Engineering Commons^™

Scale-Up And Characterization Of An Enrichment Culture For Bioaugmentation Of The P-Area Chlorinated Ethene Plume At The Savannah River Site, Ashley Eaddy

All Theses

Bioaugmentation has become an increasingly popular remediation strategy for groundwater sites contaminated with chlorinated solvents. When biostimulation is not an option due to the lack of necessary microorganisms required for dechlorination of the contaminants, bioaugmentation is an attractive option for remediation. The P-Area groundwater plumes at the Savannah River Site (SRS) are just such a case. The P-Area site is contaminated with tetrachloroethene (PCE), trichloroethene (TCE), and cis-dichloroethene (cDCE), and no dechlorination past cDCE is occurring. A similar site, the C-Area site, is near one of the P-Area site's source zones but displays complete reduction of TCE to ethene. …

Microcosm Evaluation Of Vinyl Chloride Bio-Oxidation Under Anaerobic Conditions, Jessica High

All Theses

The vast majority of hazardous waste sites in the US have groundwater contaminated with halogenated organic solvents, primarily tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE). Because the cost to remediate these sites is projected to exceed hundreds of billions of dollars, there is considerable interest in utilizing bioremediation as a low-cost remedy. Under anaerobic conditions, the best characterized biodegradation pathway for chlorinated ethenes is reductive dechlorination, whereby an electron donor such as hydrogen provides the reducing equivalents needed to replace chlorine atoms with hydrogen atoms. The ultimate daughter products from chlorinated ethenes are non-hazardous ethene and ethane, a process easily documented with …

Fecal Coliform Source Identification Using Chemical Tracers, Nicole Fahrenfeld

All Theses

Fecal sterols and fluorinated whitening agents (FWA) were used as chemical tracers for fecal coliform source tracking in Cane and Little Cane creeks in Walhalla, SC. Fecal sterols were quantifiable in both stream sediments and suspended particulates using an extraction, clean-up, and analytical method modified from Isobe et al. (2002) with a N,O-Bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) derivatization scheme. Only human sterol source identification ratios were able to be calculated using the chosen sterol suite. Human fecal signatures were seen in both the sediment and the water column at various points along both creeks, indicating human fecal pollution is contributing to the fecal …

Facilitating Use Of The Odor Footprint Tool By Nebraska Pork Producers, Rick R. Stowell

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The goal of this project was to make Odor Footprint Tool (OFT) resources readily usable by pork producers and their technical advisors as a planning and screening tool when siting swine facilities. Detailed odor footprints for five specified sizes of swine facilities were developed for twenty-four locations throughout Nebraska: six regional sites and three “localized” sites within each region. Each odor footprint shows the predicted odor annoyance-free frequency as a function of the distance from the facility. Footprints developed using localized weather data differed only slightly from footprints produced using weather data from a regional site when the general topography …

Evaluation Of The Performance Efficiency Of The New York Avenue Exfiltration Facility, Stormwater Academy

BMP Trains Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Nebraska Water Map

Nebraska Water Center: Administrative Materials

Nebraska Water is a full-color, 24"x36" poster, that is appropriate for educational use. The information presented on the maps is the best available as of July 2008. The content and level of detail of each map is based on available space and map scale.

Shallow Vs Deep Ponds Fgcu Final Repot, Stormwater Academy

BMP Trains Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Modeling The Performance Of Point-Of-Use Activated Carbon Unit For The Removal Of Disinfection By-Products From Drinking Water, Malak Sami Naguib

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Colorimetric Test For Quantification Of Uranium In Drinking Water, Amy Ratliff

All Theses

A new method was developed for the determination of uranium in groundwater above 30µg/L (30ppb). This concentration is the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for uranium in drinking water, which was set in December 2003 by the US EPA under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The method is rapid and requires little technical training to conduct, allowing it to be used by consumers, in the laboratory, or in the field. The two-step technique involves preconcentrating uranium using a U/TEVA-2 extraction chromatographic resin followed by complexation with a pyridylazo indicator dye, Br-PADAP. At neutral pH, a counter ion is …

Storm Water Export Of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, And Carbon From Developing Catchments In The Upper Piedmont Physiographic Province, Laura Reid

All Theses

Impacts on water quality caused by land use change from forests and pastures to housing subdivisions were evaluated in catchments undergoing active development in the upper Piedmont physiographic province of South Carolina. Specific attention was focused on the export of nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon from these catchments during storm events. Three catchments with varying stages of development were compared to categorize the effects of land disturbance. Storm events occurring within a four year period of 2004 through 2007 were studied for changes in water quality within catchment streams. Due to the potential large input of surface runoff to streams following …

Kinetics Determination Of Soybean Oil Transesterification In The Design Of A Continuous Biodiesel Production Process, Irwin Jacob, Ed Clausen, Danielle Julie Carrier

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

One-step batch transesterification consisting of three stepwise reversible reactions of pure soybean oil with methanol was conducted at two different mixing speeds (600 and 300 rpm) to produce soybean oil fatty acid methyl esters (biodiesel). In both batch reactions, sodium methoxide (1.09 wt% based on soybean oil) was used as the catalyst, the reaction temperature was 60oC, and the methanol-to-oil molar ratio was 6:1. The objectives were to determine and/or investigate: 1) the mechanism and order of the reaction, 2) the reaction rate constants, 3) the effect of changes in mixing intensity on the reaction rate, 4) the comparison of …

Anaerobic Biodegradation Of Ethylene Dibromide And 1,2-Dichloroethane In The Presence Of Fuel Hydrocarbons, James Henderson

All Dissertations

Field evidence from underground storage tank (UST) sites where leaded gasoline leaked indicates the lead scavengers 1,2-dibromoethane (ethylene dibromide, or EDB) and 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) may be present in groundwater at levels that pose unacceptable risk. These compounds are seldom tested for at UST sites. Although dehalogenation of EDB and 1,2-DCA is known to occur, the effect of fuel hydrocarbons on their biodegradability under anaerobic conditions is poorly understood. Microcosms (2 L glass bottles) were prepared with soil and groundwater from a UST site in Clemson, South Carolina, using samples collected from the source (containing residual fuel) and less contaminated downgradient …

The Formation Of Halonitromethanes In Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents, Jesse Addison

All Theses

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) have been a water treatment concern since their discovery in the 1970's. Today, only eleven drinking water DBPs are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, over 500 DBPs have been identified in drinking waters with advances in analytical methods within the last two decades. Halonitromethanes (HNMs) were among the fifty-plus unregulated high-priority DBPs that were monitored for and detected in drinking waters in a recent nationwide occurrence study funded by EPA. The toxicology studies conducted in recent years showed that HNMs are one of the most cytotoxic and genotoxic classes among the emerging DBPs, and …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Chlorinated Ethene Transformation Processes In Fractured Sandstone, Ramona Darlington

All Dissertations

A fractured sandstone aquifer at an industrial site in southern California is contaminated with trichloroethene (TCE) to depths in excess of 244 m. Field monitoring data suggest that TCE is undergoing reduction to cis-DCE and that additional attenuation is occurring. However, vinyl chloride (VC) and ethene have not been detected in significant amounts, so that if transformation is occurring, a process other than reductive dechlorination must be responsible. The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of biotic and abiotic transformation processes at this site for TCE, cis-DCE and VC. Anaerobic microcosms were constructed with site groundwater …

Decision Analysis Considering Welfare Impacts In Water Resources Using The Benefit Transfer Approach, Ashraf Shaqadan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Decision making in environmental management is faced with uncertainties associated with related environmental variables and processes. Decision makers are inclined to use resources to acquire better information in one or more uncertain variable(s). Typically, with limited resources available, characterizing the feasibility of such investment is desirable yet complicated.

In the context of reducing inherent uncertainty, decision makers need to tackle two difficult questions, first, the optimal selection of variable(s) and second, the optimal level of information collection which produces maximum gain in benefits.

We develop a new framework to assess the socioeconomic value of potential decisions of collecting additional information …

Nutrient Mobility From Biosolids Land Application Sites, Mai Anh Vu Tran

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three types of biosolids (lime-stabilized, aerobically digested, and anaerobically digested biosolids) were applied on 0.13-ha test plots on disturbed rangelands in Western Utah at rates of up to twenty times (20X) the estimated N-based agronomic rate. Soil samples at depths up to 1.5 m were collected and analyzed for nitrogen, phosphorus, regulated metals, pH, and electrical conductivity for up to two years after biosolids application.

NH₄-N at the soil surface (0.2 m) was primarily lost through ammonia volatilization and nitrification. This observation was consistent with reported increases in nitrate (NO₃-N) concentrations found within the soil surface …

Algorithm Development Of The Aglite-Lidar Instrument, Christian Marchant

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Particulate emissions from agricultural operations are increasingly receiving attention from regulatory bodies as a potential source of air pollution. The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) has developed the Aglite system, a suite of instruments including a lidar that is capable of measuring particulate emission levels from agricultural facilities. This system provides a novel method of measuring particulate mass (PM) pollution, allowing measurements to be taken of diverse types of facilities with high temporal and spatial resolution. This high resolution allows for the measurement of emission levels generated by specific activities, fostering the development and determination of best management practices.

The Aglite …

Implementing Mass Nutrient Balance Procedures On Swine Production Facilities, Richard Koelsch, Alan Sutton

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Whole Farm Nutrient Balance (WFNB) approaches have been used to provide a measure of environmental performance (Aarts et al., 1992; Lanyon and Beegle, 1993; Klausner, 1995). Whole farm balance concepts are used as part of the Netherlands Mineral Accounting System public policy that includes compulsory mineral input and output reports from livestock farms and levies for excess imbalances (Jongbloed and Lenis, 1998). Procedures for measuring WFNB will be followed in measurements made on commercial swine facilities for 2006 and 2007. The conclusions developed based upon data from 13 for 2006 include:

• On average, the participating swine producers import 1.5 units …

Sustainable Portland: Implementation Series 1, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

When the Sustainable Portland Task Force Report was released in November 2007, under the leadership of Mayor Jim Cohen, Portland Councilor Kevin Donoghue had the idea that students at the Muskie School of Public Service might be able to help implement recommendations from the report. It may have helped that Kevin was himself a graduate of the Community Planning and Development Master’s program at the Muskie School, but it was a good idea nevertheless. He approached Professor Sam Merrill in the CPD program, who spoke with the new Mayor Ed Suslovic about a possible partnership between the City and the …

Development Of A Screening Tool To Facilitate Technology Of An Innovative Technology To Treat Perchlorate-Contaminated Water, Daniel A. Craig

Theses and Dissertations

Perchlorate contamination of drinking water is a significant problem nationwide. The purpose of this study was to develop a tool to predict the cost and performance of tailored granular activated carbon (T-GAC), an innovative technology that is being evaluated as a cost-effective treatment for perchlorate-contaminated water. The ability to accurately predict performance and cost can facilitate the transfer and commercialization of innovative technologies. In the study, a model was developed to predict T-GAC performance and life-cycle costs for removing perchlorate under varying influent water quality and technology operating conditions. The model's design parameters were obtained from laboratory rapid small-scale column …

Linking Embeddedness And Macroinvertebrate In Two Southwest Ohio Streams, Jonathan P. Kochersberger

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental managers utilize a variety of tools when assessing lotic systems for stressors attributed to anthropogenic sources. Stream deposited sediment has been recognized as one of the major stressors affecting streams in the U.S. The detrimental effect on aquatic biota of sediment depositing within the interstitial spaces of stream substrate (embeddedness) has been established, yet lacking is an effective in situ method of quantifying embeddedness over short time periods. The goal of this research was to develop a short-term embeddedness (EMB) quantification method that can be linked to benthic macroinvertebrate health. Such a method would be a valuable tool when …

Molecular Characterization Of Wetland Soil Bacterial Communities In Constructed Mesocosms, Elisabeth M. Leon

Theses and Dissertations

16S rRNA gene analysis was performed on soil samples from a subsurface flow mesocosm experiment, mimicking a constructed wetland. Three typical wetland species of plant were used in nine of the columns and three columns were unplanted controls. Analyses showed that plant presence, plant species, and depth did not have a significant effect on microbial community composition. However, richness analyses illustrated that plant presence had a positive effect on richness, plant species analyses indicated that there was evidence that plant species affected richness in a significant manner, and lastly richness was negatively affected in the bottom depth for the control …

The History Of The Unl Water Center From 1964, Water Center, School Of Natural Resources

Nebraska Water Center: Administrative Materials

Water is an integral part of Nebraska’s economy and well being in a state that depends on an adequate supply for all uses, including agricultural, municipal, industrial, recreational and wildlife habitat.

Nebraska is fortunate with regard to its water supply, having tremendous groundwater reserves which are estimated to be in excess of two billion acrefeet (an acre-foot being enough water to cover one acre of land with a foot of water, or approximately 325,000 gallons), combined with an estimated annual precipitation of 86 million acre-feet and annual average surface water inflows of 1.7 million acre-feet, give the state adequate supplies …

Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Alternative Ferrate (Vi) Synthesis Formulas As Disinfectants For Wastewater And River Water, Rachelle Ginart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ferrate (VI) has been studied as an alternative chemical to disinfect water and wastewater in recent years. The disinfection effectiveness of two different wet oxidation ferrate (VI) synthesis formulas in wastewater and Econlockhatchee River water was evaluated. Ferrate (VI) is synthesized by addition of ferric chloride to a mixture of sodium hydroxide and calcium hypochlorite (refer to U.S. Patent 6,790,429). One ferrate (VI) synthesis formula uses below the stoichiometric requirement of hypochlorite (Low Chlorine Formula) while the other ferrate (VI) synthesis formula uses more than the stoichiometric requirement of hypochlorite (Standard Chlorine Formula). For applications requiring low chlorine residual effluent …

Impact Of Corrosion Inhibitor Blended Orthophosphate On Water Quality In Water Distribution Systems, Abdulrahman Alshehri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The impact of blended orthophosphate (BOP) inhibitor addition on the corrosion of iron, copper, and lead in drinking water distribution systems was studied under changing water quality environment. Release of iron, copper, and lead were monitored at varying inhibitor doses and changing blends of source waters (groundwater, surface water, and desalinated water). Solid corrosion products on pipe surfaces under BOP treatment were evaluated with surface characterization techniques. Performance of the BOP inhibitor was compared to other corrosion control strategies. Iron scales for iron and galvanized steel coupons incubated in different blended waters in the presence of BOP inhibitor were analyzed …

The Effects Of Phosphate And Silicate Inhibitors On Surface Roughness And Copper Release In Water Distribution Systems, David Macnevin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of corrosion inhibitors on water quality and the distribution system were studied. This dissertation investigates the effect of inhibitors on iron surface roughness, copper surface roughness, and copper release. Corrosion inhibitors included blended poly/ortho phosphate, sodium orthophosphate, zinc orthophosphate, and sodium silicate. These inhibitors were added to a blend of surface water, groundwater, and desalinated brackish water. Surface roughness of galvanized iron, unlined cast iron, lined cast iron, and polyvinyl chloride was measured using pipe coupons exposed for three months. Roughness of each pipe coupon was measured with an optical surface profiler before and after exposure to inhibitors. …

Nutrient Removal From Stormwater By Using Green Sorption Media, Fahim Hossain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High nitrogen and phosphorus content in storm water runoff has affected groundwater, springs and surface water by impacting ecosystem integrity and human health. Nitrate may be toxic and can cause human health problem such as methemoglobinemia, liver damage and even cancers. Phosphorus may trigger the eutrophication issues in fresh water bodies, which could result in toxic algae and eventually endanger the source of drinking waters. Sorption media with mixes of some recycled materials, such as sawdust and tire crumb, combined with sand/silt and limestone, becomes appealing for nutrient removal in environmental management. This paper presented is a specific type of …

Removal Of 2, 4-Dinitrophenol By Ferrate, Gianna Cooley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ferrate (molecular formula, FeVIO42-) has been studied increasingly since the 1970s as a disinfectant and coagulant for domestic wastewater and also as an oxidant for industrial wastewaters (Murmann and Roginson, 1974, Gilbert et al., 1978, Kazama, 1994, Jiang et al., 2002, and Sharmaet al., 2005). This research was performed to explore whether ferrate could possibly be used as chemical treatment for industrial wastewaters from plastic, chemical, dye, soap, and wood stain producing plants that contain 2, 4-Dinitrophenol (DNP). DNP is listed on the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). This list includes compounds which …

The Effectiveness Of Specifically Designed Filter Media To Reduce Nitrate And Orthophosphate In Stormwater Runoff, Mikhal Moberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout Central Florida surface water and ground water are decreasing in quantity and quality in part because of excess Nitrate and Phosphorus nutrients. Stormwater runoff serves as a medium for transport of Nitrate and Phosphorus to surface water and ground water. The goal of this experiment is assess the Nitrate and Phosphorus removal in stormwater using select media. The results of a literature search, batch test experimentation and column test experimentation are used to determine an optimal media blend that may be implemented in detention ponds to reduce Nitrate and Phosphorus. The extensive literature search revealed 32 different media that …

Performance Based Decision System In Determining Post Closure Care (Pcc) Duration In Florida Landfills, Asawari Kulkarni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is an evaluation of Post Closure Care (PCC) duration of landfills using performance based methodology. The post closure care phase begins once the landfill is closed. As required by the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle D, PCC duration for municipal solid waste landfills is 30 years. During the PCC period, the landfill operator/owner is required to conduct monitoring for leachate, landfill gas, and ground-water and maintain the integrity of the cap so that the landfill does not impose a threat to surrounding human health and environment (HH&E). The duration of PCC can be reduced by the director …