Engineering Commons^™

Feasibility Study Of Maine's Small Hydropower Potential, James D. Sysko

Maine Collection

Feasibility Study of Maine's Small Hydropower Potential

Prepared by James D. Sysko, Small Hydro East, for the Maine State Planning Office, Maine Office of Energy Resources, January 1989.

"This study focuses on finding potential hydropower sites of approximately 50 kw to 1000 kw in capacity."

Winery Waste Utilization-A Case Study Of Dowico, J. H.Y. Katima

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The Dodoma Winery Company (DOWICO), is presently processing about 1000 tonnes of grapes to produce different types of wines, with left overs of about 200 as wastes. These wastes are dumped outside the factory, obviously, a poor method of waste disposition as far as the environmental significance is concerned. Since the expansion programme, to enable the plant to handle up to 30000 tonnes of grapes per year is in the pipeline the best method of disposing the huge amount of waste (about 6000 tonnes) that will result, has to be sought.

This paper highlights the financial and sanitary advantage of …

Anaerobic Biodegradation Of Trichloroethylene By Activated Carbon Fluidized-Bed, Jiunn-Horng Chern

Theses

The synthetic wastewater containing trichloroethylene (TCE) was anaerobically degraded with glucose using activated carbon fluidized-bed.

The range of TCE concentration from 26 ppb to 10.8 ppm was examined. The ratio of glucose to TCE in the influent wastewater was ranged from 26 to 805, while the TCE loading ranged from 0.025 to 1.510 mg/hr-L.

The TCE removal efficiency under these treatment conditions was found to be of 99.4%. However, the reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) decreased when the TCE loadings was over 0.38 mg/hr-L.

Optimal Allocation Of Water Among Industries In Dar Es Salaam City, Tanzania, J. I. Matondo

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Dar es Salaam is the city with the largest number of industries in Tanzania. However, the water demand for these industries is more than the supply. Therefore, there is a water use competing problem among the industries. Dynamic programming technique has been applied to optimally allocate the available water among the industries with the objective of maximizing the net benefits. Results reveal that, industries with the highest net return per unit of water will get the first priority of being allocated water.

Development Of A Spray Drought Cooling Tower, O. K. Kaunde

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

ABSTRACT A noval type direct contact cooling tower has been proposed in which the gas or air entering the tower is drawn by the ejector action of the sprays through which the feed water is admitted. The advantage offered by this type of tower is that it eliminates the usages of fan, thus saving the capital cost and power to drive it.

Entrainment of air by water was studied in a laboratory cooling tower and the result of the entire experiment indicate that the development of a spray drought tower is a feasible practice.

Multiyear Drought Simulation With Periodic-Stochastic Hydrologic Processes, Lankeswara Hemal Wijayaratne

Dissertations

Previous studies on multiyear droughts are often limited to the analysis of historic annual flow series. A major problem in these studies is the unavailability of long historic flow records, on which to perform the analysis. To overcome this difficulty, the present study has used synthetically generated mean annual flow series to suppliment the historic flows. For the purpose of generating flows, a general methodology was developed to propose a mathematical model based on the harmonic and stochastic analyses of the historic flow series. The main objective was to derive a large population of multiyear drought events from the generated …

Sorption And Desorption Of Organic Compounds By Flyash, Kashinath Banerjee

Dissertations

A sorbent treatment process has been developed which uses flyash as sorbent in the treatment of highly toxic and hazardous chemicals; these include: Alcohols, Aldehydes, Ketones and Aromatics. Batch, as well as dynamic, studies were performed, in different phases, during the investigation. Single and multiple solute systems were examined separately. The samples were analyzed using a Flame Ionization Detector Gas Chromatograph.

The result of this study demonstrates that isolation/ immobilization of the organic pollutants is technologically feasible by adsorbing the contaminants onto flyash. The residual carbon content of the flyash plays a very significant role during the treatment process. The …

The Quantitative Determination Of Formaldehyde In Ambient Air (Analytical Method), Chitsan Lin

Theses

A procedure for coating in situ silica gel in prepacked cartridges with 2,4-dinitrophenylhvdrazine (DNPH) acidified with hydrochloric acid is described. The method was evaluated under practical field conditions in The Northern New Jersey-Staten Island Urban Air Toxics Project. The formaldehyde hydrazone formed is desorbed by acetonitrile and determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV det.ection. In this study, we have examined trap coaz)ng, trap efficiency, parallel ambient air and inaoor air sampLing, to find the best analysis method. Sampling traps aci:iifled .:ith hydrochloric acid perform better than those using percnicric acid or phosphoric acid. Trap sampling efficiency was significantly affected …

An Improved Method Of Gas Chromatographic Determination Of Trace Organic Vapors In Ambient Air Collected In Canisters, Yong-Jin Shen

Theses

An improved method for analysis and quantitation of volatile organic compounds in ambient air has been developed. Samples are collected in evacuated SUMMA polished stainless steel canisters using a sampling flow apparatus with a critical orifice as flowrate controller. Analysis of VOCs in the collected air is carried out by cryogenically concentrating the sample, then thermally transfering it onto the head of a capillary column in a gas chromatograph. The column effluent is measured by a parallel flame ionization detector (FID), and electron capture detector (ECD). The problems associating with quantitative transfer of the sample to the initial cryofocusing loop …

A Field Perspective On Groundwater Contamination, John A. Cherry

Maine Collection

A Field Perspective on Groundwater Contamination

Geological Society of Maine Distinguished Lecturer John Cherry, University of Waterloo, Ontario, sponsored by the Department of Geosciences, University of Southern Maine, 19th May 1988.

Contents: Lecture 1 : Contaminant Migration Processes Illustrated by Field Experiments / Lecture 2 : Behavior of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids, Illustrated by Lab Experiments and Conceptual Examples / Lecture 3 : Field Case Histories on Groundwater Contamination / Lecture 4 : Hydrogeological Concepts and Criteria for Waste Disposal / Waterloo Center for Groundwater Research Publications List

Environmental Assessment Of Las Vegas Wash And Lake Mead Artificial Wetlands Demonstration Project, John R. Baker, R. M. Gersberg, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Publications (WR)

The effective use of artificial wetlands for treatment of municipal wastewater is well documented; however, design and economic data for artificial wetlands development are limited (Gersberg et al., 1984a). This is due partly to regional differences in climate, soils, and vegetation and partly to the desired waste treatment. As a result, specific treatment levels and cost benefits relative to the use of an artificial wetlands for a particular site cannot be evaluated adequately without a pilot demonstration project. Las Vegas Wash receives sewage effluent from the Las Vegas metropolitan area and has been designated as a wetlands community park. Las …

Thermal Desorption Of Hazardous And Toxic Organic Compounds From Soil Matrices : Dichloromethane, Chloroform, Benzene, Toluene, 1-Chloronaphthalene, 1, 2, 4-Trichlorobenzene, Arun S. Chemburkar

Theses

This research project was undertaken to understand the process of desorption/removal of organic compounds from soil matrices under the influence of temperature and gas purging. The project was divided in two parts :

A. Plug deposition experiments: Columns packed with soil matrices were purged with an inert gas under isothermal conditions. Organic compounds were then introduced as a plug on the front of the column by on-line injection. The rate of passage (due to sequential adsorption/desorption) of the plug through the various soil matrices was measured by a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID). The compounds studied …

Optimal Design Aspects Of A Unit Treating Hazardous Wastes Via Biodegradation : A Theoretical Approach, Farnaz Saghafi

Theses

The treatment of wastes via biodegradation is a widely utilized technique in most industries today. The kinetics of biodegradation, in most cases, follow either the Monod (non-inhibitory) or Andrews (also known as Haldane, inhibitory) model as indicated by published experimental data. The present study investigates aspects of the optimal design of a unit treating wastes when the biodegradation kinetics are those mentioned above. The criterion of optimality is the minimum volume achieving a desired conversion under given load conditions.

Two alternatives from the point of view of the number of vessels (one and two), and three alternatives from the operational …

Adsorption Of Nickel And Lead With Activated Sludge, Chi-Yun Chen

Theses

Wastewater produced in domestic, commercial, and industrial activities often contains significant amounts of metals. This would result in the discharge of heavy metals into the sewer system. Some of the heavy metals can be adsorbed by activated sludge. This may present a problem for the treatment and ultimate disposal of sludge.

The purpose of the research was to determine how much metals can be adsorbed by sludge. Nickel and Lead were selected for this investigation because of their environmental significance. Both belong to priority pollutants considered potentially toxic. Factors affecting the adsorption, such as sludge concentration, metal concentration, mixing condition, …

Application Of Computer Techniques In Groundwater Contamination Studies, Komratchi Raman

Theses

A study has been undertaken to provide insight into two related aspects of groundwater contamination studies - contaminant transport behavior and its analysis by modeling techniques. The study reviews recent research that explains some of the uncertainties in the transport and fate of chemical contaminants in groundwater. Approaches to modeling techniques and data reduction are developed to illustrate their usefulness in analysing existing groundwater data, and to make predictions on the future water chemical characteristics. Three types of study areas have been chosen for this purpose, each representing a different type of groundwater contamination problem. The first study area has …

Separation And Characterization Of Biologically Significant Chemical Classes In Airborne Particulate Organic Matter : Measurement Of Selected Chemical Classes In Freshly Collected Air Samples, Xueying Sun

Theses

Since hazardous materials present in airborne pollutants can affect human health and environmental quality and most of the specific compounds remain uncharacterized, a study was conducted to characterize airborne particulate extractable organic matter (EOM) with respect to chemical composition. Specifically, a number of chemical classes including N-heterocycles, phenols, quinones, carboxylic acids, and especially N-nitrosamines were tested using an integrated chemical class screening system.

The inhalable particulate matter was collected, using a high volume 10 um inlet sampler, on the roof of Tiernan Hall, New Jersey Institute of Technology, which is located off Warren Street in Newark. Sequential solvent extractions yielded …

Degradation Of Aniline And Nitrobenzene In A Photoreactor, Michael Joseph Sowa

Theses

Degradation of aniline and nitrobenzene in aqueuous solutions was studied. Five reaction processes were utilized, including ultraviolet light, ozone, O₂/UV, O₃/O₂/UV, and H₂O₂/UV. A 30 liter semi-batch gas sparged reactor was used for the development of reaction rate and mass transfer parameters in these systems. The results were used to model a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) for the O₃/O₂/UV case. Reasonable agreement was obtained for steady state exit concentrations between the experimental data and those predicted from the model.

Thermal Decomposition Of Dichlorobenzene In An Atmosphere Of Hydrogen And Helium, Mingta Hung

Theses

Reactions of dilute mixtures of dichlorobenzene in hydrogen and in helium were studied in a tubular reactor at a pressure of 1 atm, residence times of 0.04 to 2.7 seconds, and temperature range of 825 to 1000° C. Product distributions at various reaction conditions are measured with a flame ionization detector gas chromatograph, and qualitative analysis of batch samples was also performed by GC/Mass Spectrometry. The major products were observed as the thermodynamically stable species, HC1, Cis), benzene and chlorobenzene. Thermal reaction in helium at 1 second residence time in 1.05 cm ID reactor yielded less benzene and chlorobenzene when …

Physical Data, Anon.

Publications (WR)

Data collected at various stations around the Lake Mead vicinity. Air temperature, lake elevation, weather, and wind velocity is recorded, as well as the depth, temperature, oxygen, conductivity, and pH. Standard.

Analysis Of Nitrated Polycyclic Hydrocarbons, Pah-Quinones And Related Compounds In Ambient Air, Yalan Wang

Theses

Studies were conducted to characterized airborne particulate extractable organic matter (EOM) with respect to chemical composition and biological activity. It has been well established that the nitrated polycyclic hydrocarbons (nitroPAH) are environmental contaminants. To identify nitro-PAH in ambient air sample, a technique was developed involving introduction of a reducer column into an reversephase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. Strong fluorescence signals were achieved from nitro-PAH and detected together with u.v. signals for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of nitro-PAH. 2-Nitrotriptycene was synthesized according to published procedures and used as an internal standard. By use of the above technique, 9nitroanthracene, …

Groundwater Contamination Studies At A Sanitary Landfill In New Jersey, Yau-Chorng Chien

Theses

Edgeboro Landfill, a site used for the disposal of municipal and industrial refuse, is one of the largest landfills in New Jersey. The landfill has been in operation since 1954, serving the solid waste disposal needs of local townships and a major portion of Middlessex and the surrounding counties. The landfill was not equipped with a liner and a leachate collection system at the time of start up. The leachate collection line around the landfill, on-site leachate treatment by three stabilization ponds and subsurface cut-off wall were provided to minimize the discharge of leachate into adjacent waters in 1979. Groundwater …

Thermal Desorption Of Hazardous And Toxic Organic Compounds From Soil Matrices, Michael L. Hornsby

Theses

The purpose of this initial laboratory scale research project was to study and demonstrate the feasibility in removal of selected toxic organic compounds from soil by thermal desorption and gas purge. Applying heat and a flow of inert gas to the soil increases the volatilization and effects removal of organic compounds from soil. The work was done in two parts: First, organic solvents were injected into columns containing real and simulated soil matrices. The columns were heated to one of the four temperatures and purged with a flow of nitrogen carrier gas. The organic vapors were deposited as a plug …

Kinetic Study Of Degradation Of Refractory Organic Chemicals : 2, 4-Dichlorophenol, 2, 4-D And Pyridine; Using Ozone/Hydrogen Peroxide/Uv Radiation, Milind K. Pradhan

Theses

In this study Ozone/Hydrogen Peroxide/UV radiation is used to destroy refractory organic chemicals in aqueous solutions. 2,4-dichlorophenol, 2,4-D and Pyridine are the three chemicals used. Hydrogen Peroxide in combination with UV light proved to be most effective in destroying the parent chemical completely. Ozone and UV system was the next most effective system. UV alone was the least effective.

Kinetic study of the Hydrogen Peroxide and UV system was done using a Chemkin program. The results predicted by the Chemkin program matched closely with the experimental results. More work is currently being done using the Chemkin program to study other …

The Degradation Of Trace Pollutants In Wastewater, Christine M. Cheng

Theses

The effect of different treatments on the degradation of chlorinated organic pollutants in wastewater has been studied. The model compound investigated was para-chlorophenol. The different treatments used were ozone, UV irradiation, ultrasound, air flow and pure oxygen.

It is concluded that ozone has the greatest effect, ozone-UV irradiation follows closely behind, and UV irradiation has much less of an effect in degrading the p-chlorophenol.

P-chlorophenol was found to have an immeasureably slow degradation rate when treated with air even at an elevated temperature of 55°C.

The oxygen, at room temperature, showed a degradation of p-chlorophenol which, although small, was much …

Novel High Resolution Columns For Gas Chromatography, Douglas Kenneth Stout

Theses

A study was conducted to determine if BN would be a reliable solid phase or support for open tubular capillary columns and to develop a technique for the deposition of BN on the column's inner walls. The theoretical plate results for constructed precoated BN columns demonstrated that BN can be employed as solid stationary phase, but evinces low separation characteristics due to the nature of the drawing process. The development of a simple BN precoating process was tested on various diameter capillary columns and found to provide an excellent support for highly polar liquid stationary phases. Capillary columns with a …

Benzene Losses From Aqueous Solutions During Geotechnical Laboratory Testing, Konstadinos Vogiatzis

Theses

This study addressed the problem of using volatile organics in geotechnical laboratory tests. Previous experiments with volatile organics such as benzene and trichloroethylene with soils had shown significant concentration losses during the tests. The purpose of the study was to identify the sources of loss and to quantify the magnitude of loss.

Vapor - liquid equilibrium was used to predict theoretical evaporation losses of benzene from aqueous solutions. Calculations were made for both an infinite volume of air and for a finite volume. Experiments were then performed to verify the theoretical predictions.

Other losses considered were those during solution preparation, …

Feasibility Of Using Canine Olfaction As A Means Of Detecting Hazardous Substances, Stuart David Messur

Theses

Two specific applications for using canine olfaction as a means of detecting hazardous substances have been recognized: detection of residual contamination on hazardous waste cleanup equipment (DECON), and detection of leaking underground gasoline tanks (LUST).

With the DECON project, the dog's ability to detect low emissions of some common hazardous compounds was tested. As a safe and effective training tool for presenting hazardous compounds to the dog, permeation tubes filled with m-xylene or 1,1,1-trichloroethane were constructed and calibrated. Hidden tubes emitting as low as 0.5 µg/min were consistently detected by the dogs. During olfactory field tests, "hot spots" of m-xylene …

Steady-State Operation Of Bench-Scale Activated Sludge Process Using Phenol And 2-Chlorophenol As Substrates, Jeffrey Richard Caputi

Theses

Experiments were conducted to determine whether a continuous process similar to the common activated sludge process could be operated at a relative steady state with phenol and 2-chlorophenol as the sole carbon sources. After a number of unsuccessful trials, process conditions were developed which allowed for operation at a relative steady state with respect to the concentration of microorganisms in the reactor and the concentration of phenol and 2-chlorophenol in the effluent.

Phenol and 2-chlorophenol were removed at better than 99 percent efficiency on a continuous basis. The mixed liquor grown under the conditions of the experiment was highly filamentous …

Seepage Interceptor Drains And Topsoil Salinity, T R. Negus

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The Department of Agriculture established 121 trials in its Narrogin advisory district starting in 1972 to measure the effect of bulldozer and grader built seepage interceptor banks and drains on the topsoil salinity of the land downslope of them.

After 14 years of moniterin, there was no evidence that seepage interceptor drains and banks reduced the top soil salinity on 10 of the 11 sites in the Pingelly, Brookton and Wickepin Shires.

Mogumber Drainage Works Succeed, L K. Lenane

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The loss of arable farmland from soil erosion, waterlogging and salinity is a severe problem on some Western Australian farms.

When the arable land comprises only 40 per cent of the total area within the Mogumber Soil Conservation District, this loss is a real cause for concern. So too is the resulting damage to roads, siltation of railway culverts, and deaths of roadside trees from rising saline watertables.

However, drainage, contour and other works undertaken by the Mogumber Soil Conservation District have halted this degredation. Badly eroded areas that were fenced off now have a satisfactory ground cover. A wheat …