Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Columbus, Nebraska: Southern Housing Development Design Proposal, Ryan Weyers, Caiden Dynek, Alex Papa, Brexton Robertson, Kaden Perala

Honors Theses

The following paper proposes the design and creation of a new housing development in the city of Columbus, Nebraska in a lot to the south of the city and directly north of the Columbus wastewater treatment plant. The goal of this proposal is to provide readers with confidence that our company is the most qualified to complete the project and will create the safest, most comfortable, most efficient, and most cost-effective final design. This proposal seeks to offer a solution to the lack of affordable housing for the growing workforce in Columbus. In order to arrive at this solution, each …

Efficiency Of Bank Filtration In The Removal Of Cyanotoxins Under Different Levels Of Nutrients, Luke Walkenhorst

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

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are an increasing concern not only in Nebraska, but across the world. Increasing global temperatures in conjunction with overuse of synthetic fertilizers are leading causes to the increasing frequency and concern of HABs. In the present work, the effectiveness of simulated bank filtration (BF), as an economical water treatment option, to remove cyanotoxins under different levels of nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) was investigated. Vertical flow-through columns pre-acclimated with two levels of nutrients (e.g., nitrate and phosphate—10 vs. 50 mg/L) were exposed to two different levels of cyanotoxins (10 vs. 75 μg/L). Results from the study confirmed …

North 14th Street Corridor Improvements Project, Ashley Nguyen, Samantha Corey, Maricela Paramo Reyes, Pooja Rajeev

Honors Theses

The following project report was a study of the North 14^th Street corridor ranging from Adams Street to Virginia Street conducted by University of Nebraska-Lincoln students for a senior design capstone project. Main focuses of the project were the intersection of Adams and 14^th Street and the 14^th Street bridges over Cornhusker Highway and Oak Creek. Study of this area included work in transportation, traffic, structural, geotechnical, water resources, and environmental engineering. However, this report done by students should not take the place of work done by licensed professional engineers.

This project was done in collaboration with …

Effects Of Nutrient Level And Growth Rate On Mutation And Conjugation Processes That Confer Antibiotic Resistance To E. Coli, Mohammadreza Shafieifini

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

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) may enter surface water with the discharge of treated wastewater. Conjugation is a main mechanism for the horizontal gene transfer of ARGs from wastewater microbiome to the microbiome indigenous to surface water. However, little is known about how environmental factors affect the conjugation process of ARGs.

In this thesis, an extensive research related to spreading antibiotic resistance genes in the environment is reported. The project investigated how environmental parameters may affect the rate of dissemination of ARGs and in what extent the resistance level of the population is changed after mutation and conjugation event. The chemostat …

Biofiltration Of Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted At Ethanol Plants, Christopher Arthur Duerschner

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

Ethanol manufacturing is an important and growing sector in the biofuels marketplace. At ethanol plants, the control of volatile organic compound containing emissions from fermentation tanks and distillers dried grains with solubles driers is accomplished through the use of air scrubbers and regenerative thermal oxidizers. The operation of these control units imposes substantial operating costs for the ethanol plant. Biotrickling filters have the ability to replace scrubbers and regenerative thermal oxidizers resulting in significant economic and environmental benefits. Two biotrickling filters were operated in parallel under acetaldehyde loadings ranging from 4 to 136 gm^-3hr^-1. To examine …

Unl-Cc Outdoor Education Center Master Plan, Marie Wagner

Honors Theses

The following report contains the work done by the group Griswold Engineering in completion of the Senior Design requirements for Civil Engineering and the Honors Requirements of the Project Manager. As the project manager, my job was to organize the project as a whole and to work alongside the Structural Engineer on the project. One of the main problems to overcome was the division of labor amongst the group. The project was originally conceived as a group project with one project manager and five other students to serve as the project engineers in each subdiscipline. Since this group only had …

Civil Engineering Design Of Cornhusker Council's Outdoor Education Center, Kelly Weiler

Honors Theses

A team of geotechnical, structural, hydraulic, environmental, and transportation experts collaborated to provide engineering solutions to the Cornhusker Council in an effort to solve the current problems facing their Outdoor Education Center. This results of this project provided the structural design of three bridges on the property, transportation plans for two parking lots and roadway design, geotechnical recommendations for soil testing and erosion prevention, and an environmental and hydraulic analysis of the property. A major challenge in the design of this project is the consideration of the dangers and regulations that accompany the floodway and floodplain regions on site. Various …

Simulation Of Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Fate In Narrow Grass Hedges, Marzieh Khedmati

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

Vegetative Filter Strips (VFS) are used for controlling the volume of runoff and decreasing the contaminants in runoff before entering the water bodies. Many studies investigated the role of VFS in sediment and nutrient removal, but little is known about their efficiency in the removal of emerging contaminants such as antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). VFSMOD was used to simulate the efficiency of VFS in this regard. The objectives of this study were to calibrate the VFSMOD with some experimental data and asses the efficiency of the model in simulating the filter behavior in removing ARGs. The tests were conducted in …

Measuring Landscape Performance: Case Study Investigation, Hannah Michelle Lopresto, Brandon Zambrano, Catherine De Almeida

UCARE Research Products

Participating in the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s 2018 Case Study Investigation has been an incredibly informative experience for our research team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We are eager to shine a spotlight on the landscape performance of two Great Plains projects: P Street Corridor, a revitalized downtown streetscape in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, a waterfront redevelopment in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Working on the post-occupancy study of both projects has been extremely beneficial in understanding how reclaiming underutilized sites can create high-performing landscapes. Both are public projects in urban settings with primary goals of transforming formerly unpleasant, …

Rainwater Harvesting System Scenario Analysis On Runoff Reduction Potential In Surabaya, Indonesia: A Geospatial Analysis For Brantas Hilir Watershed, Putri Sukmahartati

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

Global warming has become an environmental concern over the past several decades and its impact on the water cycle is very crucial to the well-being of the human population. In the hydrological cycle, water evaporates by the heat of the sun and atmosphere, where it is accumulated in the atmosphere via clouds and it then falls as rain. With warmer temperatures, more intensive evaporation and downpours occur. In addition, impervious surfaces are increasing as a result of urban development. Those surfaces cause more water to flow faster into open water bodies, creating more extensive flooding, and additionally reducing water quality. …

Simulation And Prediction Of The Groundwater Level In The Surrounding Area Of The Nebraska Management System Evaluation Area Site In Central Nebraska., Cesar Augusto Gomez Peña

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

An efficient water budget is necessary to develop sustainable practices in irrigated lands and determine future trends. Despite a lack of detailed knowledge, climate change is found to profoundly influence groundwater resources through changes in groundwater recharge, groundwater elevation, and groundwater flow processes. Prediction of the groundwater level (GWL) under a changing climate is essential to improve agricultural management.

The goal of this research is to predict the GWL from 2056 to 2060 in the surrounding area of the MSEA. In order to achieve the target, the first research task is to develop a groundwater flow model and then simulate …

Development And Assessment Of A Groundwater Sustainability Index In Climatically Diverse Groundwater Irrigated Regions In Nebraska, Maria A. Mulet Jalil

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

The aim of this research was to evaluate the impact of regional change in ET on groundwater level changes and the assessment and development of a groundwater sustainability index for climatically diverse regions across Nebraska during 2000-2014. Irrigation in the selected regions is predominantly supplied by groundwater. The hypothesis is that groundwater use can become sustainable if the regional evapotranspiration (ET) is managed so that it equals the ET of vegetation that is native to the region. Site locations were Box Butte, Chase, Dundy, Holt LNNRD and York Counties and 3 ecosystems were evaluated: native vegetation, dryland and irrigated cropping …

The Experiment And Analysis Of Active Mechanisms For Enhancing Heat And Mass Transfer In Sorption Fluids, Ziqi Shen

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

This project was funded by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE RP-1462). It is a three years’ research, including the literature review, labs construction, experiments and data analysis.

In this thesis, first of all, we conducted literature review of mechanism motion influence on heat and mass transfer and additive effect in absorption chiller. This part helps us understand the basic idea of how mechanism motion affects the heat and mass transfer of sorption fluids and gives us reference on how to select the experiment instrument and the experiment operation range.

In the second part, the instrument selection …

Microbial Degradation Of Sulfonamide Antibiotics, Rachel Levine

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

Certain microbes can transform antibiotics in the environment. However, little is known about the identity of these microbes and their antibiotic biotransformation processes. The objectives of this study were to (1) isolate bacterial strains capable of transforming antibiotics, (2) determine the biotransformation kinetics of antibiotics, (3) characterize the effects of background carbons on the biotransformation kinetics, and (4) identify biotransformation products under various environmental conditions. Sulfadiazine (SDZ) was used as the model antibiotic in this study due to its frequent occurrence in livestock wastes. Surface soil from a cattle feedlot was collected to enrich potential SDZ degrading bacteria. A mixed …

A Five-Year Performance Review Of Field-Scale, Slow-Release Permanganate Candles With Recommendations For Second-Generation Improvements, Mark Christenson, Ann Kambhu, James Reece, Steve D. Comfort, Laurie Brunner

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

In 2009, we identified a TCE plume at an abandoned landfill that was located in a low permeable siltyclay aquifer. To treat the TCE, we manufactured slow-release potassium permanganate cylinders (oxidant candles) that had diameters of either 5.1 or 7.6 cm and were 91.4 cm long. In 2010, we compared two methods of candle installation by inserting equal masses of the oxidant candles (7.6-cm vs 5.1-cm dia). The 5.1-cm dia candles were inserted with direct-push rods while the 7.6-cm candles were housed in screens and lowered into 10 permanent wells. Since installation, the 7.6-cm oxidant candles have been refurbished approximately …

Recent Morphodynamic Evolution Of The Largest Uninhibited Island In The Yangtze (Changjiang) Estuary During 1998-2014: Influence Of The Anthropogenic Interference, Wen Wei, Xuefei Mei, Zhijun Dai, Zhenghong Tang

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Estuarine geomorphology worldwide has greatly changed in the Anthropocene due to intensive human inferences in river basin and within estuary, which has received increasing global concerns. Here, recent morphodynamic evolution of Jiuduan Shoal (JDS), the largest uninhabited island in the Yangtze (Changjiang) Estuary, and associated controlling factors were analyzed based on unique high-resolution seasonal-surveyed bathymetric data during 1998–2014. It can be indicated that JDS presents novel 12 and 48 months fluctuations though significant accretion was detected on high flats above −2 m. Meanwhile, morphodynamic evolution of JDS during 1998–2014 was divided into three stages: significant siltation on land-ward half of …

Engineering Graphene Oxide Membranes For Contaminant Removal And Bacterial Inactivation, Stefan M. Schaepe

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

The need for improved water filtration technologies continues to grow on a global scale. Membrane filtration devices are increasing in use because they can remove a variety of contaminants efficiently. The major issue with membrane filters is biofouling. Coating membranes with nanoparticles such as graphene oxide (GO) can increase contaminant removal and decrease microbial growth.

This research characterizes the properties of the GO itself, two procedures for producing GO coated membranes, the properties of the created membranes and the contaminant removal and bactericidal efficiencies of the membranes. Pure water flux values for GO coated membranes prepared using a direct deposition …

An Investigation Into Bacterial Contamination In An Urban Nebraska Stream Using Microbial Source Tracking, Allison R. Speicher

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

High levels of fecal bacteria in surface waters are a public health concern due to the enteric illnesses caused by primary contact with these waters. Shortcomings in the current fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) monitoring approach and the ubiquity of pathogen-impaired water bodies has led to the development of microbial source tracking (MST), a molecular tool that can identify potential fecal contamination sources. In this study we use a bacterial community based approach examining the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene to elucidate sources of fecal bacteria in Antelope Creek, an urban creek in Lincoln Nebraska.

We hypothesized that sediment …

Turbulent Circular Culvert Flow: Implications To Fish Passage Design, Amin Mohebbi

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

Culverts are popular conveyance structures in America and Canada to be used as a fish passage or in sewage collection and disposal systems. Fish passage design criteria is based on biological capabilities of fish whereas it should satisfy hydraulic and hydrological constraints as well. Failing to provide enough low velocity regions for aquatic organisms may result in their mass extinctions. Currently, proper road crossing design depends on either model studies or numerical simulations via Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) packages, both of which are expensive and time consuming. Further, although the design procedures released by FHWA recently ensures safe fish migration …

Development Of A Field Test For Total Suspended Solids Analysis, Jessica Branigan

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

Total suspended solids (TSS) are all particles in water that will not pass through a glass fiber filter with a pore size less than 2 μm, including sediments, algae, nutrients, and metals. TSS is an important water quality parameter because of its adverse effects on aquatic species and wildlife. The EPA has proposed a regulation for turbidity, a related water quality parameter, which has been stayed pending further testing. TSS is regulated through the EPA via the NPDES in many states. Since there are no accepted field tests for TSS, projects with TSS regulations must send samples to a laboratory …

Passive Stormwater Samplers For Sampling Highway Runoff From Bmps: Feasibility Studies, Mitchell R. Klein

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

Pollution from highway stormwater runoff has been an increasing area of concern within the environmental field. To respond to the need for reduced contamination within runoff many Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been implemented. One difficult aspect of BMPs is monitoring their effectiveness along with determining effluent concentrations. The current methods for stormwater sampling include sending technicians or installing an auto-sampler to collect either grab or composite samples. These methods become costly, cumbersome and infeasible due to the potentially large amount of BMPs across a region and the irregularity and difficulty of predicting storms. Passive samplers have proven themselves as …

Stormwater Pollution Treatment Bmp Discharge Structures, Miles F. Simmons

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

Structural best management practices (BMPs) are used to capture and treat stormwater runoff. Most structural BMPs provide treatment by filtering runoff through a filter media or collecting it in a detention basin and slowly discharging it over an extended period of time to allow suspended solids and associated contaminants to settle out. The purpose of this study is to design an effective outlet structure that provides adequate filtration or slows discharge to 40 hours.

A model detention basin was constructed in the Civil Engineering Hydraulics Laboratory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and two full scale outlet structures were tested …

Development Of Best Management Practice Design Guidance For Roadway Applications In Nebraska, Benedict Vacha

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

Runoff from roadways carries pollutants which may be detrimental to aquatic ecosystems. The primary pollutants of concern for roadway runoff are solids and heavy metals, particularly cadmium, copper, and zinc. Roadway runoff falls under the legislation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) via the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). CWA regulates discharge of nonpoint source pollutants, such as roadway runoff, by issuing permits to public entities which manage Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). Part of the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) permitting requirement is to create a design guide for Best Management Practices (BMPs) tailored to remediate roadway …

Water Quality Models For Stormwater Runoff In Two Lincoln, Nebraska Urban Watersheds, Jake Fisher

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

Water quality monitoring was conducted in two urban watersheds (Colonial Hills and Taylor Park) located in southeast Lincoln, NE over a three year period spanning from October 2008 through September 2011. In-line probes continuously measured for turbidity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and water temperature while other water quality constituents were analyzed for discrete water samples collected using grab and automatic sampling techniques. The water quality data was used to calculate event mean concentrations (EMCs) for sixteen storm events sampled over the duration of the project period. Three types of stormwater quality multiple linear regression models were developed for the estimation of …

Sensitivity Analysis On Mapping Evapotranspiration At High Resolution Using Internal Calibration (Metric), Venkata Naga Ravi Kumar Choragudi

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

Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution using Internal Calibration (METRIC) is most widely used to quantify evapotranspiration (ET) spatially and temporally. It is essential to inspect the model’s response to errors in various parameters used in the model. Landsat 5 images from May 30 2009, July 1 2009 and a Landsat 7 image from September 27 2009 are used in this study. Fourteen different fields composed of Corn, Soybeans, Alfalfa are randomly chosen for each crop type.

Two kinds of errors are addressed in this study. One, with the errors that are transferred and potentially compensated by calibration (Global error) and …

Application Of Shredded-Tire Biofilter And Membrane Bioreactor For Greywater Reclamation, Meng Hu

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

Water scarcity is a pressing global issue. Greywater (GW) reclamation is a viable option to reduce freshwater demand. The objectives of this work were to: a) evaluate the feasibility of the combination of shredded tire biofilter (STB) technology and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology in GW reclamation; b) study the effects of various parameters on STB performance; and c) understand the fouling mechanisms to lower the energy consumption in MBRs. Bench-scale STBs and MBRs (flat-sheet membranes) were constructed to address the first two objectives, while an independent membrane (hollow-fiber membranes) fouling experiment was designed for the third objective.

It was found …

Applied And Mechanistic Studies Of Microbial 17beta-Estradiol Degradation, Zhongtian Li

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

The presence of natural estrogens, a class of endocrine disrupting compounds, in water has caused increasing concerns over their adverse impacts on the health of aquatic eco-systems and human beings. In this study, adsorption characteristics of two natural estrogens, 17β-estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1), on granular activated carbon (GAC) were investigated in isotherm tests and in a GAC column. The GAC column was then converted to a biologically active carbon (BAC) column and the removal efficiency of E2 and its primary biodegradation intermediate E1 were monitored. During BAC operation, the impacts of various reactor operation parameters, such as the carbon …

Identifying Changes In Climatic Trends And The Fingerprints Of Landuse And Landcover Changes In The High Plains Of The Usa, Denis Mutiibwa

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

Human activities such as conversion of natural ecosystem to croplands and urban-centers, deforestation and afforestation impact biophysical properties of land surface such as albedo, energy balance, and surface roughness. Alterations in these properties affect the heat and moisture exchanges between the land surface and atmospheric boundary layer. The objectives of this research were; (i) to quantitatively identify the High plains’ regional climate change in temperatures over the period 1895 to 2006, (ii) detect the signatures of anthropogenic forcing of LULC changes on the regional climate change of the High Plains, and (iii) examine the trends in evolving regional latent heat …

Using Laser Scanning Cytometry To Investigate The Transport Of Nano-Scale Particles In Porous Media, Ryan May

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

The increased production of nanomaterials in recent years has been unprecedented. Given their potential toxicity, understanding the mechanisms controlling the transport of nanoparticles in the subsurface is important. In this study, a technique was developed for using a Laser Scanning Cytometer (LSC) to visualize and quantify the stable attachment of nano-scale particles. Experiments using three different size particles, 510 nm, 210 nm and 57 nm, in conjunction with a flow cell system containing saturated glass beads under varied injection duration, solution chemistry, Darcy velocity and solids content were performed. A technique for using the LSC data to develop spatial distributions …

Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment Of Water Reuse Strategies In Residential Buildings And Communities, Derek J. Gardels

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

The objective of this study was to determine the environmental sustainability and economic feasibility of five water reuse designs using economic input-output life cycle assessments and benefit/cost analyses. These five water reuse designs were evaluated for four regions of the United States including the Northwest (Seattle), Southwest (Scottsdale), Midwest (Omaha), and Southeast (Tampa). The water reuse designs include a greywater reuse system with no treatment for sub-surface landscape irrigation for a single-family residential house (Model 1), an indoor greywater reuse system with treatment for toilet flushing and laundry washing for a single-family residential house (Model 2), a hybrid untreated greywater …