Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of Dichloromethane As An Electron Donor For Reductive Dechlorination Of Tetrachloroethene To Ethene, Yogendra Kanitkar

All Theses

Tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) are the predominant contaminants at hazardous waste sites in the United States. Although less prevalent, dichloromethane (DCM) is also found at a number of sites. EPA classifies PCE and DCM as likely to be carcinogenic in humans by all routes of exposure, while TCE is classified as carcinogenic to humans by all routes. At some sites, releases of PCE, TCE and DCM comingle in the groundwater. Field evidence from one such site in California suggests that DCM is used as the electron donor for reductive dechlorination of TCE. Nevertheless, definitive evidence that DCM can serve …

Historical Integration Of Remote Sensing Data: Can Gis Extract Information From Grayscale Aerial Photographs?, Kristina Robertson

All Theses

There have been many changes in land management policies of the National Forest system over the past 100 years. Changes in policy related to law, population growth and economics directly cause changes in land cover. Global land cover changes are occurring at such a pace and magnitude that they are affecting Earth system functioning (Lambin et al., 2001). The analysis of land cover changes plays a key role in understanding several environmental phenomena, resulting in a need for objective and comparable land cover maps (Gennaretti et al., 2011). Advances in remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have modernized land-use …

Biomass And Lipid Production From Heterotrophic And Mixotrophic Fed-Batch Cultivations Of Microalgae Chlorella Protothecoides Using Glycerol, Shwetha Sivakaminathan

All Theses

Chlorella protothecoides is a microalga that can grow both photo-autotrophically and/or heterotrophically under different culture and environmental conditions. In this study both the heterotrophic growth and mixotrophic growth have been conducted. The heterotrophic experiments were conducted completely in the dark while the mixotrophic experiments had the dark cycles with periodic light exposure. The aim of the study was to independently understand the effect of each mode on biomass and lipid yields.
For the heterotrophic experiments, glycerol was used as an external organic carbon source while yeast extract was used as the nitrogen source. The carbon and nitrogen source were added …

Engineering Performance Of Polymer Amended Soils, Gary E. Welling

Master's Theses

A laboratory test program was undertaken to evaluate a series of engineering properties over a range of soil types; amendment types and addition rates; and moisture contents to enhance understanding of the engineering significance of polymer amendment. Four soils were manufactured and tested with varying ranges of fines and plasticity. A proprietary elastic copolymer was tested at addition rates of 0.5% to 2.5% (dry weight basis). Cement was tested at addition rates of 1% to 4%. Lime was tested at an 8% addition rate. Water addition rates ranged from 4% dry of optimum to 4% wet of optimum. Engineering properties …

Scale Model Shake Table Testing Of Shallow Embedded Foundations In Soft Clay, Steven Kuo

Master's Theses

This research involves shake table testing of 1g scale models that mimic the coupled seismic response of a structure on a shallow mat foundation and foundation soil (known as soil-foundation-structural-interaction or SFSI). In previous research, SFSI effects have been quantified through analytical models, numerical analyses, and limited field data. This research works towards increasing the amount of empirical data through scale model shake table testing. A suite of earthquake time histories is considered in evaluating a nominal 10^th scale soil-structure model using a flexible wall barrel on a 1-D shake table. San Francisco Young Bay Mud (YBM) is used …

Laboratory Characterization And Theoretical Analysis Of Contaminant Mass Transfer, Xiaoling Liu

All Dissertations

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in fractured, low permeability material can be a long-term source of groundwater contaminants and they are among the most difficult remediation challenges. Thermal methods are a possible remediation option, where heat is used to boil water and the volatile compounds are stripped out by partitioning into the resulting water vapor. Theoretical analysis indicates that only a small fraction of pore water removal may lead to a significant geometric reduction in the dissolved concentration [(Udell(, 1998]. Previous modeling studies [(Falta and Murdoch(, 2011; (Pruess(, 1983] suggest that a lower permeability limit exists for effective mass transfer …

Impact Of Secondary Treatment Types And Sludge Handling Processes On Estrogen Concentration In Wastewater Sludge, Erica J. Marti

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), such as estrogen, are known to be present in the aquatic environment at concentrations that negatively affect fish and other wildlife. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are major contributors of EDCs into the environment. EDCs are released via effluent discharge and land application of biosolids. Estrogen removal in WWTPs has been studied in the aqueous phase; however, few researchers have determined estrogen concentration in sludge. This study focuses on estrogen concentration in wastewater sludge as a result of secondary treatment types and sludge handling processes. Grab samples were collected before and after multiple treatment steps at two WWTPs …

Developing A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation Tool For Water Utilities, Anthony Hampton Johnston

All Theses

The issue of climate change has led to an increased emphasis on sustainable practices in almost every facet of our lives. For water utilities, this has increased scrutiny on energy use. Although traditionally viewed solely in financial terms, energy use is also the primary source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from water utilities. The emerging concern over GHG emissions coincides with potential federal legislation and regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In order for water utilities to determine their GHG emissions, guides and tools must be made readily available. Information to educate water utilities about their GHG emissions is …

Hydrologic Evaluation Of Established Rain Gardens In Lincoln, Nebraska, Andrew R. Anderson, Thomas G. Franti, David P. Shelton

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Increased urbanization has resulted in water quality and flooding problems for many receiving waters in the United States. Rain gardens are one type of best management practice commonly used in low impact development (LID). Many studies have evaluated large engineered bioretention cells in research settings. There is little information on the effectiveness of homeowner-maintained rain gardens that rely on deep percolation as the method for water exfiltration. Repeatable controlled experiments are very rare in hydrologic studies due to the inherent variability of weather data. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hydrologic properties of twelve established rain gardens …

Use Of Building Information Modelling In Responding To Low Carbon Construction Innovations: An Irish Perspective., Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

At present the Irish construction industry is facing one of its most uncertain and challenging periods and will see major cuts in all areas of the economy in 2012. Despite this, Ireland pushes forward in sustainability initiatives with the Government ruling that environmentally-friendly policies are to get priority in competing for State contracts worth up to €16 billion a year. This and further initiatives are in place, so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20% by the year 2020.By the end of 2018 the public sector must own or rent only buildings with high energy-saving standards and …

Implementing Building Information Modeling In Public Works Projects In Ireland, Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

The Irish State in recent years has suffered huge financial losses in the public works sector, which has now pushed the Irish Government to explore new ways of controlling cost. This background lead to the introduction of the Capital Works Management Framework in 2007 which aimed to support the certainty of outcome in terms of cost and quality, as well as improved risk management, through the implementation of fixed price contracts. In order to successfully compete within this framework it is recommended by the authors, that Irish Government moves towards the legal mandating of BIM. This can ensure a greater …

World Energy Balance Outlook And Opec Production Capacity: Implications For Global Oil Security, Ali Mirchi, Saeed Hadian, Kaveh Madani, Omid M. Rouhani, Azadeh M. Rouhani

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The imbalance between energy resource availability, demand, and production capacity, coupled with inherent economic and environmental uncertainties make strategic energy resources planning, management, and decision-making a challenging process. In this paper, a descriptive approach has been taken to synthesize the world’s energy portfolio and the global energy balance outlook in order to provide insights into the role of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in maintaining “stability” and “balance” of the world’s energy market. This synthesis illustrates that in the absence of stringent policies, i.e., if historical trends of the global energy production and consumption hold into the future, it …

Efficient Prestressed Concrete–Steel Composite Girder For Medium-Span Bridges, Yaohua Deng

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, a new Prestressed Concrete-Steel Composite (PCSC) girder system is introduced. The PCSC girder is composed of a lightweight W-shape steel section with shear studs on its top and bottom flanges to achieve composite action with the pretensioned concrete bottom flange and the cast-in-place concrete deck. The PCSC girder is lightweight, economical, durable and easy to fabricate. To prove its feasibility and potential, this study is to investigate design and fabrication issues associated with the PCSC girder. A service design procedure is proposed using Age-adjusted Elasticity Modulus Method (AEMM) to evaluate the time-dependent stresses and strains in the …

Modeling Potential Hydrochemical Responses To Climate Change And Increasing Co2 At The Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest Using A Dynamic Biogeochemical Model (Pnet-Bgc), Afshin Pourmokhtaria, Charles T. Driscoll, John L. Campbell, Katharine Hayhoe

Civil and Environmental Engineering - All Scholarship

Dynamic hydrochemical models are useful tools for understanding and predicting the interactive effects of climate change, atmospheric CO2, and atmospheric deposition on the hydrology and water quality of forested watersheds. We used the biogeochemical model, PnET-BGC, to evaluate the effects of potential future changes in temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, and atmospheric CO2 on pools, concentrations, and fluxes of major elements at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, United States. Future climate projections used to run PnET-BGC were generated specifically for the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest with a statistical technique that downscales climate output (e.g., air temperature, precipitation, solar …

Selection Of Critical Design Parameters For Mmod Protection In Interplanetary Missions, Lisa M. Haisan, Cesar Carrasco

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

This research presents a methodology for the selection of critical design-parameters for the design of Micro Meteoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) spacecraft protection based on a modified implementation of the concept of the Probability of No Impact (PNI). The PNI methodology, based on Poisson’s discrete statistics, has been widely used to determine critical particle sizes for the design of protection systems. However, it does not provide guidelines for the selection of the design impact speed, especially when the impact speed has a very wide statistical distribution like that encountered in interplanetary missions. The modifications to the PNI methodology presented here …

Hydroshare: An Online, Collaborative Environment For The Sharing Of Hydrologic Data And Models, David G. Tarboton, R. Idaszak, Daniel Ames, J. Goodall, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, L. Band, V. Merwade, C. Song, A. Couch, D. Valentine, R. Hooper, J. Arrigo, D. Maidment, T. Whiteaker

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Asphalt Testing: Enhancing The Roads, Andrea Gutierrez, Soheil Nazarian, Anjan K. Siddagangaiah

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

At the University of Texas at El Paso, the Center for Transportation Infrastructure Systems is conducting several asphalt tests to ensure the quality of the asphalt and the safety of the public. The tests determine special engineering properties of the material such as the strength and aggregate-asphalt ratio that are crucial to the life span of the asphalt on the field. The five tests that are conducted are:

• Maximum Theoretical Specific Gravity Test (GMM) – used to find the density of the material
• Bulk Specific Gravity Test (GMB) – determines the air pockets (air voids) in the material using the …

Buckling And Crippling Of Square Steel Thin-Walled Tubes Fabricated With Symmetrically-Overlapping U-Channels And Foam, David Camenish Gelder

Theses and Dissertations

Testing and analysis has been performed on square steel thin-walled tubes fabricated using symmetrically-overlapping U-channels and foam. This research analyzes flange-to-flange attachment, effect of foam in the columns, effect of adhesive stiffness, and influence of steel thickness, as related to the local buckling loads, global buckling loads, and crippling loads. Four 14-foot (4.27 m) foam-filled, thin-walled, galvanized steel columns were manufactured by Novatek, Inc. and tested in axial compression with pinned boundary conditions. For three of the four configurations, the two-piece 4-in. (10.2-cm) square shell surrounded prefabricated polystyrene foam inserts; the fourth column had no foam insert. The column outer …

A Comparative Study Of Strength And Stiffness Of Thin-Walled Specimens Fabricated By Fdm And 3d Printing Technologies, Miranda Rodrigo

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid Prototyped part failure constitutes a major issue for both RP providers and customers. When parts fail the reputation of the vendor is heavily deteriorated, customer dissatisfaction increase and replacement of the broken parts is often necessary to avoid the loss of future business. Product design teams often run into situations where Rapid Prototyped parts are not able to withstand shipping and handling and delivered broken or while demonstrating and examining the parts. When done in the face of customers this builds a perception of poor quality and lack of aptitude on the design group as well as the RP …

Using Life Cycle Assessment To Compare Wind Energy Infrastructure, Brendan Cleary, Aidan Duffy, Alan O'Connor

Conference papers

Given the need to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the production of electricity, countries worldwide are trying to develop and implement different energy saving strategies and technologies to mitigate global warming. A core part of achieving this is the development and implementation of renewable energy technologies such as wind.

This has resulted in the development and innovation of wind turbines with output ranges of 10-15MW likely to be deployed by 2020. This increased output has a knock on effect on the growth of rotor diameters and tower heights requiring the wind turbine system to be assessed from …

A Server-Based Tool For Automating Modflow Simulations For Well Permitting Decision Support, David J. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Numeric groundwater modeling techniques can assist water resources regulators pursuing prudent and foresightful aquifer management decisions. Unfortunately, the amount of time and professional expertise required to wield modern groundwater models often exceeds the resources of regulating agencies – even for simple modeling tasks that are repetitive in nature. In an effort to increase the accessibility of groundwater modeling resources, a server-based automated well permitting decision support system was designed. The prototype system allows a user to 1) input properties for any number of candidate wells, 2) execute an associated MOFLOW model, and 3) view relevant results of the simulation on …

Culvert Roughness Elements For Native Utah Fish Passage: Phase Ii, Suzanne Kim Monk

Theses and Dissertations

Native fishes have become an increasingly important concern when designing fish passable culverts. Many operational culverts constrict waterways which increase velocities and prevent upstream passage of small fish species. The current method to ensure fish passage is to match the average cross sectional velocity to the sustained swim speed of the fish. This study investigates the passage rates of leatherside chub (Lepidomeda aliciae) and speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus) at three sites (an arch culvert with substrate bottom, box culvert with bare bottom, and a stream section with no culvert) located on Salina Creek near Salina, UT. It was found that …

Potential Significance Of Photoexcited No2 On Global Air Quality With The Nmmb/Bsc Chemical Transport Model, O. Jorba, D. Dabdub, Christopher S. Blaszczak-Boxe, C. Pérez, Z. Janjic, J. M. Baldasano, M. Spada, A. Badia, M. Gonçalves

Publications and Research

Atmospheric chemists have recently focused on the relevance of the NO2* + H2O → OH + HONO reaction to local air quality. This chemistry has been considered not relevant for the troposphere from known reaction rates until nowadays. New experiments suggested a rate constant of 1.7 × 10−13 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, which is an order of magnitude faster than the previously estimated upper limit of 1.2 × 10−14 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, determined by Crowley and Carl (1997). Using the new global model, NMMB/BSC Chemical Transport Model (NMMB/BSC-CTM), simulations are presented that assess the potential significance of this chemistry on global …

Principal Components Analysis, Factor Analysis And Trend Correlations Of Twenty-Eight Years Of Water Quality Data Of Deer Creek Reservoir, Utah, Nicolas Alejandro Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

I evaluated twenty-eight years (1980-2007) of spatial-temporal water quality data from Deer Creek Reservoir in Utah. The data came from three sampling points representing the lotic, transitional and lentic zones. The data included measurements of climatological, hydrological and water quality conditions at four depths; Surface, Above Thermocline, Below Thermocline and Bottom. The time frame spanned dates before and after the completion of the Jordanelle Reservoir (1987-1992), approximately fourteen miles upstream of Deer Creek. I compared temporal groupings and found that a traditional month distribution following standard seasons was not effective in characterizing the measured conditions; I developed a more representative …

Recovery Of Sensitive Watersheds In The Northeastern United States From Chronic Acidification: The Role Of Soil Chemistry, Chris E. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Laboratory Performance Of Highway Bridge Girder Anchorages Under Simulated Hurricane-Induced Wave Loading, Jora Lehrman, Christopher Higgins, Daniel Cox

TREC Final Reports

Many bridges along the Gulf Coast of the United States were damaged by recent hurricanes, and many more are susceptible to similar damage. This research examines the structural performance of common connection details used to anchor prestressed concrete girders to the substructure. Full-scale specimens were fabricated and tested under static and dynamic cyclic load histories. Dynamic load histories were developed from previously conducted hydraulic tests of a 1/5 scale model of a highway bridge under hurricane wave loads. The load effects considered included the pseudo-statically applied vertical uplift force, horizontal force, combined horizontal and vertical forces, and dynamically applied combined …

Interdisciplinary Modeling: Water-Related Issues And Changing Climate - New Mexico State University, Laurel Saito, Alexander Fernald, Timothy Link

All ECSTATIC Materials

Graduate course in interdisciplinary modeling: water-related issues and climate change offered at University of Nevada, Reno in Summer 2012.

2012 Safety Belt Usage Survey In Kentucky, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of this study was to establish 2012 safety belt and child safety seat usage rates in Kentucky. The 2012 survey continues to document the results after enactment of the original “secondary enforcement” statewide mandatory safety belt law in 1994 and the subsequent change to “primary enforcement” which was enacted in 2006. Data were collected at 160 randomly selected sites in 18 counties across Kentucky. Data from the individual sites were combined into a statewide percentage considering roadway functional classification, county and vehicle miles traveled.

Initial Study And Verification Of A Distributed Fiber Optic Corrosion Monitoring System For Transportation Structures, Hai Xiao, Genda Chen, Zhan Gao, Ying Huang, Fujian Tang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

For this study, a novel optical fiber sensing system was developed and tested for the monitoring of corrosion in transportation systems. The optical fiber sensing system consists of a reference long period fiber gratings (LPFG) sensor for corrosive environmental monitoring and a LPFG sensor coated with a thin film of nano iron and silica particles for steel corrosion monitoring. The environmental effects (such as pH and temperature) are compensated by the use of the reference LPFG sensor. The sensor design, simulation, and experimental validation were performed in this study to investigate the feasibility of the proposed sensing system for corrosion …

Behavior Of Full-Scale Rc T-Beams Strengthened In Shear With Externally Bonded Frp Sheets, Abdeldjelil Belarbi, Sang Wook Bae, Antonio Brancaccio

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recently many research studies have investigated the shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. However, most were conducted on small-scale specimens. Thus, analytical models and design equations developed from those studies may not predict the actual behavior of large-scale RC beams strengthened with FRPs. in this study, an experimental study was performed on this topic using full-scale RC T-beams in order to understand the behavior of full-scale bridge beams strengthened in shear with FRP. the main parameters investigated in this study were the transverse steel reinforcement ratio and the effect of mechanical anchorage systems. …