Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Modeling Person-To-Person Contaminant Transport In Enclosed Environments, Chun Chen

Open Access Dissertations

It is essential to predict person-to-person contaminant transport in enclosed environments to improve air distribution design and reduce the infection risk from airborne infectious diseases. This study aims to improve and accelerate the simulation of person-to-person contaminant transport in enclosed environments. ^ This investigation first conducted experimental measurements of person-to-person contaminant transport in an office mockup and the first-class cabin of a functional MD-82 aircraft. The experimental data of steady-state airflow, temperature, and gas contaminant concentration fields obtained in the office were used to validate the steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. In the aircraft cabin, the transient particle concentrations …

International Water And Food Security Development: Performance Evaluation And Assessment Of Research Needs At Multiple Scales, Caitlin Anne Grady

Open Access Dissertations

Water and food security remain the top development challenges of the decade, and perhaps the century. Since the Millennium Development Goals were established in 2000, billions of people have obtained access to more food, better nutrition, improved water, and basic sanitation facilities worldwide. This progress has been accomplished through the dedication of international organizations, non-governmental organizations, country-level governments, private corporations, and individuals at international, regional, and local scales. Truly tremendous strides have been made in water and food provisioning for humans worldwide. These past two decades have also seen the largest population growth on record, the highest rates of childhood …

An Environmental And Hydrogeological Investigation In The South Hebgen Basin, Montana, Joe Schmechel

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

This study was conducted to develop a hydrogeologic framework, and address water quality concerns in the South Hebgen Basin, near the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. The main goals of this research were to: (1) Develop a conceptual model of groundwater flow within the confined aquifer. (2) Use naturally occurring chemical tracers to investigate the confined aquifer’s extent and the connectivity. (3) Identify the influence of geothermal features on water chemistry. (4) Identify water quality issues related to arsenic (As) and fluoride (F^-). Long-term static water elevation plots and surface water flow, combined with water ion chemistry were …

Development Of Socketed Foundations For S3x5.7 Posts, Scott K. Rosenbaugh, Tyler L. Schmidt, Ronald K. Faller, John D. Reid

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The objective of this study was to develop a socketed foundation for use with the S3x5.7 (S76x8.5) weak post. The design focused on cylindrical, reinforced concrete foundations with a steel tube placed in the center for use as the socket. The foundation was to prevent both damage and displacements exceeding 1 in. (25 mm), as measured at groundline, during an impact event. To evaluate various foundation designs, ten dynamic bogie tests were conducted over three separate rounds of testing. Round 1 was conducted in a weak, sandy soil; Round 2 was conducted in a strong, stiff soil; and Round 3 …

Safety And Operational Analysis Of Lane Widths In Mid-Block Segments And Intersection Approaches In The Urban Environment In Nebraska, Anuj Sharma, Wei Li, Mo Zhao, Laurence Rilett

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This research examined the safety and operational effects of roadway lane width on mid-block segments between signalized intersections as well as on signalized intersection approaches in the urban environments of Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. In the safety analysis, the Poisson and negative binomial regressions with fixed or random parameters were estimated to evaluate the effects of lane width on annual crash frequencies at mid-block segments and intersection approaches. In the operational analysis, linear regressions were used to examine lane width effects on the vehicles’ speed at mid-block segments. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to explore the effects of lane width …

An Operational Performance And Safety Comparison Of Roundabouts Vs. Traditional Intersections, Vincent Spahr

Honors Theses

As the modern roundabout becomes a more popular intersection alternative in the United States, the ability of the roundabout to effectively manage traffic and to do so safely is on the forefront of engineering concerns. Despite decades of international success and credibility, regions throughout the U.S. have been hesitant to implement roundabouts in place of more traditional intersections. This case study of a series of intersections in Dublin, OH assesses the operational performance of roundabouts as it compares to that of their stop-controlled and signalized counterparts and analyzes historical crash data to evaluate the safety of the various intersection types. …

Group Decisions In Value Management, Christiono Utomo, Farida Murti, Arazi Idrus

Makara Journal of Technology

This research deals with a technique to expedite group decision making during the selection of technical solutions for value management process. Selection of a solution from a set of alternatives is facilitated by evaluating using multicriteria decision making techniques. During the process, every possible solution is rated on criteria of function and cost. Function deals more with quality than with quantity, and cost can be calculated based on the theoretical time value of money. Decision-making techniques based on satisfying games are applied to determine the relative function and cost of solutions and hence their relative value. The functions were determined …

Implications Of Heterogeneity In The Shock Wave Propagation Of Dynamically Shocked Materials, Jeffrey W. Lajeunesse

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The field of shock physics as a whole has only recently begun to pay particular attention to modeling heterogeneous materials under shock loading. These materials are important because of their practicality in terms of creating stronger, more shock resistant materials. To understand why they absorb shock impact energy better than homogeneous materials means that the small-scale processes that occur during the shock loading of these heterogeneous materials needs to be understood. Recent computational experiments, called mesoscale simulations, have shown that explicitly incorporating small-scale heterogeneous features into hydrocode simulations allows the bulk shock response of the heterogeneous material to be observed …

Removal Of Trace Heavy Metals From Drinking Water By Electrocoagulation, Joe Heffron

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Geologic and anthropogenic heavy metals contaminate drinking water for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Electrocoagulation -- the in situ generation of coagulant by electrolytic oxidation of metal electrodes -- is a century-old process gaining new traction for metal removal from water and wastewater. However, the low conductivity of drinking water and low target contaminant concentrations required for human consumption present challenges for electrocoagulation of drinking water. This study is unique in that it addresses seven different metal contaminants at the trace concentrations of concern to human consumption and investigates the wide range of possible source water matrices. The goal …

Pyrolysis For Estrogens Removal From Wastewater Solids, Thomas C. Hoffman

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Wastewater treatment processes are not designed to remove estrogenic micropollutants and therefore when wastewater biosolids are land applied estrogenic micropollutants are discharged to the environment. Release of estrogenic compounds has deleterious effects on the terrestrial environment. Public concern stemming from micropollutants may reduce the value of biosolids which are important to water resource reclamation facilities (WRRF) as by-products. The objective of this research was to evaluate pyrolysis, the partial decomposition of organic material in an oxygen-deprived system under high temperatures, as a sustainable solution to remove estrogenic compounds from biosolids while producing a useable soil conditioner called biochar. Batch pyrolysis …

Nutrient Recovery From Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Permeate Using Ion Exchange, Patrick Mullen

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Phosphorus is a common element in wastewater streams and traditional treatment processes are often designed remove it to achieve low effluent limits. Such processes often do not often consider the potential value of the nutrient. Currently, production of phosphate fertilizers has dramatically risen causing concern for the depletion of phosphate rock reserves, bringing about exploration into alternative sources of phosphorus for agricultural use. Combining the needs of phosphorus removal from wastewaters and securing alternate sources of the nutrient provide an opportunity for recovery. This project evaluated a nutrient recovery process through ion exchange with beneficial recovery as precipitated struvite using …

A New Global Forecasting Model To Produce High-Resolution Stream Forecasts, Alan Dee Snow

Theses and Dissertations

Warning systems with the ability to predict floods days in advance can benefit tens of millions of people. Because of these potential impacts there have been efforts to improve prediction systems such as the United States’ Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service and European-developed Global Flood Awareness System. However, these projects are currently limited to relatively coarse resolutions. This thesis presents a method for downscaling and routing global runoff forecasts generated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts using the Routing Application for Parallel computatIon of Discharge program that make possible orders of magnitude increases in the density of the resolution …

Seebeck Coefficient Of Soi Layer Induced By Phonon Transport, Faiz Salleh, Takuro Oda, Yuhei Suzuki, Yoshinari Kamakura, Hiroya Ikeda

Makara Journal of Technology

The Seebeck coefficient of a patterned Si wire on P-doped SOI (Si-on-insulator) layer with a carrier concentration of 1018 cm-3 was measured near room temperature. The Seebeck coefficient is found to be smaller than that in the SOI layer and to be closer to the calculated Seebeck coefficient including the electronic contribution. The decrease in the Seebeck coefficient of Si wire is likely to occur due to the elimination of the contribution of phonon drag part. From the theoretical calculation of scattering rates by considering the scattering processes in phonon system, it is considered that an increase in phonon-boundary scattering …

Construction Of A Novel Method Of Measuring Thermal Conductivity For Nanostructures, Hiroya Ikeda, Shoma Yoshida, Yuhei Suzuki, Veerappan Manimuthu, Faiz Salleh, Fujio Kuwahara, Masaru Shimomura, Kenji Murakami

Makara Journal of Technology

With the aim of characterizing the thermal conduction in a nanometer-scaled materials, we have constructed a novel method on the basis of an ac calorimetric method. In this method, periodic sample heating is performed by light irradiation and the corresponding periodic temperature is detected by infrared irradiative thermometer. This makes us measure the thermal diffusivity out of contact with the objective sample. In the present study, we confirm to measure the thermal diffusivity of bulk Si and Cu by this non-contact method with halogen-lamp irradiation. In determining the thermal diffusivity from the relationship between distance deviation and delay time, the …

Phonon-Drag Contribution To Seebeck Coefficient Of Ge-On-Insulator Substrate Fabricated By Wafer Bonding Process, Veerappan Manimuthu, Shoma Yoshida, Yuhei Suzuki, Faiz Salleh, Mukannan Arivanandhan, Yoshinari Kamakura, Yasuhiro Hayakawa, Hiroya Ikeda

Makara Journal of Technology

In order to build high-sensitivity infrared photodetectors using SiGe nanowires, we investigate the thermoelectric characteristics of Ge-on-insulator (GOI) layers as a reference for SiGe. We fabricate p-type GOI substrates with an impurity concentration of 1016-1018cm-3 by a wafer-bonding process using Ge and oxidized Si wafers. Annealing treatment is performed in order to further increase the bonding strength of Ge/SiO2 interface. We measure the Seebeck coefficient in the temperature range of 290-350 K. The Seebeck coefficient of the GOI layers is very close to the theoretical value for Ge, calculated on the basis of carrier transport. Hence, there is a small …

Fiber Optic Ring Resonator Sensor Detection Technique Based On Spectral Intensity Integration, Purnomo Sidi Priambodo, Sasono Rahardjo, Gunawan Witjaksono, Djoko Hartanto

Makara Journal of Technology

Resonant field phenomenon in optical ring resonator has been a major theme for various studies and can be used for various sensor applications. The spectral response shape changes are subjects to be discussed and analyzed for detection in optical sensor system. The spectral response changes are caused by various factors ranging from refractive index of the surrounding medium, medium loss due to absorption and scattering, and coupling variation between waveguides. These optical phenomena are mostly used for bio-sensor applications, since it is free from electromagnetic interference (EMI) and non-physically destructive. In this paper, we discuss our current research in developing …

The Effects Of The Types Of Milk (Cow, Goat, Soya) And Enzymes (Rennet, Papain, Bromelain) Toward Cheddar Cheese Production, Ariestya Arlene, Anastasia Prima Kristijarti, Ivana Ardelia

Makara Journal of Technology

The objectives of this research are to study the effects of different types of milk and enzymes toward the yield and quality (moisture, ash, protein, fat content, and texture) of cheddar cheese and the interaction between those two variables during the process. The types of milk are cow, goat, and soya milk, while the types of enzymes are rennet, papain, and bromelain enzymes. Regarding the procedure, the milk is first pasteurized before CaCl2 and Lactobacillus lactis that acts as the acidifier starter as much as 0.2% (w/v) and 0.5% of the milk volume are added respectively. The amount of enzyme …

Hazard-Driven Drivers’ Behaviours Towards Vehicle-To-Median Safe Distances, Martha Leni Siregar

Makara Journal of Technology

A median is required for a two-way road to separate traffic from opposing lanes and to prevent head-on collisions. However, studies indicate that medians are also perceived as hazards which need to be avoided during driving. This hazard perception is manifested in drivers’ changing behavior towards various types of medians along the driving lanes inform of their tendency to allow various safe distances to the medians. The Indonesian Highway Capacity Manual (IHCM) does not differentiate between types of medians and the influence on the drivers’ choice of safe margin to the medians. Therefore, this study looks into how the existence …

Energy And Exergy Analysis Of Kalina Cycle For The Utilization Of Waste Heat In Brine Water For Indonesian Geothermal Field, Nasruddin Nasruddin, Agus Noor Sidiq, Abdulmajeed Mohamad, Rama Usvika

Makara Journal of Technology

The utilization of waste heat in a power plant system—which would otherwise be released back to the environment—in order to produce additional power increases the efficiency of the system itself. The purpose of this study is to present an energy and exergy analysis of Kalina Cycle System (KCS) 11, which is proposed to be utilized to generate additional electric power from the waste heat contained in geothermal brine water available in the Lahendong Geothermal power plant site in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. A modeling application on energy and exergy system is used to study the design of thermal system which uses …

Aerosol Optical Hygroscopicity Measurements During The 2010 Cares Campaign, Dean B. Atkinson, James Gregory Radney, Janel Lum, Katheryn R. Kolesar, Daniel J. Cziczo, Mikhail Pekour, Qi Zhang, Ari Setyan, Alla Zelenyuk, Christopher D. Cappa

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Measurements of the effect of water uptake on particulate light extinction or scattering made at two locations during the 2010 CARES study around Sacramento, CA are reported. The observed influence of water uptake, characterized through the dimensionless optical hygroscopicity parameter γ, is compared with calculations constrained by observed particle size distributions and size-dependent particle composition. A closure assessment has been carried out that allowed for determination of the average hygroscopic growth factors (GF) at 85% relative humidity and the dimensionless hygroscopicity parameter κ for oxygenated organic aerosol (OA) and for supermicron particles, yielding κ = 0.1–0.15 and 0.9–1.0, respectively. The …

Organizational Learning In Commercial Construction: Lessons Learned From The 2007-2009 U.S. Recession, Evan Michael Danforth

Theses and Dissertations

Organizational learning seeks to proactively expand the knowledge base of an organizational entity by incorporating knowledge, skills, and experience into the collective conscience of the company through the development of routines rather than relying on individual employees for these traits. Valuable experience gained by individuals who weather economic downturn with their companies must be absorbed into the corporate structure in a meaningful way so that it may be accessible for use during future recessions. This research asks what was learned by individuals during the most recent recession, what mechanisms were employed to retain and utilize this knowledge, and what cultures, …

Adsorption-Style Activated-Sludge: Is It A Practical Treatment Process In North America?, Jon Dearmond

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Adsorption/Bio-Oxidation (A/B) processes occupy a small footprint and can be exceptionally energy efficient to the point of being energy positive in optimum conditions. They have the ability to handle industrially influenced municipal wastewater with high pH and BOD swings. The A/B plant configuration also appears to be a great platform for shortcut nitrogen removal processes because of the controlled carbon diversion capabilities of the adsorption stage (A-stage). In Europe, these plants have been successfully implemented at full scale since the early 1980s. However, in the U.S. there is a false conventional wisdom that plants operating at very low SRT's will …

Java Animated Software For Teaching The Frank-Wolfe Algorithm For Static Traffic Network Equilibrium, Zhi Li

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The popular Frank-Wolfe (FW) algorithm for solving the network equilibrium problems plays an important role in transportation simulation. Not only has the basic Frank Wolfe algorithm been studied, but also other variations of the FW algorithm (such as Conjugate Frank Wolfe and Bi-Conjugate Frank Wolfe algorithms) have been extensively studied by the research communities.

In this work, the basic Frank Wolfe algorithm is re-visited for the purpose of developing a useful, user-friendly, and appealing Java computer animation for enhancing the teaching effectiveness of this fundamental transportation static network equilibrium algorithm. Since the shortest path (SP) algorithms (such as the well-known …

Analyzing Driver Behavior And Traffic Flow Breakdowns At The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, Michelle L. Allen

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) is a major link for activity in Hampton Roads. The eastbound direction also suffers from congestion during both morning and peak hours. During these periods of congestion, the flow rate varies in regards to the location of the congestion. This study focuses on investigating driver behavior during these different conditions and briefly investigates the cost of delay due to the different capacities. To accomplish this, per vehicle record data (PVR) is used. This data, collected at the exit of the tunnel, provides information on arrival time, speed, lane location, vehicle class, and time headway. …

An Examination Of The Potential For Distributed Wind Generation (Dwg) In Urban Distribution Networks, Keith Sunderland, Thomas Woolmington, Michael Conlon, Gerald Mills

Conference papers

In a sustainable economy, smarter cities need energy networks that can deliver consistent electricity while maximising the use of intermittent renewables. Therefore an understanding of the available resource and a means for viable integration of distributed generation (DG) is required. In this research, energy harvesting of the wind climate is considered in the context of distributed wind generation (DwG) as an integral component of a smarter electricity network. The approach combines wind climate modeling of the resource at the urban scale with enhanced electricity network simulation. The former considers energy harvesting potential while the latter investigates the opportunities for this …

Mainstreaming Green Infrastructure: The Nexus Of Infrastructure And Education Using The Green Space Based Learning (Gsbl) Approach For Bioretention Plant Selection, Ryan Charles Robert Locicero

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Green Space Based Learning (GSBL) approach builds on a long-term partnership between a Research I university, surrounding community, and local school district, transforming underutilized community green space into an interactive educational tool to addresses national infrastructure and educational challenges. The GSBL approach is an educational platform for engaging K-12 and the local community in engineering design and construction of sustainable Green Infrastructure (GI) projects. GSBL was piloted as a part of a federally funded Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program in which teachers participated in two intensive 6-week summer research experiences and two consecutive academic year components. The summer …

Bicyclist Compliance At Signalized Intersections, Samson Ray Riley Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

This project examined cyclist red light running behavior using two data sets. Previous studies of cyclist compliance have investigated the tendencies of cyclists to run red lights on the whole by generalizing different maneuvers to their end outcome, running a red light. This project differentiates between the different types of red light running and focuses on the most egregious case, gap acceptance, which is when a cyclist runs a red light by accepting a gap in opposing traffic.

Using video data, a mathematical model of cyclist red light running was developed for gap acceptance. Similar to other studies, this analysis …

Long-Term Metal Retention Performance Of Media Filter Drains For Stormwater Management, Agathe Thomas, Liv Haselbach, Cara Poor, Maxwell Freimund

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Stormwater runoff, a substantial source of nonpoint pollution, can be treated using Best Management Practices (BMPs), such as the Media Filter Drain (MFD). An MFD is a trench filled with an engineered media mix, usually with a grass overlay, that receives runoff from the paved roadway next to it. The MFD was shown to remove dissolved metals (zinc and copper), typical pollutants from vehicles and urban areas, which might negatively impact aquatic species in receiving waters, but its long-term effectiveness was not known. Existing media filter mixes of different ages were collected from two different sites in the Pacific Northwest …

Detection And Characterization Of Malathion Adherence To Piping Materials Used In Water Distribution Systems, William D. Flemings

Theses and Dissertations

Protection of the public water supply is a national security priority, and as such, it is important to better understand the fate of a chemical weapons agent injection into a public water distribution system. This study investigated the adherence of malathion to pipe materials that are used in public water distribution systems, with malathion serving as a chemical representative of the organophosphorus nerve agent VX. Copper and iron specimen were exposed to malathion solutions for periods of 4, 8, and 24 hours and then tested for evidence of chemical adherence to the metal surfaces. Nonlinear desiccation profiles revealed total mass …

Integrating Pavement Crack Detection And Analysis Using Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Imagery, Patrick J. Grandsaert

Theses and Dissertations

Efficient, reliable data is necessary to make informed decisions on how to best manage aging road assets. This research explores a new method to automate the collection, processing, and analysis of transportation networks using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Computer Vision technology. While there are current methodologies to accomplish road assessment manually and semi-autonomously, this research is a proof of concept to obtain the road assessment faster and cheaper with a vision for little to no human interaction required. This research evaluates the strengths of applying UAV technology to pavement assessments and identifies where further work is needed. Furthermore, it validates …