Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

A Decision-Making Framework For Hybrid Resource Recovery Oriented Wastewater Systems, Nader Rezaei

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water shortage, water contamination, and the emerging challenges in sustainable water resources management (e.g., the likely impacts of climate change and population growth) necessitate adopting a reverse logistics approach, which is the process of moving wastewater from its typical final destination back to the water supply chain for reuse purposes. This practice not only reduces the negative impacts of wastewater on the environment, but also provides an alternative to withdrawal from natural water resources, forming a closed-loop water supply chain. However, the design of such a supply chain requires an appropriate sustainability assessment, which simultaneously accounts for economic, environmental, and …

Development Of Traffic Live Load Models For Bridge Superstructure Rating With Rbdo And Best Selection Approach, Sasan Siavashi, Christopher D. Eamon

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) is frequently used to determine optimal structural geometry and material characteristics that can best meet performance goals while considering uncertainties. In this study, the effectiveness of RBDO to develop a rating load model for a set of bridge structures is explored, as well as the use of an alternate Best Selection procedure that requires substantially less computational effort. The specific problem investigated is the development of a vehicular load model for use in bridge rating, where the objective of the optimization is to minimize the variation in reliability index across different girder types and bridge geometries. …

Marine Quay Crane Scheduling Using A Combined Modified Genetic Algorithm And Priority Rules Approach, V. H. Nguyen, D. T. Nguyen

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Quay crane scheduling problem (QCSP) is the problem of the allocation of quay cranes to handle the unloading and loading of containers at seaport container terminals and defining the service sequence of vessel bays of each quay crane. The treatment of crane interference constraints and the increased in vessel size make the problem difficult to solve. Due to the growing interest in applied research for this problem, many researchers have used different algorithms and methods to obtain some solutions. This paper will propose a modified genetic algorithm combined with priority rules to deal with it. The advantage of the proposed …

Optimization Of Process Parameters And Fermentation Strategy For Xylanase Production In A Stirred Tank Reactor Using A Mutant Aspergillus Nidulans Strain, Asmaa Abdella, Fernando Segato, Mark R. Wilkins

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present work studied the optimization of aeration rate, agitation rate and oxygen transfer and the use of various batch fermentation strategies for xylanase production from a recombinant Aspergillus nidulans strain in a 3 L stirred tank reactor. Maximum xylanase production of 1250 U/mL with productivity of 313 U/mL/day was obtained under an aeration rate of 2 vvm and an agitation rate of 400 rpm using batch fermentation. The optimum volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (kLa) for efficient xylanase production was found to be 38.6 h1. Fed batch mode and repeated batch fermentation was also performed with kLa was 38.6 h1. …

Optimization Of Process Parameters And Fermentation Strategy For Xylanase Production In A Stirred Tank Reactor Using A Mutant Aspergillus Nidulans Strain, Asmaa Abdella, Fernando Segato, Mark R. Wilkins

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present work studied the optimization of aeration rate, agitation rate and oxygen transfer and the use of various batch fermentation strategies for xylanase production from a recombinant Aspergillus nidulans strain in a 3 L stirred tank reactor. Maximum xylanase production of 1250 U/mL with productivity of 313 U/mL/day was obtained under an aeration rate of 2 vvm and an agitation rate of 400 rpm using batch fermentation. The optimum volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (kLa) for efficient xylanase production was found to be 38.6 h-1. Fed batch mode and repeated batch fermentation was also performed with kLa was 38.6 h …

Designing An On-Demand Dynamic Crowdshipping Model And Evaluating Its Ability To Serve Local Retail Delivery In New York City, Shirin Najaf Abadi

Dissertations and Theses

Nowadays city mobility is challenging, mainly in populated metropolitan areas. Growing commute demands, increase in the number of for-hire vehicles, enormous escalation in several intra-city deliveries and limited infrastructure (road capacities), all contribute to mobility challenges. These challenges typically have significant impacts on residents’ quality-of-life particularly from an economic and environmental perspective. Decision-makers have to optimize transportation resources to minimize the system externalities (especially in large-scale metropolitan areas). This thesis focus on the intra-city mobility problems experienced by travelers (in the form of congestion and imbalance taxi resources) and businesses (in the form of last-mile delivery), while taking into consideration …

Automated And Optimized Sensor Deployment Using Building Models And Electromagnetic Simulation, Chunhee Cho, Jeewoong Park, Kyungki Kim

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

With the advent of wireless sensing technology and interest in tracking resources, researchers have developed advanced tracking algorithms by using one or more sensor systems for improved accuracy and reliability of tracking. The objective of this research lies in another aspect−deployment−of tracking that has received only little attention until now. The research explores a method for sensor deployment particularly designed for the building in which the sensors are used. To tailor our solution to a specific building, we integrate a building information model with an electromagnetic energy analysis. By using such a model, the system extracts the properties of building …

Robust Allocation Of Funds For Nonstructural Flood Risk Mitigation In Coastal Louisiana, Simón Gómez Sierra, David R. Johnson, Matthew P. Shisler, Zachariah T. Richardson

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Coastal Louisiana is a critical economic, ecological and cultural asset, acting as a major hub for waterborne commerce, fisheries, and the petrochemical industry, and also as one of the world’s unique wetlands. Unfortunately, this rich environment is in great danger from the threat of hurricanes and storm surge flooding. Direct economic losses are estimated to average $2.7 billion per year under current conditions, and this could increase to $12 billion a year, or more, within 50 years if nothing is done. To prevent this catastrophe, Louisiana has developed a Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast, which plans to spend …

Developing A Framework To Optimize The Operations Of An Intermodal Underground Freight Transportation Terminal Using Simulation, Fatemeh Rezaeifar

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), by 2040, nearly 30,000 miles of our busiest highways will be clogged daily and it is important to increase the capacity of our transportation system. Construction of intermodal underground freight transportation (UFT) systems for freight movement through underground pipelines or tunnels, can increase the capacity of the existing shipping network. The intermodal terminal is a major component of the UFT’s innovative infrastructure project. Increasing demand for container transportation systems in terminals will raise the risk of terminal congestion and delivery delay due to the increase in freight transportation system bottlenecks (traffic jams …

Evaluating The Practices Of A Small Business: A Case Study, Madeleine Anne Bernadicou

Construction Management

Companies are in constant search to increase profits. The company success is dependent on its standard operational procedures, otherwise known as SOP. Golden State Irrigation and Noack Pump is a non-union merit shop contractor that performs irrigation work in the California’s central valley. This paper researches the utilized methods of the company to see if it is operating at an optimal level. The methodology used in this project is a case study, where multiple jobs, income statements, and cash flows were analyzed, along with conducted interviews. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected in the investigation of this case study. …

Assessment And Optimization Of Environmental Systems Using Data Analysis And Simulation., Milad Ebrahimi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For most environmental systems, specifically wastewater treatment plants and aquifers, a significant number of performance data variables are attained on a time series basis. Due to the interconnectedness of the variables, it is often difficult to assess over-arching trends and quantify temporal operational performance. The objective of this research study was to provide an effective means for comprehensive temporal evaluation of environmental systems. The proposed methodology used several multivariate data analyses and statistical techniques to present an assessment framework for the water quality monitoring programs as well as optimization of treatment plants and aquifer systems. The developed procedure considered the …

Integrated Strategies For Sustainable Wastewater-Based Algal Biofuel Production And Environmental Mitigation In The Us, Javad Roostaei

Wayne State University Dissertations

Integration of algae cultivation with wastewater treatment has received increasing interest as a cost-effective strategy for biofuel production. However, there has been no full assessment of algal biofuel production with wastewater on macro-scale by taking into account wastewater resources, land availability, CO2 emission resources, and geographic variation. This research addressed and evaluated the use of wastewater for algae cultivation, in terms of modeling and laboratory experiments. The first goal of this research was to develop a spatially explicit lifecycle model, by integrating life cycle assessment (LCA), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis, for the evaluation of the environmental and economic …

Computational Methods In Civil Engineering, Nir Krakauer

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Technical Project Management: Union Of Systems Engineering Processes With Project Management Processes, Deyaaldeen M. Abusal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Today, most projects in technical fields utilize project management to complete projects as planned, and some of the projects utilize system engineering to cover the project in both technically and commercially. This Thesis investigates the relationship between Project Management (PM) and Systems Engineering (SE) to determine if a suitably professional level of management and level of quality can be achieved. When studying PM and SE separately and make a comparison between both, there is much overlap between these two mature fields. The project could be planned and completed solely by either process. This study combines both fields of Project Management …

Modeling And Evaluation Of A Ridesharing Matching System From Multi-Stakeholders' Perspective, Md Tawhidur Rahman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With increasing travel demand and mobility service quality expectations, demand responsive innovative services continue to emerge. Ridesharing is an established, yet evolving, mobility option that can provide more customized, reliable shared service without any new investment in the transportation infrastructure. To maximize the benefits of ridesharing service, efficient matching and distribution of riders among available drivers can provide a reliable mobility option under most operating conditions. Service efficiency of ridesharing depends on the system performance (e.g., trip travel time, trip delay, trip distance, detour distance, and trip satisfaction) acceptable to diverse mobility stakeholders (e.g., riders, drivers, ridesharing operators, and transportation …

Indonesia’S Municipal Solid Waste 3r And Waste To Energy Programs, Farizal Farizal, Radityo Aji, Amar Rachman, Nasruddin Nasruddin, Teuku Meurah Indra Mahlia

Makara Journal of Technology

Like most cities in the world, population in Indonesia continues to grow every year. Problems that can arise from this are the increasing amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) production and the growing demand for electricity. To deal with the problems, Indonesian government runs 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) and WTE (Waste to Energy) Programs simultaneously. 3R program aims to reduce the number of waste, while WTE program aims to generate electricity as an alternative energy source. This study aims to find out the optimal proportion of MSW treated through the 3R and WTE programs. For the purpose, a goal …

Calibrating And Evaluating Dynamic Rule-Based Transit-Signal-Priority Control Systems In Urban Traffic Networks, Md Didarul Alam

Civil and Environmental Engineering Dissertations

Setting the traffic controller parameters to perform effectively in real-time is a challenging task, and it entails setting several parameters to best suit some predicted traffic conditions. This study presents the framework and method that entail the application of the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to calibrate the parameters of any control system incorporating advanced traffic management strategies (e.g., the complex integrated traffic control system developed by Ahmed and Hawas). The integrated system is a rule-based heuristic controller that reacts to specific triggering conditions, such as identification of priority transit vehicle, downstream signal congestion, and incidents by penalizing the predefined objective …

Water Resources Adaptation To Climate And Demand Change In The Potomac River, James H. Stagge, Glenn E. Moglen

Publications

The effects of climate change are increasingly considered in conjunction with changes in water demand and reservoir sedimentation in forecasts of water supply vulnerability. Here, the relative effects of these factors are evaluated for the Washington, DC metropolitan area water supply for the near (2010 to 2039), intermediate (2040-2069), and distant future (2070 to 2099) by repeated water resources model simulations. This system poses water management challenges due to long water delivery travel times that increase uncertainty, multiple water jurisdictions that constrain potential decisions, and future scenarios that simultaneously increase demand and decrease water supply during the critical summer period. …

Pepso: Reducing Electricity Usage And Associated Pollution Emissions Of Water Pumps, Seyed Mohsen Sadatiyan Abkenar, Carol J. Miller

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

Using metaheuristic optimization methods has enabled researchers to reduce the electricity consumption cost of small water distribution systems (WDSs). However, dealing with complicated WDSs and reducing their environmental footprint remains a challenge. In this study a multi-objective version of Pollution Emission Pump Station Optimization tool (PEPSO) is introduced that can reduce the electricity cost and pollution emissions (associated with the energy consumption) of pumps of WDSs. PEPSO includes a user-friendly graphical interface and a customized version of the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm. A measure that is called “Undesirability Index” (UI) is defined to assist the search for a promising optimization …

Towards Food Service Sustainability In Suburban Environments By Optimally Locating Shared Anaerobic Digester Units, Rebecca Loraamm, Joni Downs, Robert Alonso Bair, Daniel Yeh

Suburban Sustainability

Anaerobic digestion is an effective method for reducing food waste at the consumer level. Drawbacks associated with this strategy include high construction costs for multiple digester units and limited public awareness of the method’s commercial potential. Given the large scale problem of food waste, an approach establishing community partnerships between local businesses and primary schools is offered to combat the problem of food waste. Optimizing the placement of shared digester units enabling utilization by multiple stakeholders is the suggested mitigation method. This research explores application of the p-median problem to determine the set of optimal sites for shared anaerobic digester …

Generalized Clusterwise Regression For Simultaneous Estimation Of Optimal Pavement Clusters And Performance Models, Mukesh Khadka

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The existing state-of-the-art approach of Clusterwise Regression (CR) to estimate pavement performance models (PPMs) pre-specifies explanatory variables without testing their significance; as an input, this approach requires the number of clusters for a given data set. Time-consuming ‘trial and error’ methods are required to determine the optimal number of clusters. A common objective function is the minimization of the total sum of squared errors (SSE). Given that SSE decreases monotonically as a function of the number of clusters, the optimal number of clusters with minimum SSE always is the total number of data points. Hence, the minimization of SSE is …

Introduction To Water Resources Systems - University Of Colorado Boulder, Joseph Kasprzyk

All ECSTATIC Materials

This is the introductory lecture to a Water Resource Systems and Management class from Spring 2017 at the University of Colorado Boulder, by Joseph Kasprzyk. Learning goals include (i) defining integrated water resources management, (ii) identifying Colorado water management issues (ii) identifying how RiverWare simulation and optimization can be used to develop water plans (iii) use the HyMod model to perform rainfall-runoff modeling (iv) generating random parameter samples and understanding how parameter uncertainty affects model results.

Innovative Gtfs Data Application For Transit Network Analysis Using A Graph-Oriented Method, Philippe Fortin, Catherine Morency, Martin Trépanier

Journal of Public Transportation

Public transit networks are constantly evolving in the face of frequent economic and social challenges. There exists a large knowledge base on travel demand; however, there is a shortage of information on travel supply and networks. To our knowledge, no analysis tool can, at this point, systematically characterize a network and observe changes over time in a structured and automated manner. This paper addresses this issue and proposes a graph-oriented method for developing an analysis tool that will characterize a single network and then provide the necessary means to compare two distinct networks. A time-expanded model was applied to import …

Improved 2d And 3d Resistivity Surveys Using Buried Electrodes And Optimized Arrays: The Multi-Electrode Resistivity Implant Technique (Merit), Henok Gidey Kiflu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a novel resistivity method called Multi-Electrode resistivity technique (MERIT) that is used for high resolution imaging of complex geologic features at depth and near the edges of survey lines. The MERIT electrodes are especially shaped and designed to be self-driven using a robust-direct push technique. Measurements are taken using optimized arrays that are generated using a modified version of the “Compare-R” optimization algorithm. This work focused on both two-dimensional (MERIT2D) and three-dimensional (MERIT3D) applications of the buried array and show the relevance of the additional information gained by the addition of deep electrodes especially in sites with …

Optimization Of Headway, Stops, And Time Points Considering Stochastic Bus Arrivals, Liuhui Zhao

Dissertations

With the capability to transport a large number of passengers, public transit acts as an important role in congestion reduction and energy conservation. However, the quality of transit service, in terms of accessibility and reliability, significantly affects model choices of transit users. Unreliable service will cause extra wait time to passengers because of headway irregularity at stops, as well as extra recovery time built into schedule and additional cost to operators because of ineffective utilization of allocated resources.

This study aims to optimize service planning and improve reliability for a fixed bus route, yielding maximum operator’s profit. Three models are …

Optimizing Dam Siting In The Paru River In Brazil Using A Multi-Objective Approach, Henrique De Paula

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

How should a decision-maker choose which hydropower plant to build in a given river? Hydropower plant expansion is a task that involves several stakeholders, objectives, and resources. It requires that decision-makers use not only experience and previous knowledge to come up with their final decision, but also the use of tools to help them to decide, as well as to support their choices. The present project developed a computation model to optimize the choice of hydropower plants that can be built within a given river, considering three different objectives - energy generation, flooded surface area and river connectivity. The input …

Optimizing Sustainable Integrated Use Of Groundwater, Surface Water And Reclaimed Water For The Competing Demands Of Agricultural Net Return And Urban Population, Silvia Anastasia Landa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The world population is growing rapidly. In developing countries, the growing population is mostly in urban areas. A bigger population requires more food, and more food requires more water. The water needed for food and people comes from the same sources: surface water (rivers, lakes, etc.) and groundwater (aquifers). Thus, there is a competing water demand between people and agriculture in urban areas.

In this research, we use computer software to make a model of the hydrologic system that focuses on surface water and groundwater. To make the model, we use data from real aquifers and streams in order to …

Optimal Geothermal Heat Extraction Using Co2, Iti Patel, Jeffrey Bielicki

CO2 Summit II: Technologies and Opportunities

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and storage (CCS) systems alleviate global climate change through the subsurface storage of CO₂ emission. This CCS technology can be costly, but CO₂ Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) approaches can decrease the cost of CCS, because sequestered CO₂ is used to produce an economically viable commodity. In one CCUS application, CO₂ that is sequestered in sedimentary basins during the CCS process can be used to extract geothermal heat that can then be used to generate a profit^1,2. These CO₂-geothermal systems rely on the temperature of …

Enhanced Pump Schedule Optimization For Large Water Distribution Networks To Maximize Environmental And Economic Benefits, Seyed Mohsen Sadatiyan Abkenar

Wayne State University Dissertations

For more than four decades researchers tried to develop optimization method and tools to reduce electricity consumption of pump stations of water distribution systems. Based on this ongoing research trend, about a decade ago, some commercial pump operation optimization software introduced to the market. Using metaheuristic and evolutionary techniques (e.g. Genetic Algorithm) make some commercial and research tools able to optimize the electricity cost of small water distribution systems (WDS). Still reducing the environmental footprint of these systems and dealing with large and complicated water distribution system is a challenge.

In this study, we aimed to develop a multiobjective optimization …

Engineering Optimization: Methods/Applications - Colorado State University, John Labadie

All ECSTATIC Materials

This course provides a comprehensive treatment of methods of optimization with focus on linear programming and its extensions, network flow optimization, integer programming, quadratic programming, and an introduction to nonlinear programming. The goal is to maintain a balance between theory, numerical computation, problem setup for solution by computer algorithms, and engineering applications. Course taught at Colorado State University.