Engineering Commons^™

Local Foods, Fall/Winter 2013, Issue 27

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Zero Waste, Spring/Summer 2017, Issue 36

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Unconventional Energy, Fall/Winter 2015, Issue 31

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Our Envirome, Spring/Summer 2019, Issue 40

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Plastic Pollution, Fall/Winter 2019, Issue 39.3

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Plastic Pollution, Fall/Winter 2019, Issue 39.2

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Plastic Pollution, Fall/Winter 2019, Issue 39

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Evaluation And Enhancement Of Carbon Sequestration Potential Of Existing Vegetation Along Roadsides, Vikram Kapoor, Jeffrey Hutchinson, Samer Dessouky

Publications

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the vegetative composition and carbon sequestration potential of vegetation along a major roadway in Texas. Soil and vegetation were evaluated along IH-35 within Bexar County for composition and carbon content. Three 20 m transects were placed at each site and percent vegetative cover was estimated and above ground plant biomass, and soil was collected from three 0.25 m2 subplots along each transect. Plant and soil samples were analyzed for carbon content. Two non-native grasses, bermudagrass and King Ranch bluestem, were the dominant cover at all sites accounting for > 90% coverage at several …

Investigation Of Efficiency Loss Of Distributed Solar Power Due To Soiling And Efficiency Recovery By Rainfall, Amanda Mayumi Tanaka

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As the concern with global warming increases causing the need for CO2 reduction, renewable energy is of great interest as it has lower carbon footprint when compared to conventional sources (natural gas, coal, oil and nuclear). Solar energy has been drawing worldwide attention since it can transform sunlight directly into electricity with the use of photovoltaic (PV) cells. However, this technology has some drawbacks that need to be addressed including dust deposition on solar panels, also known as soiling. Soiling can decrease PV panel’s efficiency thereby resulting in less energy production. The soiling rates are very site specific and depend …

Atmospheric Deposition Of Nitrogen And Sulfur In China: Current Status And Future Changes, Cheng Shi

LSU Master's Theses

Dry and wet deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) has detrimental impacts on the health of both human and ecosystems. Intensive human activities are responsible for elevating emissions and deposition of N and S species. Large population and fast industrial development led China to one of the countries with highest acid deposition. The large fluxes of N and S deposition have caused acidification of surface water and soil, which damages plant growth and biodiversity in China. N and S deposition has been investigated using ground-based monitoring networks and satellite-based sensors. The limitation of location of monitoring sites and performance …

Comparison Of Zero Valent Iron (Zvi) And Zvi+Sludge For The Removal Of High Levels Of Hexavalent Chromium And Chlorate From Waters, Kenneth R. Greenhalgh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Remediation of contaminated groundwater is becoming increasingly more

important as much of the U.S. population relies on groundwater for their drinking water.

Contaminates such as Chromium, common pollutant at industrial waste sites, and

Hexavalent chromium which is toxic to humans, animals, and plants are major

concerns. Chlorate, another contaminate of concern, has been widely detected in

ground and surface water in the United States and even locally in Henderson Nevada at

the Nevada Environmental Response Trust (NERT) sites. To assist in mitigating this

issue, this research focuses on the removal of high levels of hexavalent chromium (ppm

range) (Cr(VI)) and …

Recovery Of Water And Salts From Hyper-Saline Mine Water Using Freeze Crystallization, Miriam Gonzalez

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the mining industry, usage of large volumes of water enables mines to conduct multiple processes within one location. Hypersaline brine waters exit the processes of the mine to be utilized for other roles; some of these roles include leaching, recirculation, and extraction operations. These waters are highly concentrated with salt components and are released to different sections of the mine. The salts of highest concentration in the brine are aluminum sulfate and magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, along with low concentrations of many other elements. There are multiple ways to recover purified water from the brine solution: freeze crystallization, evaporative processes, …

Nitrate Dynamics In An Arid Irrgation Network: Can Nutrient Loops Be Closed With Management Techniques?, Kelsey B. Bicknell

Civil Engineering ETDs

Nutrients are the third leading cause of impairment in aquatic ecosystems, yet they remain necessary to support our growing agriculture system. Mining (as with phosphorus) and manufacturing (as with synthetic nitrogen) fertilizers deplete non-renewable resources and consume large amounts of energy. We have opportunities to optimize food-energy-water (FEW) resources, particularly in arid regions where wastewater, rather than agriculture, is the number one contributor of nutrients. This study evaluates the capacity of three unique channels (i.e., the Drain canal, the Delivery canal, and the Rio Grande River) within the agriculture system of the Middle Rio Grande Valley to process nutrients from …

Fluoride Removal From Water Using A 3d Printed Calcium Carbonate Filter, Sophia Bakar, David Kahler, Benjamin S. Goldschmidt

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Groundwater containing high concentrations of fluoride is the most common source of drinking water in rural areas in parts of east Africa, India, and China. The elevated levels of fluoride cause skeletal and dental fluorosis, which is the weakening and decay of bone structures due to the leeching of calcium from the body as calcium and fluoride bond by the process of adsorption. Over 150 million people are suffering from some form of fluorosis due to the consumption of groundwater. Calcium carbonate has been demonstrated to influence fluoride removal in several forms. To make fluoride removal a cost-effective and user-friendly …

Production Of Secondary Organic Aerosol During Aging Of Biomass Burning Smoke From Fresh Fuels And Its Relationship To Voc Precursors, A. T. Ahern, E. S. Robinson, D. S. Tkacik, L. E. Hatch, Kelley Barsanti, C. E. Stockwell, Robert J. Yokelson, Multiple Additional Authors

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

After smoke from burning biomass is emitted into the atmosphere, chemical and physical processes change the composition and amount of organic aerosol present in the aged, diluted plume. During the fourth Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment, we performed smog‐chamber experiments to investigate formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and multiphase oxidation of primary organic aerosol (POA). We simulated atmospheric aging of diluted smoke from a variety of biomass fuels while measuring particle composition using high‐resolution aerosol mass spectrometry. We quantified SOA formation using a tracer ion for low‐volatility POA as a reference standard (akin to a naturally occurring internal standard). …

The Effects Of Reactant Concentration And Air Flow Rate In The Consumption Of Dissolved O2 During The Photochemistry Of Aqueous Pyruvic Acid, Alexis J. Eugene, Marcelo I. Guzman

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The sunlight photochemistry of the organic chromophore pyruvic acid (PA) in water generates ketyl and acetyl radicals that contribute to the production and processing of atmospheric aerosols. The photochemical mechanism is highly sensitive to dissolved oxygen content, [O₂(aq)], among other environmental conditions. Thus, herein we investigate the photolysis (λ ≥ 305 nm) of 10–200 mM PA at pH 1.0 in water covering the relevant range 0 ≤ [O₂(aq)] ≤ 1.3 mM. The rapid consumption of dissolved oxygen by the intermediate photolytic radicals is monitored in real time with a dissolved oxygen electrode. …

Estimation Of Number Of People Living In Developing Countries That Received Water From A Spring Source, Prapti Shinde

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the year 2000, 170 countries decided to stand together and solve some primary and common global problems like poor health, water, and sanitation. Obtaining access to safe drinking water is every individual’s right. The UN defines safe drinking water as “the water required for each personal or domestic use must be safe, therefore free from micro-organisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that constitute a threat to a person's health” (UNDESA, 2014). This thesis focuses on identifying the number of people who potentially receive spring water from a piped source in rural mountainous areas. There are three significant steps and …

Development And Application Of Decision-Making Tool For Rural Spring-Sourced Gravity-Fed Community Managed Water Systems, Oswaldo Galicia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People all over the world still lack access to safe drinking water service. Those with access experience several issues during the first few years of installation that impede on their overall access. In order to improve water services, not only is a proper decision-making tool necessary, taking into account key factors that impact sustainable water service, but proper monitoring and evaluation is also important in ensuring service for the long term. There are several developed assessment tools used for monitoring and evaluation of water systems post-construction, applicable in various scenarios. However, there are only few tools available to facilitate the …

Aesthetics, Ethics, And Lose-Lose Dilemmas In The Anthropocen, Adam Liska

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic climate change will cause violence to increase globally, and nonlinear increases in sea level could cause a major escalation in global conflict. After 2100, a 22-meter sea-level rise is estimated here to dislocate two billion people from coastal areas. These impending civilization-changing events require us to again reevaluate our prevalent aesthetic preferences for luxury that produce a significant fraction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Due to industrial inertia, a central dilemma discussed here is the contradictions between the goals and impacts of aesthetics and ethics. Either we lose our own well-being (a loss of high-emission aesthetics) for the benefit …

Separation Of Unburned Carbon From Coal Conversion Ash: Development And Assessment Of A Dry Method, Charlotte J. Badenhorst, Nicola J. Wagner, Bruno R.V. Valentim, Karel S. Viljoen, Ana C. Santos, Alexandra Guedes

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Unburned carbon found in coal conversion ash has the potential to be used in a variety of value-added applications. However, it is first necessary to separate the unburned carbon from the rest of the ash phases. This poses challenges due to the relatively low starting carbon-in-ash values (0.4 to 7.8 wt% reported for South African sources), and the high carbon grades (ideally ∼90 wt% carbon) and recoveries that need to be achieved. In this study a dry method for the separation of unburned carbon from coal ash was developed and assessed using fly, bottom, and gasification ash samples obtained from …

Timescales Of Global Tidal Flooding, Maria Bower

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Millions of people in low-lying areas are already affected by flooding, and the number will increase substantially in the future. Tidal flooding, the form of flooding caused by a combination of high tides and sea level rise to overcome protection levels, can cause damage and inconveniences such as road closures, overwhelmed drainage systems, and infrastructure deterioration from water damage. Tidal flooding already occurs annually in cities along the U.S. east coast, most notably Miami. However, the time it will take for other regions globally to begin to experience tidal flooding has not yet been assessed. Therefore, there is a limited …

A Machine Learning Approach For Improving Near-Real-Time Satellite-Based Rainfall Estimates By Integrating Soil Moisture, Ashish Kumar, Raaj Ramsankaran, Luca Brocca, Francisco Munoz-Arriola

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Near-real-time (NRT) satellite-based rainfall estimates (SREs) are a viable option for flood/drought monitoring. However, SREs have often been associated with complex and nonlinear errors. One way to enhance the quality of SREs is to use soil moisture information. Few studies have indicated that soil moisture information can be used to improve the quality of SREs. Nowadays, satellite-based soil moisture products are becoming available at desired spatial and temporal resolutions on an NRT basis. Hence, this study proposes an integrated approach to improve NRT SRE accuracy by combining it with NRT soil moisture through a nonlinear support vector machine-based regression (SVR) …

South Africa’S Power Producer’S Revised Coal Ash Strategy And Implementation Progress, Kelley Reynolds-Clausen, Nico Singh

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

The South African electricity public utility Eskom has embarked on a process to increase utilisation of the ash produced through the electricity generation process at its coal-fired power stations. In the 2014–2015 financial year, 119.2 million tons of coal was consumed, producing 34.4 million tons (28.9%) of ash. About 7% of the Eskom ash is sold from 6 of the 13 coal-fired power stations. Many stations are currently running out of ash storage space, and expansion of the ash disposal facilities is required, which could affect security of supply because of limited ashing areas. Additionally, legislative requirements lead to extra …

Microemulsion Based Soil Remediation Using Mixed Anionic And Extended Nonionic Surfactant, Virin Kittithammavong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The anionic-nonionic mixed system has a synergistic effect on the microemulsion formation by a reduction of interfacial tension. The challenge of the mixed surfactant based on soil remediation is how to find the appropriate condition. This study aims to investigate the phase behaviors of the anionic-nonionic mixed systems and to formulate their hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation (HLD) equations. Then the mixed surfactant solutions are applied to determine the oil removal efficiency. The conventional anionic surfactants (i.e., sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium dihexyl sulfosuccinate (SDHS), and sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate (AOT)) and the extended nonionic surfactants (i.e., alcohol ethoxylate series (AE(EOn) and alkyl polyglycol …

การดูดซับไอบูโพรเฟนโดยตัวกลางดูดซับแบบโครงข่ายโลหะสารอินทรีย์ Mil-53(Al) ที่เคลือบเมโสพอรัสซิลิกา, บุญฤทธิ์ ศิริรังสรรค์กุล

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประส่งค์เพื่อศึกษาประสิทธิภาพการดูดซับสารตกค้างจากยากลุ่มยาต้านการอักเสบที่ไม่ใช่สเตียรอยด์ไอบูโพรเฟน (IBP) ในนำ้เสียสังเคราะห์ โดยตัวกลางดูดซับโครงข่ายโลหะอินทรีย์ MIL-53(Al) และ MIL-53(Al) ที่เคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาที่สัดส่วนต่างๆ นอกจากนี้ยังศึกษาเสถียรภาพของ MIL-53(Al) ในนำ้เสียสังเคราะห์ทั้งก่อนและหลังการเคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกา รวมถึงการศึกษาการนำตัวกลางดูดซับกลับมาใช้ใหม่ภายหลังจากฟื้นสภาพตัวกลางดูดซับด้วยเมธานอล จากผลการทดลองกระบวนการดูดซับภายใต้ระบบทีละเท พบว่า MIL-53(Al) มีอัตราเร็วในการดูดซับไอบูโพรเฟนสูงกว่าถ่านกัมมันต์ชนิดผง (PAC) โดยเข้าสู่สมดุลภายใน 75 นาที และเมื่อทำการเคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาที่สัดส่วนต่างๆ พบว่าอัตราเร็วในการดูดซับเพิ่มขึ้นอย่างมาก โดยใช้ระยะเวลาในการเข้าสู่สมดุลภายใน 25 และจลนพลศาสตร์การดูดซับของตัวกลางดูดซับทั้งหมดสอดคล้องกับจลนพลศาตร์การดูดซับเสมือนลำดับที่ 2 ในขณะที่ตัวกลางดูดซับเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาเพียงอย่างเดียวไม่พบการดูดซับ โดย MIL-53(Al) มีความสามารถในการดูดซับสูงสุด เมื่อเคลือบเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาที่สัดส่วนโดยโมลของ MIL-53(Al) ต่อเตตระเอธิลออร์โธซิลิเกต (TEOS) เท่ากับ 1:0.48 มีความสามารถในการดูดซับไอบูโพรเฟนสูงกว่าสัดส่วนอื่นๆ และไอโซเทอมการดูดซับสอดคล้องกับแบบจำลองของเรดลิช-ปีเตอร์สัน ถึงแม้ว่าการเคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาจะมีประสิทธิภาพในการดูดซับลดลง แต่ยังมีความสามารถในการดูดซับใกล้เคียงกับ PAC จากการศึกษาเสถียรภาพพบว่า MIL-53(Al) ที่เคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกามีเสถียรภาพเพิ่มขึ้นและมีการชะละลายของสารอินทรีย์และโลหะน้อยลง นอกจากนี้ MIL-53(Al) ที่เคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาสามารถนำกลับมาใช้ใหม่ได้ถึง 2 ครั้งหลังจากสกัดด้วยเมทานอล ในขณะที่ MIL-53(Al) ไม่สามารถในการดูดซับไอบูโพรเฟนได้อีกเมื่อนำกลับมาใช้ใหม่ในครั้งที่ 2 เนื่องจากการพังทลายของโครงสร้าง

Actual Evapotranspiration And Crop Coefficients Of Irrigated Lowland Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Under Semiarid Climate, Koffi Djaman, Daran R. Rudnick, Yonnelle D. Moukoumbi, Abdoulaye Sow, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Lowland irrigated rice is the predominant crop produced in the Senegal River Valley characterized by very low annual rainfall, high temperatures, and low relative humidity. The Senegal River is shared by Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, and Guinea, and serves as the main source of irrigation water for the adopted double rice cropping system. Developing appropriate resource management strategies might be the key factor for the sustainability of rice production in the region. This study aims to estimate rice seasonal evapotranspiration (ETa), irrigation water requirement, and to develop rice growth stage specific crop coefficients (Kc) to improve rice water productivity. Field experiments …

Techno- Economic Feasibility Study Of Solar Water Pumping For Public Facilities In Nigeria, Anamika Singh

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis presents a techno-economic feasibility analysis of solar water pumping systems in public facilities located in rural parts of Nigeria. Three different public facilities namely, a primary health care center in Ibwa (PHC, Ibwa), a comprehensive health care center in Kwali (CHC, Kwali), and the LEA Primary School in Mapa (LEA School, Mapa), all located in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, were analyzed. The facilities considered in the study have varying levels of water demand (micro, small, and medium), and they are used as cases to establish the techno-economic suitability of solar water pumping systems to deliver water …

Design Of A Viability Test For Freshwater Prawn Aquaculture Of Two Different Macrobrachium Species In Aneityum, Vanuatu, Cameron Koizumi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

There is a unique opportunity for freshwater prawn aquaculture on the island of Aneityum in the Republic of Vanuatu. Aneityum has an abundance of fresh water, the streams and rivers on Aneityum are the natural habitat for a freshwater prawn species, Macrobrachium lar, and the people on Aneityum regularly work on projects using communal labor for the benefit of the community. Aneityum also hosts 40 – 120 cruise ships a year, bringing hundreds of thousands of tourists to Aneityum and the nearby islet Mystery Island which creates a readily available market in which to sell freshwater prawns.

The objective …

Global Food Security Under Climate-Water-Energy Nexus, Ehsan Najafi

Dissertations and Theses

During the last few decades, the global agricultural production has risen and technology enhancement is still contributing to yield growth. However, population growth, water and energy crisis, and extreme weather, climate change, etc. threaten the global food security. The focus of this study is to advance the understanding of the associations between crops productivity and large scale and local scale climatic variables, climate change, technology enhancement and assessing food-water-energy nexus to enhance global food security in a sustainable manner considering current available resources. As decision-makers try to improve food security, it is important to identify the impact of technology enhancement …

Technology For Integrated Groyne-Vetiver Erosion Reduction (Tiger): Case Study In A West African River, Chase M. West

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

River erosion is a problem all over the world. The effects of river erosion are especially hard for farmers in developing countries, where the river is an important part of their farming practices and daily lives. A case study was done in the small village of Fode Binea in Senegal, West Africa to reduce this stream erosion. A new hybrid approach, Technology for Integrated Groyne-Vetiver Erosion Reduction (TIGER) method, was developed. The method includes combining groynes at the toe of the riverbank to reduce toe erosion in the channel and planting a buffer strip with vetiver grass to reduce erosion …