Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Spatially Explicit Life Cycle Assessment: Opportunities And Challenges Of Wastewater-Based Algal Biofuels In The United States, Javad Roostaei, Yongli Zhang

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

This work presented a Spatially-Explicit-High-Resolution Life Cycle Assessment (SEHR-LCA) model for wastewater-based algal biofuel production, by integrating life cycle assessment, GIS analysis, and site-specific Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) data analysis. Wastewater resources, land availability, and meteorological variation were analyzed for algae cultivation. Three pathways, Microwave Pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, and lipid extraction were modeled for bio-oil conversion. This model enables the assessment of seasonal and site-specific variations in productivity and environmental impacts of wastewater-based algal bio-oil across the whole U.S. Model results indicate that wastewater-based algal bio-oil can provide an opportunity to increase national biofuel output. The potential production of algal …

Exploring Regional And Telecoupled Land Use Change Impacts From Environmental Shocks, Kevin Hill, Liz Wachs, Brady Hardiman, David Yu, Shweta Singh

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Natural disasters or environmental shocks have the potential to disrupt local agricultural systems as well as distant agricultural systems through cascading effects. In this work we selected two distinct environmental shocks and traced their cascading effects on land use change. Quantifying cascading effects is a salient issue because climate change forecasts indicate an increase in frequency and intensity of global environmental shocks. This study incorporated the concept of telecoupled systems involving interrelating ecological, economic and political/social components. A telecoupled framework involving cascading effects was implemented using three approaches. The first approach involved using bilateral agricultural trade matrix data to analyze …

Mapping And Analyzing Energy Use And Efficiency In A Modified Hydroponic Shipping Container, Rachel E. Sparks

Open Access Theses

In urban centers today, vertical farming is becoming a popular alternative to conventional agriculture in an effort to increase local food production and improve urban food security by growing crops using hydroponic methods in controlled environment spaces. More specifically, one vertical method involves growing crops inside refurbished shipping containers, or a “farm-in-a-box” concept, which offers a flexible, mobile, and scalable means of year-round food production in a variety of climates. Despite benefits of producing food locally, some of the concerns associated with these vertical farming systems include high energy consumption from climate control and electric lighting systems as well as …

Laboratory And Full Boom-Based Investigation Of Nozzle Setup And Restriction Effects On Flow, Pressure And Spray Pattern Distribution, Shane H. Forney

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Pesticide application is an integral part of crop production and ground-based agricultural boom sprayers are used extensively to apply pesticides to the crop canopy or soil surface across millions of acres in the United States. Efficient application is necessary to minimize costs and limit adverse environmental impacts. Errors in flow rate and system pressure measurements may cause as-applied maps to incorrectly indicate application rates and could negatively affect downstream data processing or analysis. The goals of this study were to provide quantified measurements on the effects of nozzle setup errors on spray pattern uniformity and evaluate how laboratory patternator data …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles For High-Throughput Phenotyping And Agronomic Research, Yeyin Shi, J. Alex Thomasson, Seth C. Murray, N. Ace Pugh, William L. Rooney, Sanaz Shafian, Nithya Rajan, Gregory Rouze, Cristine L. S. Morgan, Haly L. Neely, Aman Rana, Muthu V. Bagavathiannan, James Henrickson, Ezekiel Bowden, John Valasek, Jeff Olsenholler, Michael P. Bishop, Ryan Sheridan, Eric B. Putman, Sorin Popescu, Travis Burks, Dale Cope, Amir Ibrahim, Billy F. Mccutchen, David D. Baltensperger, Robert V. Avant, Jr., Misty Vidrine, Chenghai Yang

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Advances in automation and data science have led agriculturists to seek real-time, high quality, high-volume crop data to accelerate crop improvement through breeding and to optimize agronomic practices. Breeders have recently gained massive data-collection capability in genome sequencing of plants. Faster phenotypic trait data collection and analysis relative to genetic data leads to faster and better selections in crop improvement. Furthermore, faster and higher-resolution crop data collection leads to greater capability for scientists and growers to improve precision-agriculture practices on increasingly larger farms; e.g., site-specific application of water and nutrients. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently gained traction as agricultural …

High-Throughput Screening Of Clinically Approved Drugs That Prime Polyethylenimine Transfection Reveals Modulation Of Mitochondria Dysfunction Response Improves Gene Transfer Efficiencies, Albert Nguyen, Jared P. Beyersdorf, Jean-Jack Riethoven, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Nonviral gene delivery methods are advantageous over viral vectors in terms of safety, cost, and flexibility in design and application, but suffer from lower gene transfer efficiency. In addition to modifications to nucleic acid design and nonviral carriers, new tools are sought to enhance transfection. Priming is the pharmacological modulation of transfection efficiency and transgene expression, and has demonstrated transfection increase in several compounds, for example, chloroquine and glucocorticoids. To develop a library of transfection priming compounds, a highthroughput screen was performed of the NIH Clinical Collection (NCC) to identify clinical compounds that prime polyethylenimine (PEI) transfection. HEK293T cells were …

The Design And Construction Of A Rear Bumper With Incorporated Spare Tire Rack, Alan C. Isaacson

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project outlines the design and construction of a rear bumper with incorporated spare tire and equipment rack for a 1946 Willys CJ2A Jeep. The spare tire rack is capable of swinging out away from the vehicle to allow for the use of the vehicle’s tailgate. The bumper was designed for strength, functionality and aesthetic qualities alike. Additionally, the bumper design considered all vehicle codes and regulations.

Water And Energy Use Of Antimicrobial Interventions In A Mid-Size Beef Packing Plant, Rami M. M. Ziara, Shaobin Li, Bruce I. Dvorak, Jeyamkondan Subbiah

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

Data regarding the water and energy usage of current antimicrobial interventions in beef packing plants is scarce. The objective of this study was to collect representative water and energy usage data in a beef packing plant, with emphasis on antimicrobial interventions, to provide baseline data for comparison of new intervention technologies developed by researchers. Permanent and portable water flow meters were installed on the plant’s plumbing system to collect water flow data from March 2014 to March 2015. A local utility company was hired to meter electricity at the different subsystems using portable data loggers. The natural gas used in …

Efficiency Of Chlorophyll In Gross Primary Productivity: A Proof Of Concept And Application In Crops, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Yi Peng, Andrés Viña, Timothy J. Arkebauer, James S. Schepers

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

One of the main factors affecting vegetation productivity is absorbed light, which is largely governed by chlorophyll. In this paper, we introduce the concept of chlorophyll efficiency, representing the amount of gross primary production per unit of canopy chlorophyll content (Chl) and incident PAR. We analyzed chlorophyll efficiency in two contrasting crops (soybean and maize). Given that they have different photosynthetic pathways (C3 vs. C4), leaf structures (dicot vs. monocot) and canopy architectures (a heliotrophic leaf angle distribution vs. a spherical leaf angle distribution), they cover a large spectrum of biophysical conditions. Our results show that chlorophyll efficiency in primary …

Carbon Nanotubes Affect The Toxicity Of Cuo Nanoparticles To Denitrification In Marine Sediments By Altering Cellular Internalization Of Nanoparticle, Xiong Zheng, Yinglong Su, Yinguang Chen, Rui Wan, Mu Li, Haining Huang, Xu Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Denitrification is an important pathway for nitrate transformation in marine sediments, and this process has been observed to be negatively affected by engineered nanomaterials. However, previous studies only focused on the potential effect of a certain type of nanomaterial on microbial denitrification. Here we show that the toxicity of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) to denitrification in marine sediments is highly affected by the presence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). It was found that the removal efficiency of total NO_X⁻-N (NO₃⁻-N and NO₂⁻-N) in the presence of CuO NPs was only 62.3%, but it …

Simulation Of Conservation Practice Effects On Water Quality Under Current And Future Climate Scenarios, Carlington W. Wallace

Open Access Dissertations

Analysis of the effects of implementing different conservation practices, as well as increased levels of conservation practices under existing and projected future climate, will determine if current conservation practice recommendations will be sufficient to maintain soil and water resources. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to study four watersheds of different sizes (CCW = 680 km2, F34 = 183 km2, AXL = 42 km 2 and ALG = 20 km2) located in Northeastern Indiana. The overarching goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of various agricultural practices on runoff and agricultural chemical losses under current …

Municipal Composting And Organic Waste Diversion: The Case Of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Michael E. Hoppe

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

It is estimated that 40% of food is wasted in the United States; representing $165 billion in wasted resources. A vast majority of that wasted food is ultimately placed in landfills where it decomposes and releases harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs). In fact, food waste alone is responsible for 23% of annual methane emissions for the US. This has a huge impact on global climate change due to the potency of methane as a greenhouse gas. Currently only 5% of the food waste produced is recovered across the nation. Source reduction would be the best solution to reducing this food waste, …

Design Of A Folding V-Scraper With Roller For Orchard Applications, Chase Ulrich

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project discusses the design of a folding 15 ft. wide leveler for orchard use. This design utilized a category 2 three-point hitch to connect the implement to a tractor. The folding mechanism uses the tractors hydraulic system to actuate the folding movement using hydraulic cylinders. The blades, when wings in operational position, are rigid with one another after some assembly. When the implement is folded the width is reduced to nine feet.

Development And Evaluation Of A Watershed-Scale Hybrid Hydrologic Model, Younghyun Cho

Open Access Dissertations

A watershed-scale hybrid hydrologic model (Distributed-Clark), which is a lumped conceptual and distributed feature model, was developed to predict spatially distributed short- and long-term rainfall runoff generation and routing using relatively simple methodologies and state-of-the-art spatial data in a GIS environment. In Distributed-Clark, spatially distributed excess rainfall estimated with the SCS curve number method and a GIS-based set of separated unit hydrographs (spatially distributed unit hydrograph) are utilized to calculate a direct runoff flow hydrograph, and time-varied SCS CN values and conditional unit hydrograph approach for different runoff depth-based flow convolution are also used to compute long-term rainfall-runoff flow hydrographs. …

Micro- And Nanoparticulates For Dna Vaccine Delivery, Eric Farris, Deborah M. Brown, Amanda Ramer-Tait, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

DNA vaccination has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional protein-based vaccines for the induction of protective immune responses. DNA vaccines offer several advantages over traditional vaccines, including increased stability, rapid and inexpensive production, and flexibility to produce vaccines for a wide variety of infectious diseases. However, the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines delivered as naked plasmid DNA is often weak due to degradation of the DNA by nucleases and inefficient delivery to immune cells. Therefore, biomaterial-based delivery systems based on micro- and nanoparticles that encapsulate plasmid DNA represent the most promising strategy for DNA vaccine delivery. Microparticulate delivery systems allow …

Exploring Large-Scale Parameterization Of Irrigation In The Northern High Plains, Mitch Maguire, Daniel Rico, Katherine Smith, Francisco Munoz-Arriola

UCARE: Research Products

Research Question – Objective - Hypothesis

How does irrigation respond to the demands of Crop Irrigation Requirements under extreme hydrometeorological events?

Implement a parameterization of irrigation into the land surface hydrology model VIC.

Changes in evapotranspiration (ET) will be more conspicuous during dry years, highlighting the limiting role of soil moisture in the model.

Thawing Out: The Role Of The Arctic Council Service In A Melting Arctic, Taylor J. Enos

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

With the changing natural and political climate of the Arctic, conflicts over resource extraction and navigation will become inevitable. Empowering an intergovernmental institution like the Arctic Council Service may be the only solution. This paper analyzes the importance and history of the Arctic as a political environment, which is prone to abuse in the very near future at the hands of Russia and the United States.

Glucocorticoid Cell Priming Enhances Transfection Outcomes In Adult Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Abby M. Kelly, Sarah A. Plautz, Janos Zempleni, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are one of the most widely researched stem cell types with broad applications from basic research to therapeutics, the majority of which require introduction of exogenous DNA. However, safety and scalability issues hinder viral delivery, while poor efficiency hinders nonviral gene delivery, particularly to hMSCs. Here, we present the use of a pharmacologic agent (glucocorticoid) to overcome barriers to hMSC DNA transfer to enhance transfection using three common nonviral vectors. Glucocorticoid priming significantly enhances transfection in hMSCs, demonstrated by a 3-fold increase in efficiency, 4–15-fold increase in transgene expression, and prolonged transgene expression when compared …

Ecosystem Evapotranspiration: Challenges In Measurements, Estimates, And Modeling, D.M. Amatya, Suat Irmak, P. Gowda, G. Sun, J.E. Nettles, K.R. Douglas-Mankin

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Evapotranspiration (ET) processes at the leaf to landscape scales in multiple land uses have important controls and feed backs for local, regional, and global climate and water resource systems. Innovative methods, tools, and technologies for improved understanding and quantification of ET and crop water use are critical for adapting more effective management strategies to cope with increasing demand for freshwater resources under global climate change. This article introduces an ASABE Special Collection of 12 articles on ET monitoring and modeling research for multiple land uses and scales. The collection focuses on recent advances in four critical topical areas: (1) reference …

2016 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Ryan Chapman

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain high quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on nearly 17,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, more than 134,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, as well as the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

Long-Term Patterns Of Air Temperatures, Daily Temperature Range, Precipitation, Grass-Reference Evapotranspiration And Aridity Index In The Usa Great Plains: Part Ii. Temporal Trends, Meetpal S. Kukal, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Detection of long-term changes in climate variables over large spatial scales is a very important prerequisite to the development of effective mitigation and adaption measures for the future potential climate change and for developing strategies for future hydrologic balance analyses under changing climate. Moreover, there is a need for effective approaches of providing information about these changes to decision makers, water managers and stakeholders to aid in efficient implementation of the developed strategies. This study involves computation, mapping and analyses of long-term (1968-2013) county-specific trends in annual, growing-season (1st May- 30th Sept.) and monthly air temperatures [(maximum (T_max), …

Protein-Targeted Corona Phase Molecular Recognition, Gili Bisker, Juyao Dong, Hoyoung D. Park, Nicole M. Iverson, Jiyoung Ahn, Justin T. Nelson, Markita P. Landry, Sebastian Kruss, Michael S. Strano

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Corona phase molecular recognition (CoPhMoRe) uses a heteropolymer adsorbed onto and templated by a nanoparticle surface to recognize a specific target analyte. This method has not yet been extended to macromolecular analytes, including proteins. Herein we develop a variant of a CoPhMoRe screening procedure of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and use it against a panel of human blood proteins, revealing a specific corona phase that recognizes fibrinogen with high selectivity. In response to fibrinogen binding, SWCNT fluorescence decreases by >80% at saturation. Sequential binding of the three fibrinogen nodules is suggested by selective fluorescence quenching by isolated sub-domains and validated …

Calibration Procedure For Fuel Flow Meters At The Nebraska Tractor Test Lab, Michael F. Kocher, Matthew T. Wold, Roger M. Hoy, Austin Lammers, Erin E. Blankenship

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Reports in the literature indicated several factors that can influence the accuracy of Coriolis Effect mass flow meters. A Coriolis Effect mass flow meter is used to verify tractor manufacturer’s fuel consumption claims at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory (NTTL). The accuracy requirement placed on the flow meter by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in the Code 2 tractor performance test procedure is not clear, but in the most conservative interpretation is ±0.5% of each flow rate measured. Results showed a dynamic weighing calibration method was not accurate enough to obtain a calibration of the flow meter …

Characteristics And Composition Of Magnetic Concentrates Of Bottom Ash Samples From Two Types Of Thermal Power Plants In Odisha, India, Subir Kumar Das

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Aluminosilicate bottom ash samples were examined from a thermal power plant in Talcher (sample NT-BA) and in Sambalpur (sample HR-BA), Odisha, India, to determine magnetic particle morphology, internal structure, mineralogy, mineral chemistry, ash fusion temperature, chemical composition, and leaching characteristics. The Talcher plant has adopted pulverized coal combustion, whereas the Sambalpur plant uses circulating fluidized bed combustion boiler technology. For NT-BA, most magnetic particles were ideal solid spheres (ferrospheres) with diverse morphological features (smooth, granular, dendritic and skeletal, porous, spotted, polygonal, and hollow [magnetite cenospheres]). For HR-BA, magnetic particles were subspherical, oval, and angular and showed widely varying surface morphologies, …

Distribution Of Uranium And Other Radionuclides In Coal And Coal Combustion Products, With Discussion Of Occurrences Of Combustion Products In Kentucky Power Plants, James C. Hower, Shifeng Dai, Greta Eskenazy

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Uranium and thorium are part of the mineral assemblages within coals. Uranium can also occur in organic associations, particularly in low-rank coals. While the average U concentration in coals is 2.9 ppm for low-rank coals and 1.9 ppm for bituminous and higher rank coals, high concentrations are known from certain low-rank and thin coals and from coals in areas associated with U mineralization. No high-U coals are mined for power production in the United States. Uranium and Th in coal combustion products are found in amounts more or less in proportion to their concentrations in the feed coal. Not being …

Long-Term Patterns Of Air Temperatures, Daily Temperature Range, Precipitation, Grass-Reference Evapotranspiration And Aridity Index In The Usa Great Plains: Part I. Spatial Trends, Meetpal S. Kukal, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Due to their substantial spatio-temporal behavior, long-term quantification and analyses of important hydrological variables are essential for practical applications in water resources planning, evaluating the water use of agricultural crop production and quantifying crop evapotranspiration patterns and irrigation management vs. hydrologic balance relationships. Observed data at over 800 sites across the Great Plains of USA, comprising of 9 states and 2,307,410 km² of surface area, which is about 30% of the terrestrial area of the USA, were used to quantify and map large-scale and long-term (1968-2013) spatial trends of air temperatures, daily temperature range (DTR), precipitation, grass-reference evapotranspiration (ET …

A Generalized Spatial Measure For Resilience Of Microbial Systems, Ryan S. Renslow, Stephen R. Lindemann, Hyun-Seob Song

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The emergent property of resilience is the ability of a system to return to an original state after a disturbance. Resilience may be used as an early warning system for significant or irreversible community transition; that is, a community with diminishing or low resilience may be close to catastrophic shift in function or an irreversible collapse. Typically, resilience is quantified using recovery time, which may be difficult or impossible to directly measure in microbial systems. A recent study in the literature showed that under certain conditions, a set of spatial-based metrics termed recovery length, can be correlated to recovery time, …

Carbon Dioxide Adsorption Studies On Fly Ash Zeolites, Denitza Zgureva

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

In this study, the potential of fly ash zeolites (FAZ) Linde (LTA) and faujasite (FAU) to adsorb carbon dioxide (CO2) was investigated in view of the results of implementation in postcombustion carbon-capture technologies. Adsorption isotherms of selected samples were measured at 273.15 K by a Micromeritics Tristar II 3020 surface analyzer. The highest adsorption capacity was obtained for FAZ with a FAU structure synthesized by a two-stage fusion hydrothermal process from fly ash (FA) that was composed of 65 wt% amorphous components. The adsorption capacity for this sample reached a value of 136.40 mg CO2/g FAZ at atmospheric pressure, a …

Analysis Of Scientific Investigations Related To Reclamation Of Surface Mining Control And Reclamation Act Permitted Coal Mines With Coal Combustion By-Products, Kimery C. Vories

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

In the United states, the placement of coal combustion by-products (CCBs) (i.e., fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, flue gas desulfurization material, and fluidized bed combustion material) in coal mines has been an area of controversy. Federal and state governments, universities, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and industrial research organizations have taken an active role in encouraging and promoting technological advances, research, and technology transfer related to the use of CCBs at coal mines. CCBs have been placed at Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) permitted mines since 1977 to serve the following purposes: (1) a seal …

Coal Ash By-Product From Shanxi Province, China, For The Production Of Portland–Calcium Sulfoaluminate, Tristana Y. Duvallet, Thomas L. Robl, Kevin R. Henke, Yongmin Zhou, David Harris

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Twenty bulk samples were collected from ponded coal combustion ash in Shanxi Province, China, as part of an investigation of their beneficiation potential. The samples were shipped to the University of Kentucky, where they were chemically analyzed. The samples were highly consistent in chemistry, falling within the ASTM C-618 class F compositional range. The particle size of the ponded ash was relatively coarse, with only ,7% by weight on average, falling below 200 mesh (75 mm) particle size. The bulk of the material (.80%) was within 50 by 200 mesh (equivalent to 300 by 75 mm). X-ray diffraction investigation combined …