Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Interrelationships Between Water Use Efficiency And Light Use Efficiency In Four Row Crop Canopies, Meetpal S. Kukal, Suat Irmak Dr.

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Quantitative evidence of light use efficiency (LUE) controls on water use effi- ciency (WUE) is lacking, especially comparatively across row crops. Field research experiments (2016–2018) were set up for maize (Zea mays L.), soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), under optimal growth conditions in dry sub-humid conditions. Overall, LUE was able to explain 52% of variance in WUE, and were related as WUE = 1.73 LUE, although crop-specific variation was observed. High- est sensitivity of WUE to changes in LUE was found in sorghum, followed by soybean, winter wheat, and …

Innovative Extension Methods In The U.S. To Promote Irrigation Water Management, Daran Rudnick, Matt Stockton, Saleh Taghvaeian, Jason Warren, Michael D. Dukes, Amy Kremen, Christopher G. Henry, Jonathan Aguilar, Brenda Ortiz, Allan A. Andales, Chuck A. Burr, Xin Qiao, Wei‑Zhen Liang, Steven Walthour, Steve H. Amosson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Promotion and adoption of irrigation water management (IWM) technology, tools, and best management practices are important as water availability concerns are addressed. Traditional extension programs have relied on lecture presentations, field tours, fact sheets, and on-station demonstrations to promote IWM practices and tools. However, these platforms tend not to provide the experience and opportunity for growers to identify and become comfortable with innovative solutions, such as new technology. To address these challenges and to appeal to an ever-changing client base, innovative and locally relevant extension and outreach programs have been devised to engage and educate growers. This article describes some …

Accumulation And Release Of Nutrients By Immersed Stalks Collected On Selected Dates Following Harvest, John E. Gilley, David B. Marx

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The concentrations of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in runoff from cropland areas may be influenced by accumulation and release of P and N by stalk residues. A laboratory study was conducted to measure the effects of time since harvest and immersion period on accumulation and release of P and N by corn, soybean, and wheat stalks. Experimental variables included type of stalk material (corn, soybean, and wheat), time since harvest (six residue collection dates over an approximate 1-year period), and stalk immersion period (25 s (0.42 min), 250 s (4.2 min), 2500 s (42 min), 25,000 s (6.9 h), …

Effect Of Urea Fertilizer Deep Placement Days After Transplanting Using Brri Prilled Urea Applicator On Transplanted Boro Rice Yield, Muhammad Rashed Al Mamun, K. Naher, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Md Anwar Hossen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Rice is the most important crop in the developing countries of Asia. In the south and south-east Asia, rain-fed and irrigated transplanted rice occupies nearly two-thirds of the rice-growing area and produces more than 80% of the rough rice. In these areas, prilled urea conventionally applied by farmers is very insufficient in the transplanted rice field, where severe losses occur (up to 60% of applied N) via NH₃volatilization, denitrification, leaching, and runoff. Considering loss minimization, an experiment was conducted during the Boro season at Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) in Sylhet to evaluate the performance of BRRI Prilled …

Effect Of Rotary Blade Modification On Residue Retention Into Conservation Agriculture Practices, Md Talash Mahmud, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Md Mosharraf Hossain, Muhammad Ashik-E-Rabbani

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been a promising technique for better crop production. Manual seeding with conventional tillage practice is laborious and time consuming. However, Strip tillage (ST) method incorporating seeding machines minimizes human drudgery and optimizes the crop yield. Many problems associated with ST have been rectified e.g. tiny furrow backfill, inaccuracy of seed and fertilizer placement, leading to poor germination and curtailed outcomes. This article focused on the effects of residue retention for the rotary blades design on a versatile multi-crop planter (VMP). Four types of rotary blades of VMP differed by 15^o increment of tip angles were …

Present Mechanization Of Regional Tea Processing And Grading System In Bangladesh, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Marwa Rahman, Kaswar Hamid, Sabiha Ferdous, Muhammad Rashed Al Mamun

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Nowadays tea is the most popular beverage crop of Bangladesh which contributes to our national GDP. There are 166 tea gardens in the various region in Bangladesh are producing tea. Some best quality tea is exporting from our country but this amount is negligible due to improper handling and processing systems. Quality tea production from processing houses is beyond control and mostly depends on the processing method. Improper handling and insufficient technology results in lower grade tea, as well as foreign contaminates, are found in made tea. This research focused on the problems of the present of tea processing and …

Ultraviolet Irradiation Combined With Chlorine Dioxide Pre-Oxidation For Disinfection By-Product Control, Paula Campesino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The use of ultraviolet (UV) light and chlorine dioxide (ClO2) as an advanced oxidation process (AOP) has been investigated at the bench-scale to understand the effects of their use on disinfection by-product (DBP) formation potential (FP) in chlorinated groundwater (GW) and surface water (SW) supplies. Two GWs and two SWs of varying qualities were subject to a series of AOP treatment sequences at the bench scale: sodium hypochlorite, to serve as a baseline; ClO2-Cl2, UV-Cl2, and UV-ClO2-Cl2. In these treatment sequences, Cl2 is used as a primary and secondary disinfectant. Several water quality parameters were measured throughout the experiments, including …

Predicting Escherichia Coli Loads In Cascading Dams With Machine Learning: An Integration Of Hydrometeorology, Animal Density And Grazing Pattern, Olufemi P. Abimbola, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Tiffany Messer, Elaine D. Berry, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Samuel Hansen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Accurate prediction of Escherichia coli contamination in surface waters is challenging due to considerable uncertainty in the physical, chemical and biological variables that control E. coli occurrence and sources in surface waters. This study proposes a novel approach by integrating hydro-climatic variables as well as animal density and grazing pattern in the feature selection modeling phase to increase E. coli prediction accuracy for two cascading dams at the US Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC), Nebraska. Predictive models were developed using regression techniques and an artificial neural network (ANN). Two adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) structures including subtractive clustering and fuzzy …

Irrigation-Yield Production Functions And Irrigation Water Use Effciency Response Of Drought-Tolerant And Non-Drought-Tolerant Maize Hybrids Under Different Irrigation Levels, Population Densities, And Environments, Suat Irmak, Ali T. Mohammed, William Kranz, C. D. Yonts, Simon Van Donk

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Irrigation-yield production functions (IYPFs), irrigation water use effciency (IWUE), and grain production per unit of applied irrigation of non-drought-tolerant (NDT) and drought-tolerant (DT) maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids were quantified in four locations with different climates in Nebraska [Concord (sub-humid), Clay Center (transition zone between sub-humid and semi-arid); North Platte (semi-arid); and, Scottsbluff (semi-arid)] during three growing seasons (2010, 2011, and 2012) at three irrigation levels (fully-irrigated treatment (FIT), early cut-off (ECOT), and rainfed (RFT)) under two plant population densities (PPDs) (low-PPD; 59,300 plants ha^-1; and, high-PPD, 84,000 plants ha^-1). Overall, DT hybrids’ performance was …

An Automated Seepage Meter For Streams And Lakes, Douglas Kip Solomon, Eric Humphrey, Troy E. Gilmore, David P. Genereux, Vitaly A. Zlotnik

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

We describe a new automatic seepage meter for use in soft bottom streams and lakes. The meter utilizes a thin‐walled tube that is inserted into the streambed or lakebed. A hole in the side of the tube is fitted with an electric valve. Prior to the test, the valve is open and the water level inside the tube is the same as the water level outside the tube. The test starts with closure of the valve, and the water level inside the tube changes as it moves toward the equilibrium hydraulic head that exists at the bottom of the tube. …

Treatment Of Vegetable Oil Refining Wastes, D. Kaya, Yung-Tse Hung

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The common vegetable oils are soybean, sesame, sunflower, corn, canola, and cotton seeds. Their yields, compositions and physical and chemical properties determine their usefulness in various applications aside edible uses. Crude oils obtained by pressing of such vegetable seeds are not usually considered to be edible before the removal of various nonglyceride compounds through operations known as refining. The refining processes remove undesirable materials such as phospholipids, monoacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, free fatty acids, colour and pigments, oxidised materials, etc., but, may also remove valuable minor components such as antioxidants and vitamins (carotenes and tocopherols). The major steps involved in chemical refining …

Physical And Biological Factors Affecting Oxygen Transfer In The Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment Process, Kenneth A. Campbell

Doctoral Dissertations

“The activated sludge (AS) process is widely utilized for wastewater treatment due to its versatility and general resiliency, but is energy intensive, requiring aeration and mixing energy inputs to maintain the biochemical reaction and optimize treatment performance. This study is focused on determining different factors that influence oxygen transfer and consequently its energy demand.

AS morphology, as described by the d₁₀, d₂₀, d₃₂, specific filament length (SFL), 30 min settleability (SV₃₀), etc., does influence the OTE. Filamentous organisms increase the hydrodynamic radius of suspended particles, which dilates mixed liquor apparent viscosity (µ …

Cationic Surfactant Analysis With Good Laboratory Practice, Lawrence K. Wang, Mu-Hao Sung Wang, Nazih K. Shammas, Valerie Renak, Yung-Tse Hung

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The objectives of this research are to: (a) demonstrate how to select an organic solvent (such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane) for spectrophotometric determination of cationic surfactant in water and wastewater, (b) investigate and recommend possible better organic solvents for surfactant analysis; and (c) introduce good laboratory practice for personal protection, laboratory protection and hazardous waste management. Specifically this research involves selection of alternate less toxic and greener organic solvent for use in a methyl orange method for colorimetric determination of cationic surfactants in the 0.2 to 2.0 mg/L range. The principles, steps and management of the methyl orange method include: (a) complexation …

Data Driven Synthetic Load Modeling For Smart City Energy Management Studies, Fernando Bereta Dos Reis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of this dissertation is to provide synthetic residential load models with granular level information on the customers having information about the appliances that constitute each individual residential customer through time. The synthetic load model is capable of being widely utilized by the power system research community since only publicly available data is utilized for its generation. This gives researcher’s access to how the synthetic load was made and also how accurate the model is in representing real power system regions. As the title of the dissertation suggests, the synthetic residential load models are intended for smart city …

Initial Transformation Of Photo-Viable Free Amino Acids In The Presence Of Surrogate And Standard Dissolved Organic Matter Under Sunlit Irradiation, Ryan J. Kibler

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

With more than half of the nation’s drinking water affected by wastewater discharge from upstream and more indirect and direct reuse of treated wastewater, human health and ecotoxicological impacts resulting from effluent organic material (EfOM) will increase. Dissolved free amino acids (DFAAs), nitrogen components of EfOM, are essential nitrogen sources for microorganisms and play important roles in global N-cycling in natural aquatic environments. Several DFAAs including histidine, methionine, and tyrosine in sunlit surface waters are susceptible to direct and indirect photochemical transformation with reactive oxygen species. In this study, we investigated the reaction kinetics and initial reaction mechanisms involved in …

A Field Study Of Bioaccessible Lead In Detroit Soils: Insight Into The Effectiveness Of Phosphate-Based Lead Sequestration, Sabrina R. Good

Wayne State University Theses

Historical and contemporary use of lead (Pb) in gasoline, paints, and industry have caused lead to be ubiquitous in the urban soil environment, disproportionately affecting low-income minority children. As soil is a major exposure pathway for children, an effective remediation technique for lead-contaminated soil is urgently needed. Common remediation techniques, such as excavation or soil capping, are expensive and environmentally destructive, especially on a city-wide residential basis. Decreasing the bioavailability of lead, or the fraction which is retained by the human body, may be a more economically and environmentally conscious option for remediating lead in urban environments.

Research has demonstrated …

Water Reclamation Using Functionalized Forward Osmosis Membrane, Fnu Joshua

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study investigated water reclamation from an impaired-quality water using forward osmosis (FO) membrane functionalized by nano zero valent iron (nZVI) loaded polyelectrolyte multilayer films. Stormwater runoff was selected as the impaired-quality water, which served as a feed solution (FS) and a NaCl salt solution at a concentration representing reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate was used a draw solution (DS). RO concentrate is another impaired-quality water that is discharged to the environmental with little or no treatment. A commercial cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane was modified using poly allylamine hydrochloride (PAH) (a polycation) and poly acrylic acid (PAA) (a polyanion) following …

Removal Of Chemicals Of Emerging Concern And Mass Transfer Modeling In A Nanofiltration Membrane Process, Carlyn Higgins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

An investigation of 1,4-dioxane and enantiomeric ibuprofen mass transfer in a nanofiltration (NF) membrane process has been completed. Pilot-scale experiments using a 267 gallon per minute (gpm) split-feed, center-port NF process treating pH 6.5 groundwater revealed a consistent 12 percent removal of 1,4-dioxane despite the variable feed concentration (180 nanograms per liter (ng/L) to 38,400 ng/L) when the water flux and temperature were held constant. Bench-scale, flat-sheet NF membrane experiments treating pH 4.0 synthetic water displayed a 34.5 to 49.5 percent removal of racemic ibuprofen. Removal values were dependent on feedwater concentration (1 to 1,500 microgram per liter (µg/L)), pH, …

Improving Air Pollution Exposure Estimation Using Cell Phone Location Data And Low-Cost Sensors, Xiaonan Yu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Human exposure estimation to air pollution plays an important role in epidemiological studies which are designed to reveal correlations between human exposures to certain air pollutants and certain diseases, such as asthma, cardiovascular disease and reproductive diseases. Traditionally, when people's mobile data is hard to get, home location is used to estimate people's exposures assuming that people stay at home all the time. Whereas, people move and it is more accurate to estimate people's exposures including people's mobility. In our study, we showcased two methods to obtain people's mobile data: Google Maps location history (GMLH) data and Call Detailed Record …

Recovery Of Ethyl Lactate From Washing Solution Originating From Drill Cuttings Treatment By Adsorption Process, Theary Peng Orng

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The purpose of this study was to recover the washing solutions generated from drill cuttings washing process using an adsorption technology. Ethyl lactate (EL) was selected as an extracting agent for drill cuttings washing throughout the work. Various washing parameters including liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio, washing time, mixing speed, rinse-to-solid (R/S) ratio, and rinsing time were studied with the aid of response surface methodology. Once the optimal washing conditions were obtained, the recovery of washing solutions, i.e., spent EL and rinsed water using the commercial granular activated carbon (GAC) and kapok fiber (KF) were investigated. Finally, the adsorbent modification and validation …