Engineering Commons^™

Perchlorate Reduction By Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria, Amber R. Boles

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Perchlorate (ClO4-) contaminated water is becoming a wide-spread problem as more sites are being identified worldwide. Biological perchlorate reduction is a promising alternative to conventional physical/chemical treatment processes and has the advantage of reducing perchlorate to the benign products, chloride and oxygen. A number of bacteria are capable of reducing perchlorate using a variety of electron donors including organic carbon compounds, hydrogen, iron, and reduced sulfur compounds. Previous studies in our laboratory successfully used a novel, sulfur oxidizing bacterial consortium (SUPeRB) to reduce perchlorate in both batch culture and in packed bed reactors (PBR). There were two main objectives of …

Sub-Daily Multi-Objective Models For Optimizing Hydropower In The Deerfield River, Kelcy Adamec

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This document is part of the Connecticut River Watershed Project, a federally authorized collaborative project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (US ACE), the Nature Conservancy (TNC), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The project began in September 2008 with Congressional funding for this project with TNC and the USACE as equal funding partners.

The Connecticut River Watershed Project will identify management modifications for more than seventy influential dams in the Connecticut River Basin to increase environmental benefits while maintaining beneficial human uses such as water supply, flood control, and hydropower generation. Key …

Investigating Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Compounds And Their Disinfection Byproducts Within Drinking Water Treatment, Kirsten E. Studer

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Emerging public health concerns relating to the epigenetic effects of EDCs, along with the

reconceptualization of dose response curves, provides a compelling rationale for addressing

estrogenically active contaminants in drinking water. These environmental health concerns are

now known to have long lasting impacts, especially on fetal development. For this drinking

water research, the estrogenic EDC byproducts were identified and the treatment processes were

compared using the dose applied, the number of byproducts formed and the relative

quantification of the treatment byproducts. The analytical optimized method presented and

implemented in this research successfully determined the percent degradation of the parent

compound …

Investigating Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Compounds And Their Disinfection Byproducts Within Drinking Water Treatment, Kirsten E. Studer

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Emerging public health concerns relating to the epigenetic effects of EDCs, along with the reconceptualization of dose response curves, provides a compelling rationale for addressing estrogenically active contaminants in drinking water. These environmental health concerns are now known to have long lasting impacts, especially on fetal development. For this drinking water research, the estrogenic EDC byproducts were identified and the treatment processes were compared using the dose applied, the number of byproducts formed and the relative quantification of the treatment byproducts. The analytical optimized method presented and implemented in this research successfully determined the percent degradation of the parent compound …

Assessing Near-Field Black Carbon Variability Due To Wood Burning And Evaluating Regression Models And Isc Dispersion Modeling, Stella Tan

Master's Theses

PM_2.5 variability within the neighborhood scale has not been thoroughly studied for wood burning communities. High variability in near-field PM_2.5 concentration may lead to harmful public exposure since monitoring does not occur on that scale. This study measures near-field PM_2.5 variability by measuring black carbon (BC), a component of PM_2.5, in a 1 km² area located in Cambria, California. BC and meteorological data (when meteorological instruments were available) were measured over thirteen 12-hour intensive operation periods (IOPs) occurring over the winters of 2009 and 2010. Near-field BC variability was measured to understand the type …

A Field And Modeling Assessment Of Methyl Mercury Accumulation In An Engineered Retention Pond, Lauren C. Blazeck

Master's Theses

The accumulation of methyl mercury (MeHg) in lakes during summer stratification has been demonstrated to affect biotic mercury (Hg) accumulation. However, small, shallow polymictic lakes can experience short-term stratification and mixing events that are largely unstudied in their abilities to affect Hg cycling and MeHg accumulation. Short-term stratification events and changing lake characteristics impact lake biogeochemical cycles, and therefore, MeHg production and transport. A field and modeling analysis was performed on a small suburban lake located on the University of Connecticut campus to determine the impact of lake characteristics on the potential for MeHg accumulation. MeHg concentrations ranged from non-detect …

Dissolved Organic Matter Characterization And Impact On Mercury Binding In An Urbanizing Watershed, Mykel Mendes

Master's Theses

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems, interacting with and controlling the bioavailability and transport of mercury (Hg) and other trace metals through complexation. The complexation of ionic Hg (Hg²⁺) with DOM can either limit methyl mercury (MeHg) bioavailability or increase MeHg production by stimulating microbial growth. While substantial investigations have examined Hg-DOM interactions in forested ecosystems, little research has been conducted on the Hg-DOM relationship within an urbanized river setting subjected to various anthropogenic sources. The various runoff and pollutant sources vary in DOM quality and character. Three sources of organic matter from the North …

Gananoque F1 21 August 2011, Marci Brady, Scott Weese

Gananoque F1 21 August 2011

No abstract provided.

Characterization And Modeling Of Toxic Fly Ash Constituents In The Environment, Zhenwei Zhu

Doctoral Dissertations

Coal fly ash is a by-product of coal combustion that has drawn renewed public scrutiny due to the negative environmental impacts from accidental release of this waste material from storage facilities. Historically, the leaching of toxic elements from coal fly ash into the environment has always been a major environmental concern. Despite extensive efforts into the characterization of coal fly ash, effective models for the fate and transport of toxic fly ash constituents have remained lacking, making it difficult to perform accurate environmental impact assessment for coal fly ash. To close this critical knowledge gap, the overall objective of this …

Oceanic-Atmospheric And Hydrologic Variability In Long Lead-Time Forecasting, Abdoul Aziz Oubeidillah

Doctoral Dissertations

Water managers throughout the world are challenged with managing scarce resources and therefore rely heavily on forecasts to allocate and meet various water demands. The need for improved streamflow and snowpack forecast models is of the utmost importance. In this research, the use of oceanic and atmospheric variables as predictors was investigated to improve the long lead-time (three to nine months) forecast of streamflow and snowpack. Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) analysis was used to identify a region of Pacific and Atlantic Ocean SSTs and a region of 500 mbar geopotential height (Z500mb) that were teleconnected with streamflow and snowpack. The …

Constitutive Model For Rate Dependent Behavior Of Clay Internal Geotechnical Report 2011-3, Harry Martindale, Dipanjan Basu

Technical Reports

This report presents a strain-rate dependent plastic constitutive model for clays. Based on the concepts of critical-state soil mechanics and bounding surface plasticity theory, the model reproduces the mechanical response of clays under multi-axial loading conditions and predicts both the drained and undrained behavior. The model parameters are determined for Boston Blue Clay, London Clay and Kaolin Clay, and the performance of the model in simulating the mechanical response of these clays is demonstrated for low to medium strain rates. The sensitivity of each model parameter is checked by perturbing the calibrated values by ±20%. Subsequently, a probabilistic analysis using …

A High Strain-Rate Constitutive Model For Sand With Application In Finite Element Analysis Internal Geotechnical Report 2011-4, William Higgins, Dipanjan Basu

Technical Reports

The report presents a constitutive model for simulating the high strain-rate behavior of sands. Based on the concepts of critical-state soil mechanics, the bounding surface plasticity theory and the overstress theory of viscoplasticity, the constitutive model simulates the high strain-rate behavior of sands under uniaxial, triaxial and multiaxial loading conditions. The model parameters are determined for Ottawa and Fontainebleau sands, and the performance of the model under extreme transient loading conditions is demonstrated through simulations of split Hopkinson pressure bar tests up to a strain rate of 2000/sec. The constitutive model is implemented in a finite element analysis software to …

The Explosion In Mari, Cyprus, The Cost Of Power Shortages, And Policy Recommendations, Theodoros Zachariadis, Panos Pashardes, Nicoletta Pashourtidou

Theodoros Zachariadis

No abstract provided.

Notice On A Case Study On The Utilization Of Wind Energy Potential On A Remote And Isolated Small Wastewater Treatment Plant, João F. Gomes

João F Gomes

Small wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are frequently located, by necessity, in remote and isolated sites, which increases the difficulty of its energy supply. Some of them are located near the seaside, in environmental sensible zones, and due to tourism activity of these sites, seasonal effects related with population size fluctuation can occur, which can originate certain inefficiencies concerning WWTP design and energy supply. The objective of this paper is to describe a step by step procedure for evaluation of the wind potential of sites that are dependent of in-situ energy generation, as well as, a case study on the utilization …

A Three-Dimensional Hydro-Environmental Model Of Dublin Bay, Zeinab Bedri, Michael Buen, Aodh Dowley

Articles

This paper compares a 3-dimensional hydro-ecological model with a 2-dimensional model simulating the distribution and fate of Escherichia Coli (E.Coli) discharges from a sewage treatment plant discharging into Dublin Bay, Ireland. Before being discharged, the effluent from the sewage treatment plant is mixed with cooling water from a thermal generation plant resulting in a warm buoyant sewage plume that can be 7 − 9oC higher than the ambient water in the Bay. The mixing of the stratified plume is complicated by the tidal currents which transport the plume into and out of the estuary. These processes have a direct impact …

Empirical Critical Loads Of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition For Nutrient Enrichment And Acidification Of Sensitive Us Lakes, Jill S. Baron, Charles T. Driscoll, John L. Stoddard, Eric E. Richer

Civil and Environmental Engineering

No abstract provided.

Contaminant Mass Transfer During Boiling In Fractured Geologic Media, Fei Chen

All Dissertations

Remediation of fractured geologic media contaminated with chlorinated volatile organic compounds that diffuse into the matrix is challenging using isothermal methods. Due to the low permeability of the matrix material and uncertainty of fracture networks, it is difficult to flush the system with any type of fluid or deliver remediation agents into the matrix. However, thermal methods have some promises. When the matrix is heated above water boiling temperature, depressurization in the fractures may trigger water boiling in the matrix, which, as a result, generates a large volumetric steam flow toward adjacent fractures, stripping the adsorbed or dissolved volatile contaminants …

Determination Of Freshwater Algal Biomass And Sulfolipid Content As Functions Of Inorganic Carbon Treatment, Melissa Morella

All Theses

Cultures of mixed freshwater algae were grown in open batch reactors made up of modified BG-11 media that contained 0, 25, 50 or 100% of the suggested inorganic carbon content (0, 0.5, 0.1 and 0.2 g/L Na₂CO₃) to assess the subsequent production of the high-value product, sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol (SQDG). After 25 days of growth, the reactors were composed of primarily Oscillatoria growth. All four reactors exhibited a trend of increasing biomass and alkalinity with time, and an initial increase then decrease in pH. The total inorganic carbon (TIC) in all reactors exhibited a mirrored, opposite trend …

A History-Dependent Nonwetting Phase Trapping Model For Multiphase Flow Characteristic Curves, Christopher Patterson

All Theses

Characteristic curves used in numerical multiphase flow simulators describe relative permeability-saturation and capillary pressure-saturation relationships for flow simulations. Characteristic curves are typically non-hysteretic; meaning they are monotonic functions of saturation and are limited to a single value for residual saturation. Implications of residual saturation are important for environmental, petroleum, and geologic carbon sequestration modeling. However, hysteretic characteristic curves predict that trapped residual saturation depends on the local saturation history. The use of hysteretic characteristic curves is critical to predicting the residual saturation and ultimately the mobility of a nonwetting phase such as supercritical CO2 or a nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL). …

Influence Of Natural Organic Matter On Plutonium Sorption To Gibbsite, Laura Simpkins

All Theses

Understanding plutonium geochemical behavior is imperative to the development of schemes for remediation of plutonium environmental contamination and accurate assessment of risks posed by the disposal of plutonium bearing wastes. The primary mechanism of plutonium mobility in the environment is subsurface transport. The mobility of plutonium is significantly influenced by redox and complexation reactions. Although the effects of surface mediated redox reactions on plutonium's subsurface mobility have been previously documented, little has been done to determine the impact of organic materials on sorption behavior and oxidation states. To adequately predict the behavior of plutonium in the environment, the influence of …

Application Of Shredded-Tire Biofilter And Membrane Bioreactor For Greywater Reclamation, Meng Hu

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Water scarcity is a pressing global issue. Greywater (GW) reclamation is a viable option to reduce freshwater demand. The objectives of this work were to: a) evaluate the feasibility of the combination of shredded tire biofilter (STB) technology and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology in GW reclamation; b) study the effects of various parameters on STB performance; and c) understand the fouling mechanisms to lower the energy consumption in MBRs. Bench-scale STBs and MBRs (flat-sheet membranes) were constructed to address the first two objectives, while an independent membrane (hollow-fiber membranes) fouling experiment was designed for the third objective.

It was found …

The Effects Of Varying Physical Parameterizations And Initial Conditions On Tracer Transport In The National Aeronautics And Space Administration’S Goddard Earth Observation System Model, Version 5, Melissa Ree Allen

Masters Theses

The evolution of General Circulation Models (GCM) for climate study has led to more accurate predictions for atmospheric transport, yet precision in predictions remains in need of improvement. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Earth Observation System model, Version 5 (GEOS-5) represents a state of the art climate model capable of simulating a wide variety of atmospheric processes informed continuously by satellite observations. This thesis examines some of the physical parameterizations employed by GEOS-5 and their effect on the transport of two greenhouse gasses: ozone and carbon dioxide.

Bankfull Geomorphic Relationships And Reference Reach Assessment Of The Ridge And Valley Physiographic Province Of East Tennessee, James Brady Mcpherson

Masters Theses

Waterways have been geomorphically altered or disturbed by development, mining, agriculture and other human activities for many years. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act determined that these impacts to our waterways must be mitigated for channel alterations. Stream restoration has been one method to mitigate for these impacts to our water resources. Stream restoration is considered to be a measurable improvement to the channel stability, water quality, habitat or overall function of a degraded stream system. Practices of stream restoration have changed in the last 10 to 20 years with the introduction of natural channel design methods. Natural channel …

Applied And Mechanistic Studies Of Microbial 17beta-Estradiol Degradation, Zhongtian Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The presence of natural estrogens, a class of endocrine disrupting compounds, in water has caused increasing concerns over their adverse impacts on the health of aquatic eco-systems and human beings. In this study, adsorption characteristics of two natural estrogens, 17β-estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1), on granular activated carbon (GAC) were investigated in isotherm tests and in a GAC column. The GAC column was then converted to a biologically active carbon (BAC) column and the removal efficiency of E2 and its primary biodegradation intermediate E1 were monitored. During BAC operation, the impacts of various reactor operation parameters, such as the carbon …

New Nanosystem Mixed Reactor For Urban Wastewater Treatment, Masoud Rastegar, Kamran Rahmati Shadbad

Masoud Rastegar

No abstract provided.

Do Wind Turbines Affect Weather Conditions?: A Case Study In Indiana, Meghan F. Henschen, Brittany Herrholtz, Lacey Rhudy, Kathryn Demchak, Brian Doogs, Joshua Holland, Erik Larson, Johnny Martin, Matthew Rudkin

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Wind turbines are becoming increasingly widespread in the United States as the world looks for cleaner sources of energy. Scientists, policymakers, and citizens have strong opinions regarding the positive and negative effects of wind energy projects, and there is a great deal of misinformation about wind energy circulating on the Web and other media sources. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how the rotation of hundreds of turbines can influence local weather conditions within a wind farm and in the surrounding areas. This experiment measures temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, …

Development Of Sstreamflow 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 relatively short-term (3 to 7 month) forecasts determined by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) using the National Weather Service (NWS) River Forecasting System (RFS) hydrologic model. While these forecasts by the CBRFC are useful, water managers within the basin are interested in long-term projections of streamflow, particularly under changing …

Possibility Of Consolidated Wetland Mitigation In A Multi-Layered Legislated State, Juan P. Correa

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Fourier Finite Element Analysis Of Laterally Loaded Piles In Elastic Media Internal Geotechnical Report 2011-1, William Higgins, Dipanjan Basu

Technical Reports

Laterally loaded piles are analyzed using the Fourier finite element method. Pile response was observed to be a function of the relative stiffness of pile and soil and of the pile slenderness ratio. The analysis is mostly performed for piles embedded in elastic soil with constant and linearly varying modulus although the pile response in two-layer soil profiles is also investigated. Equations describing pile head deflection, rotation and maximum bending moment are proposed for flexible long piles and stubby rigid piles. The design equations were developed after plotting the pile responses as functions of pile-soil stiffness ratio and pile slenderness …

Sustainability In Geotechnical Engineering Internal Geotechnical Report 2011-2, Aditi Misra, Dipanjan Basu

Technical Reports

The built environment serves as a dynamic interface through which the human society and the ecosystem interact and influence each other. Understanding this interdependence is key to understanding sustainability as it applies to civil engineering. There is a growing consensus that delivering a sustainable built environment starts with incorporating sustainability thoughts at the planning and design stages of a project. Geotechnical engineering is the most resource intensive of all the civil engineering disciplines and can significantly influence the sustainability of infrastructure development because of its early position in the construction process. In this report, a review is made of the …