Engineering Commons^™

Comparative Life Cycle Assessments Of Lignocellulosic And Algae Biomass Conversion To Various Energy Products Through Different Pathways, Maria Juliana Pinilla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bioenergy has the potential to reduce the world's dependence on fossil fuels, and to decrease the CO2 emissions due to fossil combustion. Lignocellulosic and algae biomass have been presented as promising feedstocks for bioenergy production.

In this study, a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been developed to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with different energy products via different routes across the whole life of algal and lignocellulosic bioenergy. Results were compared per energy basis, the production of 1 million BTU of energy products.

For the development of the comparative algae biomass conversion LCA, algal biomass was converted to liquid …

Design Of Small Scale Anaerobic Digesters For Application In Rural Developing Countries, Laurel Erika Rowse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The high incidence of upper respiratory diseases, contamination of waterways due to pathogens and nutrients from human and animal wastes, unsustainable deforestation, gender disparities in burden of disease due to unequal exposure to indoor air pollutants, and carbon black emissions from the burning of solid fuels are interrelated problems in many developing countries. Small scale anaerobic digestion provides a means of alleviating these problems by treating livestock waste onsite to produce biogas (methane and carbon dioxide) in rural areas in developing countries. Fuel can then be used for cooking, lighting, and heating. Methane fuel is an alternative to traditional three-stone …

Embodied Energy Assessment Of Rainwater Harvesting Systems In Primary School Settings On La Peninsula Valiente, Comarca Ngobe Bugle, Republic Of Panama, Kaitlin Elinor Green

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United Nations Millennium Development goals aim to make improvements in access to potable water. In the Bocas del Toro region of Panama, rainwater harvesting systems are making that goal more attainable. Rainwater harvesting, especially in rural, difficult access areas, may be a viable water source improvement that will allow a greater population to access improved water. This study uses the Carnegie Mellon University Economic Input-output Life Cycle Assessment tool to assess the embodied energy of plastic and ferrocement rainwater harvesting systems in rural Panama. Rainwater harvesting systems are assessed as source improvement technologies that increase access to potable water. …

A Swmm-5 Model Of A Denitrifying Bioretention System To Estimate Nitrogen Removal From Stormwater Runoff, Michelle D. Masi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research estimates nitrogen removal from stormwater runoff using a denitrifying bioretention system using the USEPA Storm Water Management Model Version 5 (SWMM-5). SWMM-5 has been used to help planners make better decisions since its development in 1971. A conventional bioretention system is a type of Low Impact Development (LID) technology, which designed without a media layer specifically for achieving nitrogen removal. More recently studies have showed that high TN removal efficiencies are possible when incorporating a denitrification media layer. These systems are known as denitrifying bioretention systems, or alternative bioretention systems. LID projects are currently being designed and developed …

Cactus Mucilage-Assisted Heavy Metal Separation: Design And Implementation, Dawn Iona Fox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Natural contamination of groundwater by arsenic (As) has become a critical public health threat in many parts of the world. The well-known regions associated with As contamination of groundwater are Bangladesh and West Bengal, India where approximately 100 million people are exposed to high levels of arsenic by drinking arsenic-contaminated groundwater and about 35 million are already affected. Long-term drinking of arsenic-contaminated water leads to arsenicosis, which is characterized by cancers of the skin, organ disease and certain other types of cancer. Affected developing communities are at higher risk because they may not have access to conventional water treatment facilities. …

In Situ Biofiltration Of Dissolved Organic Carbon In Reverse Osmosis Membrane Filtration, Russell Rosario Ferlita

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biofouling, or the formation of biofilm on membrane surfaces, can decrease the performance (decreased flux and/or increased operating pressure) of a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane system in a water treatment plant. However, biofilms have been used in water treatment systems to remove organic carbon from water via biofilters and successfully reduce biofilm growth downstream. This research investigates the possibility that the heterotrophic biofilm present on membrane surfaces removes nutrients from the treatment water, thereby making it nutrient deprived as it travels along the treatment train. This may potentially be exploited as an in situ biofilter to actively remove dissolved organic …

Sequential Anaerobic And Algal Membrane Bioreactor (A2mbr) System For Sustainable Sanitation And Resource Recovery From Domestic Wastewater, Ana Lucia Prieto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An innovative wastewater treatment technology was developed to recover renewable resources, such as water, energy and nutrients, from sewage. First, a novel synthetic sewage was evaluated for its suitability to serve as an alternative substrate for lab-scale wastewater treatment (WWT) research. Based on granular dried cat food, Complex Organic Particulate Artificial Sewage (COPAS) is a commercially-available, flexible, and easy to preserve feed. Characteristics of COPAS, namely chemical composition, disintegration/dissolution kinetics, and anaerobic biodegradability, were determined. Anaerobic bioassays indicate that COPAS is highly biodegradable at the concentration used to simulate household sewage (1000 mg/L), with more than 72% of the theoretical …

Environmental Health In The Latin American And Caribbean Region: Use Of Water Storage Containers, Water Quality, And Community Perception, Erlande Omisca

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water quality and availability are important issues in many developing countries where portions of populations still lack access to potable water. Throughout the English-speaking Caribbean and parts of Latin America, households and businesses invest in water supply systems even when they are connected to and pay for water services from a private or state owned provider. Inconsistent supplies of water from the water companies have led many people to invest in storage tanks which, if operated correctly, can provide water throughout the day even when the supply from the main is low or zero. While these individual systems help to …

Biodegradation Of Bisphenol-A And 17b-Estradiol In Soil Mesocosms Under Alternating Aerobic/Anoxic/Anaerobic Conditions, Won-Seok Kim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) has been proposed as a method for reusing treated municipal wastewater. SAT is characterized by alternating cycles of aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the subsurface, in response to alternating cycles of flooding and drainage of a surface impoundment. It is not yet known how these alternating redox conditions affect the removal of potentially harmful endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) from treated effluent.

The overall objective of my doctoral research is to determine the fate of EDCs in alternating aerobic/anoxic/anaerobic conditions under simulated SAT conditions. To assess the fate of EDCs in simulated SAT conditions, I first had to develop …

Catalytic Hydrodehalogenation And Hydrogenation Of Halogenated Aromatic Organic Contaminants For Application To Soil Remediation, Claire J. Osborn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research was to aid in the development of a new method for removing and destroying soil contaminants. In particular, 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene (TeCB) was selected for this research. Hydrodehalogenation (HDH) was paired with hydrogenation for remedially destroying TeCB without generating a secondary waste stream in a single batch reactor. Palladium- and rhodium-catalyzed HDH and hydrogenation were applied in a batch reactor at room temperature and moderate hydrogen pressure. Cyclohexane was formed as an end product with benzene as an intermediate reactant.

An analytical method was developed to measure TeCB, benzene, and cyclohexane in a solution of water and …

Feasibility Of Wastewater Reuse For Fish Production In Small Communities In A Developing World Setting, Joshua James Girard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eradicating poverty, malnutrition, and the burden of disease have been included as three of the major issues facing the world. The United Nation member countries, having set forth the Millennium Development Goals, have committed themselves to solving these problems. Two major factors which affect solutions to these problems are increasing water stress and implementing improved sanitation. Integration of tilapia aquaculture and reuse of wastewater has been suggested as a solution which addresses both of these factors. The objective of this study is to examine the feasibility, and explore the benefits and drawbacks, to implementing small community wastewater fed (WWF) aquaculture …

Effectiveness Of In-Line Chlorination Of Gravity Flow Water Supply In Two Rural Communities In Panama, Kevin Orner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is well established that water quality is directly linked to health. In-line chlorination is one technology that can be used in the developing world to potentially inactivate pathogens and improve water quality. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Panamanian Ministry of Health's in-line PVC chlorinator under three different operating conditions in a rural water supply system. Free and total chlorine were measured entering the storage tank, leaving the storage tank, and at three households along the transmission line of the water system in the two rural indigenous communities of Calabazal and Quebrada Mina …

Investigation Of The Optimal Dissolved Co2 Concentration And Ph Combination For The Growth Of Nitrifying Bacteria, Raymond Anthony Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ammonium (NH₄⁺) is a biological nutrient that is transformed in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in a process called activated sludge. This is accomplished in an aerobic environment using microorganisms and inorganic carbon that convert the ammonium to nitrate (NO₃^-). This process is termed nitrification. Removal of ammonium is necessary due to its oxygen demand and toxicity to the environment.

Nitrification is considered a slow process due to the slow growth rate of the nitrifying bacteria. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) first covert the ammonium (NH₄⁺) to nitrite (NO₂^-) …

An Examination Of The Impacts Of Urbanization On Green Space Access And Water Resources: A Developed And Developing World Perspective, Heather E. Wright Wendel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the impact of urbanization and land use change on the availability and accessibility of two urban amenities that are often inequitably distributed: green space and water features. Diverse methodologies were utilized in order to gain a better understanding of the role of these amenities in improving urban quality of life and integrated water management. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this research provides a unique perspective within both a developed and developing world context by evaluating aspects of urbanization to emphasize more sustainable and integrated approaches to development.

A preliminary analysis highlights potential drivers of green space revitalization in …

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (Anmbr) For Treatment Of Landfill Leachate And Removal Of Micropollutants, Anh Tien Do

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To date, most studies on the fate and removal of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in wastewater focus on their fate in municipal wastewater treatment plants, and mostly under aerobic condition. There are limited studies related to anaerobic condition and (to our knowledge) no study on the removal of EDCs in landfill leachate by AnMBR. Moreover, for most studies under anaerobic condition, the removal of EDCs was only reported in the liquid phase; solid phase extraction was not reported, thereby preventing mass balance in the studies.

This research was conducted to investigate the potential …

Computational Discovery Of Phenotype Related Biochemical Processes For Engineering, Andrea M. Rocha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Application of bioengineering technologies for enhanced biological hydrogen production is a promising approach that may play a vital role in sustainable energy. Due to the ability of several naturally occurring microorganisms to generate hydrogen through varying metabolic processes, biological hydrogen has become an attractive alternative energy and fuel source.

One area of particular interest is the production of biological hydrogen in organically-rich engineered systems, such as those associated with waste treatment. Despite the potential for high energy yields, hydrogen yields generated by bacteria in waste systems are often limited due to a focus on microbial utilization of organic material towards …

Mechanistic Modeling Of Photocatalytic Water Disinfection, Omatoyo Kofi Dalrymple

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this research was to develop a mechanism-based model for photocatalytic disinfection of bacteria in water using suspended catalyst pthesiss in batch reactors. The photocatalytic disinfection process occurs as a semiconductor photocatalyst, most commonly titanium dioxide (TiO₂), is irradiated with light of wavelength less than 380 nm to produce hydroxyl radicals and other highly reactive oxidants which can inactivate microorganisms. Photocatalytic disinfection involves a complex interaction of many fundamental mechanisms such as light absorption and scattering by semiconductor pthesiss, electrochemical surface reactions, and heterogeneous colloidal stability. Current models, based largely on chemical reacting systems, do …

Effects Of Solids Loadings And Particle Size Distribution On Siphon Ceramic Candle Filters, Danielle Renzi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the rural areas of Madagascar only 29% of the population has access to clean water and 10% has access to improved sanitation. It has been estimated that environmental risk factors, such as inadequate access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation, are responsible for 94% of the diarrheal disease burden. This study was focused on testing a point-of-use technology called the Tulip filter, which is a siphon ceramic candle filter impregnated with silver. The purpose is to assess its feasibility for implementation in rural regions of Madagascar through a laboratory study performed at the University of South Florida.

The …

Pilot Assessment Of Novel Membrane Bioreactor Processes - Improvements In Biological Nutrient Removal And Membrane Operation, Shaleena Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increasing water reuse applications and upcoming stringent regulations for treated wastewater effluent discharge, wastewater plants need to consider alternative technologies beyond conventional treatment processes. The new regulations, Numeric Nutrient Criteria (NNC), may regulate discharge nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations to as low as 0.5 mg/L as N and 10 μg/L as P respectively. To meet these target requirements, system retrofitting to incorporate chemical or advanced nutrient removal systems possibly with membrane technology will most likely be required. Although microfiltration/ultrafiltration membranes coupled with biological processes, otherwise known as membrane bioreactors (MBR), remove contaminants and suspended solids, nutrient removal is minimal to …