Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Direct Blue 86 Textile Dye Removal From Aqueous Solution Using Rice Husk-Based Adsorbent, M. Zulbahari M. Zua, Muhammad Raza Ul Mustafa, Mohamed Hasnain Isa, Teh Sabariah Binti Abd Manan, Naimah Ibrahim, Rozeana Hj Md Juani, Wida Susanty Hj Suhaili, Asmaal Muizz Sallehhin Bin Hj Mohammad Sultan, Zuliana Binti Hj Nayan

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Adsorption by activated carbon is an effective method of dye removal. However, due to high production and regeneration costs of activated carbon, various studies on low-cost adsorbents have been conducted. Agricultural waste such as rice husk (RH) is seen to be a good adsorbent for dye removal. Moreover, rice husk is readily available. In this study, rice husk-based adsorbents were prepared by chemical and thermal treatments. Standard curve (colour vs absorbance) for Direct Blue 86 (DB 86) was prepared to determine the concentration of dye before and after adsorption. The adsorption potential of the adsorbent for textile dye DB 86 …

Assessing The Feasibility And Mechanism Of Destructive Removal Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) From Water, Kaushik Vinaykumar Londhe

Dissertations

One of the most pertinent challenges faced by the drinking water community is the widespread contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These anthropogenic chemicals have been ubiquitously used in everyday products such as carpets, stain repellents, dyes, shampoos, non-stick cookware as well as in aqueous firefighting foams. PFAS are linked with adverse health effects in humans such as thyroid disease, obesity, immunological and reproductive disorders and linked to cancer in adults and low birth weight and developmental defects in infants.

Conventional water treatment technologies have proven to be largely ineffective in PFAS remediation, due to their extreme stability and …

Modeling Of Amine-Based Co2 Capture Process, Zafar Safarovich Turakulov

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

A significant factor influencing climate change is the release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere as a consequence of human activities such as the combustion of fossil fuels. Climate change can be slowed down by taking action to mitigate industrial-scale CO₂ emissions. Currently, the most advanced technology for capturing CO₂ from industrial flue gases is the post-combustion CO₂ capture based on amine absorption. However, due to the high energy penalties of existing CO₂ capture technologies and insufficient carbon markets, it is necessary to develop methods that compete with these technologies or minimize their …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Commercial Adsorbents For Co2 Removal For Biogas Upgradation: An Experimental Study, Aakriti Bagla

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Engineered Biomass-Derived Carbon Adsorbents For Targeted Contaminant Remediation From Aqueous Environments, Suraj Venkat Pochampally

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Porous carbon adsorbents like biochar (BC) are produced from waste biomasses like wood chips, animal litter, nut shells, dried grass, etc. to be used in a multitude of applications like gas capture, soil amendment, water treatment, electrode materials, etc. In water treatment, carbon-based adsorbents have been mainly used to physically or chemically adsorb contaminants depending on the adsorption mechanism. However, BCs in their raw state do not have the capability of absorbing high amounts of contaminants and need to be activated/ modified for the pore network to broaden and adsorb the contaminants with better efficiency.

The scope of this dissertation …

Wastewater Treatment Using Encapsulated Chabazite In Polyvinyl Alcohol-Sodium Alginate Hydrogel Biofilm Carriers, Susieanna Nevada Persaud

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen discharge from wastewater is a global issue and with increased urbanization as well as industrialization, it has become even more essential to develop more efficient wastewater treatment systems. The dominant form of nitrogen in wastewater is ammonium. Biological oxidation of ammonium to nitrite and nitrate is the first step in biological nitrogen removal processes. If left untreated, nitrogen can cause toxicity to aquatic life, unsafe changes in water quality, and eutrophication.

Biofilm carriers can help to improve the efficiency of traditional activated sludge wastewater treatment systems by reducing operating costs and reducing hydraulic retention time. Biofilm carriers also promote …

Gold Thin Film Electrodes For High Sensitivity & Selectivity Electrochemical Detection Of Arsenite In Water, Tybur Q. Casuse Driovínto

Civil Engineering ETDs

This is partial fulfillment of a dissertation defense on electrochemical detection of Arsenic (As) in water using gold (Au) nanofilms as sensing electrodes. The maximum contaminant level of Arsenic in drinking water is set at 10 g L^-1 by the WHO and USEPA. Electrochemical detection by linear stripping voltammetry has comparable detection limits to more expensive laboratory-based methods but with added benefits of being portable and manufacturable. The work has developed sputtered and crystallographically oriented nanofilms for detection of trace As (III). Ultraflat Au(111) oriented thin films, Au(UTF), were compared to single crystal model electrodes to identify the impacts …

Devices And Methods For Removing Perflourinated Compounds From Contaminted Water, Dibakar Bhattacharyya Phd, Anthony Saad Phd, Rollie Mills Phd, L. E. Ormsbee Phd, M Abdul Mottaleb Phd

Civil Engineering Faculty Patents

PFAS compounds have emerged as a persistent and harmful environmental pollutant that present significant challenges to health and remediation. This patent describes a new technology that employs membrane technology along with thermo-responsive adsorption-desorption processes to remove perfluorinated compounds from contaminate water.

Development Of Polymeric Sorbents As Reusable Filtration Systems For Remediation Of Pfas Contaminated Water, E. Molly Frazar

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Decades of use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a multitude of consumer and industry-based products have led to a devastating amount of soil and water contamination. Although these chemicals and compounds possess advantageous qualities – such as that of PFAS in the role of fire-fighting foams that have no doubt saved countless lives and homes, we must take responsibility for the anthropogenic hazards that threaten our global health. This entails being able to cost-effectively remediate problems created in the past from overuse of toxic substances that could negatively impact our future, and in this case, the future of …

Treating Contaminated Water: Predicting Reactivities Of Aqueous Organic Contaminants With Hydrated Electrons, And Development Of A Biogarden To Manage Greywater Discharge In Monteverde, Costa Rica, Rose C. Daily

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Advanced reduction processes (ARPs) that generate highly reactive solvated electrons (e^-_aq) are a promising method for the destruction of conventional and emerging aqueous organic contaminants. While there is a large database of contaminant reactivity with e^-_aq in the literature, there is little information on the detailed elementary mechanisms for reduction of multifunctional group compounds and the impact of those functional groups on reactivity. As it is difficult to determine specific mechanisms through experiments and time consuming to measure reactivity, the development of computational approaches to elucidate mechanisms and predict reactivity is becoming increasingly important. In …

Phosphorus Release And Recovery From Simulated Ferric Wastewater Sludge, Aseel Alnimer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Phosphorus (P) is a fundamental element necessary for all life forms and a key component in the fertilizer industry. Meanwhile, the excessive load of P to water bodies due to human activities has the potential to promote eutrophication. Wastewater treatment plants remove P either biologically or chemically and produce P rich sludge which could be a potential renewable source for P. At present, commercial technologies exist for P recovery from biological wastewater sludge. However, P recovery from chemical sludge particularly iron(III)-phosphate (Fe-P) sludge generated in chemical P removal plants that use iron(III) salts remains a challenge.

This study explored, in …

Faceted Nanomaterial Synthesis, Characterizations And Applications In Reactive Electrochemical Membrane Filtration, Qingquan Ma

Dissertations

Facet engineering of nanomaterials, especially metals and metal oxides has become an important strategy for tuning catalytic properties and functions from heterogeneous catalysis to electrochemical catalysis, photocatalysis, biomedicine, fuel cells, and gas sensors. The catalytic properties are highly related to the surface electronic structures, surface electron transport characteristics, and active center structures of catalysts, which can be tailored by surface facet control. The aim of this doctoral dissertation research is to study the facet-dependent properties of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles using multiple advanced characterization techniques. Specifically, the novel atomic force microscope-scanning electrochemical microscope (AFM-SECM) and density functional theory (DFT) …

Fabrication Of Thin-Film Composite, Reverse-Osmosis Membranes With Polyethylenimine Modifications For Enhancing Membrane Fouling Resistance, Stephanie N. Hamilton

Master's Theses

Increasing water reuse opportunities for communities has become increasingly important as access to clean water is becoming more scarce. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is an advanced treatment technology used in water recycling wastewater for potable reuse applications. RO is a promising technology; however, the membranes have limitations including their high energy demand and their susceptibility to membrane fouling. The main objective of this study was to develop a reproducible method for the fabrication of RO membranes with enhanced flux and reduced susceptibility to fouling. Literature contains numerous publications on fabrication of thin film composite (TFC) RO membranes with high performance. However, …

Élimination Des Vapeurs Toxiques Par Oxydation : Développement De Procédures D'Évaluation Des Systèmes De Purification De L'Air Des Conduits De Ventilation, Chang-Seo Lee, Fariborz Haghighat, Alireza Haghighat Mamaghani, Zahra Shayegan, Ali Bahloul, Mélanie Huard, Lexuan Zhong, Mitra Bahr

Rapports de recherche scientifique

L'exposition à des composés organiques volatils (COV) dans les lieux de travail peut avoir des effets aigus, notamment sous forme d'irritation de la peau, des yeux, de la bouche et du nez. Certains produits peuvent également provoquer des effets chroniques, comme l'asthme et le cancer. La prévention de tels effets nocifs sur la santé des travailleurs par l'adoption et la mise en œuvre de mesures visant à en éliminer ou à tout le moins réduire le risque s'avère importante. Parmi les approches développées à ce jour pour réduire l'exposition aux polluants de l'air intérieur – dont les COV –, la …

Removal Of Toxic Vapors By Oxidation: Development Of Laboratory Test Procedures For In-Duct Air Cleaning Systems, Chang-Seo Lee, Fariborz Haghighat, Alireza Haghighat Mamaghani, Zahra Shayegan, Ali Bahloul, Mélanie Huard, Lexuan Zhong, Mitra Bahr

Rapports de recherche scientifique

L'exposition à des composés organiques volatils (COV) dans les lieux de travail peut avoir des effets aigus, notamment sous forme d'irritation de la peau, des yeux, de la bouche et du nez. Certains produits peuvent également provoquer des effets chroniques, comme l'asthme et le cancer. La prévention de tels effets nocifs sur la santé des travailleurs par l'adoption et la mise en œuvre de mesures visant à en éliminer ou à tout le moins réduire le risque s'avère importante. Parmi les approches développées à ce jour pour réduire l'exposition aux polluants de l'air intérieur – dont les COV –, la …

Design Of Solvent-Assisted Plastics Recycling: Integrated Economics And Environmental Impacts Analysis, Austin L. Lehr, Kayla L. Heider, Emmanuel A. Aboagye, John D. Chea, Jake P. Stengel, Pahola Thathiana Benavides, Kirti M. Yenkie

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

In 2018, the United States generated over 35. 7 million tons of plastic waste, with only 8.4% being recycled and the other 91.6% incinerated or disposed of in a landfill. The continued growth of the polymer market has raised concerns over the end of life of plastics. Currently, the waste management system is faced with issues of inefficient sorting methods and low-efficiency recycling methods when it comes to plastics recycling. Mechanical recycling is the commonest recycling method but presents a lower-valued recycled material due to the material incompatibilities introduced via the inefficient sorting methods. Chemical recycling offers a promising alternative …

Nano-Bio Interactions: Implications And Applications, Anushree Ghosh

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Rapid expansion of technology development at the nanoscale has underpinned a promising industry. Towards this, there remain significant information gaps which are critical with regard to decision making processes and ultimate industrial sustainability. From an implication point of view, understanding how common biological macromolecules, including glycolipids and/or biopolymers produced by bacteria and fungi, which are ubiquitous in the environment, is fundamental to predicting the behavior of released/produced nanoparticles. Conversely, other bio-based tailored macromolecules, including mussel foot protein (MFP), have significant potential as functional material coatings for advanced applications.This PhD thesis is focused on interfacial processes related to superparamagnetic iron oxide …

Advanced Nanomaterials And Module Designs For Efficient Photothermal Water Treatment, Deoukchen Ghim

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Water scarcity is one of the most serious challenges that human beings face, and the demand for clean water will continuously increase as populations grow. Creating potable water from saline water is an important way to meet global freshwater demands. However, current desalination techniques require high energy consumption and a large scale to be efficient, restricting their utilization in remote and underdeveloped areas. These constraints motivate the development of sustainable water treatment methods that can be used with less energy input, in small modular configurations, and in off-grid water treatment systems. As an abundant and renewable energy source, sunlight has …

The Generation And Transport Of Charged Aerosols: Fundamental Study And Applications In Medicine And Energy Conversion, Hao Zhou

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Charged aerosols have significant implications in the field of functional material synthesis, pharmaceutical coating, and drug delivery. Electrospray systems are an effective methodology for generating highly charged monodispersed droplets in the size range from nanometer to micrometer. The prediction of surface charge, size and morphology of nanoparticles resulting from charged droplets are highly required for the precise control of nanoparticle properties and their effective utilization. However, the evolution of charged droplet is not well understood due to the existence of coulombic fission and ion evaporation processes. Thus, the goal of this dissertation is to elucidate how the precursor properties and …

Nanoscale Interfacial Control Of Ion Behaviors And Caco3 Formation In Environmental Systems, Yaguang Zhu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Interfaces in environmental systems can change the distribution of pollutants and nutrients, determine the fate and transport of nanoparticles, and affect the efficiency of engineering projects. Complex interactions, including electrostatic interactions, Van der Waals interactions, chemical interactions, and ion-surface specific interactions, can all contribute to different ion, ion-pair, and nanoparticle formations near interfaces. Although environmental interfaces play critical roles, only a limited number of studies have considered the nanoscale picture of how they control ions and nanoparticles. Thus, this dissertation addresses three research questions: (1) How does sulfate chemically interact with calcium carbonate (CaCO3) during its heterogeneous formation on quartz …

Photochemical Formation Mechanisms And Applications Of Mn Oxide Nanomaterials, Zhenwei Gao

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Manganese (Mn) oxides are ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments, and the rich redox chemistry of manganese is of interest in engineered systems, such as batteries and water oxidation catalysts. Mn oxides have large surface areas and are highly active in adsorption and redox reactions. Our research group recently reported photochemically-assisted abiotic inorganic oxidation of Mn2+(aq) to δ-MnO2 nanosheets in the presence of nitrate and without a microorganism, demonstrating that abiotic Mn oxidation processes are not negligible. My doctoral work focuses on investigating the effects of various aquatic chemistry parameters, including reactive oxygen species (ROS), peroxyl radical (ROO•), reactive halogen …

Evaluation Of Aluminum Dissolution, Current Density, And Pitting Patterns During Electrocoagulation, Monica Castro Carias

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electrocoagulation (EC) is a sustainable water treatment process involving the generation of coagulants on-site through the application of a voltage on metal (usually aluminum or iron alloys). The factors that impact EC system performance have been well researched, however further research is needed on the factors that impact anodic dissolution of aluminum electrodes, especially when the technology is transferred to full-scale applications. Electrode fouling is one of the factors that can impact dissolution of the anode during EC due to the formation of a protective oxide/hydroxide layer on the electrode surface. Previous studies have addressed electrode fouling by reversing polarity, …

Understanding The Interfacial Processes Of Reactive Nanobubbles Toward Agricultural Applications, Xiaonan Shi

Dissertations

There is a growing interest in nanobubble (NB) technology because of its diverse applications (e.g., detergent-free cleaning, water aeration, ultra-sound imaging and intracellular drug delivery, and mineral processing). NBs have a higher efficiency of mass transfer compared to bulk scale bubbles due to the high specific surface areas. The high specific surface also facilitates physical adsorption and chemical reactions in the gas liquid interface. Furthermore, the collapse of NBs creates shock waves and the formation of hydroxyl radicals (OH).

However, it remains elusive why or how NBs are stabilized in water and particularly, the states of internal pressures of NBs …

A Circular Economy Approach To Improve E-Waste Recycling In California: Economic Potential And Policy Options, Kripa Shah

Master's Projects and Capstones

The higher consumption rates of electronic devices along with their short life cycles and few repair options poses a huge challenge for E-waste industries to manage them effectively. E-waste comprises of hazardous materials and toxic constituents that can affect the environment and public health through improper disposal. However, they also contain few valuable materials that, if recovered, can reduce the dependence on virgin raw materials. Circular economy has the potential to utilize these valuable materials and gain environment and socio-economic benefits. The research explains how the adoption of a circular economy approach can help improve the E-waste recycling in California …

Fate And Transport Of Toxoplasma Gondii Oocysts In Saturated Porous Media: Effects Of Electrolytes And Natural Organic Matter, Christian Pullano

All Theses

Toxoplasma gondii is a pathogenic microorganism that is currently a threat to public health. Understanding the fate and transport of T. gondii through the soil and groundwater is vital in determining the risk it poses to water resources and human health. The physico-chemical interactions between the groundwater and the bio colloid within an aquifer will dictate its mobility and its ability to infect humans. This research examines how various naturally occurring groundwater chemistries containing organic compounds and monovalent and divalent salt solutions will alter the fate and transport of T. gondii. Solutions containing various concentrations of humic acid, fulvic …

Development & Validation Of A Piv System For Obtaining Data From A Uasb Reactor, Camila D' Bastiani, Gerald Gallagher, David Kennedy, Anthony Reynolds

Conference Papers

Anaerobic digestion processes can generate energy in the form of biogas while treating organic wastewater. The efficiency of the treatment, and thus the generation of biogas, is closely linked to the type and design of the reactor, and the technology used. Granular anaerobic digestion technology offers advantages such as a higher loading rate and reduction of the space needed. However, the hydrodynamics inside this type of reactor can be complex due to the presence of solids (granules) and gas (biogas) phases along with the liquid phase (wastewater). This is one of the reasons why the study and optimization of reactors …

The Greenest Solar Power? Life Cycle Assessment Of Foam-Based Flexible Floatovoltaics, Koami Soulemane Hayibo, Pierce Mayville, Joshua M. Pearce

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

This study presents a life cycle analysis (LCA) of a 10 MW foam-based floatovoltaics (FPV) plant installed on Lake Mead, Nevada, U.S. A material inventory of the flexible crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based module involved massing and determination of material composition of the module's encapsulation layers with ATR/FTR spectroscopy and electron microscopy. The LCA was performed using SimaPro and the results were interpreted in terms of cumulative energy demands, energy payback time, global warming potential, GHG emissions, and water footprint including negative values for reduced evaporation. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the lifetime of the modules and the foam-based racking. The …

Application Of Artificial Intelligence For Co2 Storage In Saline Aquifer (Smart Proxy For Snap-Shot In Time), Marwan Mohammed Alnuaimi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology have grown in popularity. Smart Proxy Models (SPM) are AI/ML based data-driven models which have proven to be quite crucial in petroleum engineering domain with abundant data, or operations in which large surface/ subsurface volume of data is generated. Climate change mitigation is one application of such technology to simulate and monitor CO2 injection into underground formations.

The goal of the SPM developed in this study is to replicate the results (in terms of pressure and saturation outputs) of the numerical reservoir simulation model (CMG) for CO2 injection into …

Predictions Of Produced Water Quality And Recycled Water Optimization For Spatially-Distributed Wells In Point Pleasant Formation, Armel Quentin Mbakop

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The treatment of produced water as a fracturing fluid is becoming an increasingly important aspect of water management surrounding the booming of the unconventional oil and gas industry. Two main problems facing the oil and gas industry are the availability of water for well drilling and completion and disposal of the produced water. Unconventional well drilling and completion in the Utica shale requires large amounts of water. The wastewater that results after production—containing high levels of organic and inorganic matter— is usually disposed of through deep well injection. A new approach reuses this produced water as part of subsequent fracturing …