digesters, and effluent. These constituents were then used to observe how …

Understanding The Weather- And Soil-Related Variability In Agricultural Water Footprints: Case Study Of Maize And Soybeans Grown In The St. Joseph Watershed, Karleigh M. Krieg

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Introduced in 2002, the water footprint is a valuable tool for understanding the consumption of freshwater resources. The traditional approach to quantifying the water footprint is to sum the green, blue, and gray water footprint components. The green water footprint is the volume of water that comes from precipitation, is stored in the soil, and used by vegetation. The blue water footprint is the volume of surface or ground water that is withdrawn and applied to cultivated lands via irrigation. These components are based on the evapotranspiration of green and blue water resources, respectively. The gray water footprint is the …

การใช้ของเสียกระจกแผงพลังงานแสงอาทิตย์ทดแทนการใช้ปูนซีเมนต์บางส่วนในการผลิตมอร์ตาร์, ครองขวัญ ข่วงบุญ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

จากปริมาณของเสียแผงพลังงานแสงอาทิตย์ที่กำลังจะเกิดขึ้นภายในระยะเวลา 20-30 ปีจากการติดตั้งในช่วงพ.ศ. 2545-2558 อาจจะเป็นน้ำหนักได้ถึง 235,954 ตัน โดยส่วนใหญ่ประเทศไทยนิยมใช้แผงพลังงานแสงอาทิตย์ชนิดผลึกซิลิกอน ซึ่งแผงประเภทนี้มีปริมาณกระจกมากถึงร้อยละ 70-80 โดยน้ำหนักขององค์ประกอบแผง การจัดการของเสียแผงพลังงานแสงอาทิตย์ในประเทศไทยในขณะนี้มีการกำจัดด้วยการนำไปทิ้งที่หลุมฝังกลบอุตสาหกรรม ซึ่งเป็นการจัดการที่ไม่ยั่งยืนเพราะเป็นการสูญเสียทรัพยากรอย่างไร้ประโยชน์ ในงานวิจัยนี้มุ่งเน้นในการนำกระจกแผงพลังงานแสงอาทิตย์ชนิดผลึกซิลิกอนนำกลับมาใช้ประโยชน์ใหม่ โดยทำการศึกษาผลกระทบต่อสมบัติต่างๆของมอร์ตาร์ที่มีการแทนที่บางส่วนของปูนซีเมนต์ด้วยกระจกแผงพลังงานแสงอาทิตย์บดละเอียดขนาด d50 ที่ 4.97 ไมโครเมตร ที่ร้อยละ 0, 10, 20 และ 30 โดยน้ำหนัก จากผลการศึกษาพบว่าเมื่อเพิ่มปริมาณผงกระจกจะทำให้ ค่าการขยายตัวของซีเมนต์เพสต์มีค่าเพิ่มขึ้น ค่าการก่อตัวระยะต้นและระยะปลายของซีเมนต์เพสต์สั้นลง ค่าการไหลแผ่ของมอร์ตาร์มีค่าลดลง การซึมผ่านของคลอไรด์ในมอร์ตาร์ลดลง สำหรับกำลังรับแรงอัดมอร์ตาร์ช่วงอายุต้น พบว่ามอร์ตาร์ที่มีปูนซีเมนต์ที่มีการแทนที่ด้วยผงกระจกร้อยละ 0 ให้กำลังรับแรงอัดสูงที่สุด แต่ที่อายุ 90 วัน มอร์ตาร์ที่มีการแทนที่ปูนซีเมนต์ด้วยผงกระจกร้อยละ 10 ให้กำลังรับแรงอัดที่สูงที่สุด เนื่องจากการเกิดปฏิกิริยาปอซโซลานิกใช้เวลานานกว่าจะเกิดปฏิกิริยา

Revised Draft Final Butte Reclaimed Areas Maintenance And Monitoring (M&M) Plan In Accordance With Butte Reclamation Evaluation System (Bres), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Physically Based Models And Ensemble Forecasting For Storm Surge Risk Assessment In A Changing Climate, Jeane Camelo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Storm surge has been the deadliest and costliest hurricane induced hazard in the coastal United States. In order to save property and lives, emergency managers must issue advisories guided by numerical models in a timely manner. However, these surge models are highly dependent on weather forecasts which contain uncertainties themselves as hurricanes traverse through the waters before making landfall. This dissertation aims to understand the contribution of uncertainties in hurricane properties, particularly the wind intensity which can contribute to uncertainties in storm surge models. Investigating these properties through numerical modeling is both computationally and time intensive. However by developing a …

Evolution Of Three Streambanks Before And After Stabilization And Record Flooding, Matthew Russell, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Tiffany Messer, Jesse T. Korus, R.M. Joeckel

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Stabilization projects are increasingly used to mitigate the effects of anthropogenic streambank erosion, yet the effectiveness of stabilization has been insufficiently measured. Sound monitoring practices inform adjustments in implementation and maintenance, which improve engineered effectiveness. Thus, the objectives of this study were to: 1) measure streambank migration from in three reaches stabilized with wooden jetties following a major flooding event, and 2) quantify deposition around the jetties between pre-flood and post-flood. Streambank deposition was measured in 2019 with a River Surveyor and Global Positioning System (GPS). Bank erosion rates in Reaches 1, 2 and 3 were 0.41, 0.96 and 0.07 …

Early Wildfire Detection By Air Quality Sensors On Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Optimization And Feasibility, Doaa Rjoub

Masters Theses

“Millions of acres of forests are destroyed by wildfires every year, causing ecological, environmental, and economical losses. The recent wildfires in Australia and the Western U.S. smothered multiple states with more than fifty million acres charred by the blazes. The warmer and drier climate makes scientists expect increases in the severity and frequency of wildfires and the associated risks in the future. These inescapable crises highlight the urgent need for early detection and prevention of wildfires. This work proposed an energy management framework that integrated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with air quality sensors for early wildfire detection and forest monitoring. …