Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Indoor Premise Plumbing: The Relationship Between Water Stagnation, Chlorine Decay, And Total Organic Carbon Levels, Emerson M. Ringger, Andrew J. Whelton, Tolulope Odimayomi, Maryam Salehi

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Drinking water safety is critical to the health of populations worldwide, and modern plumbing infrastructure can influence drinking water chemical characteristics. Inside residential and commercial buildings however, water use and contact with different plumbing components can vary. For example, water can endure lengthy stagnation periods and residual disinfectant agents like chlorine can decay, leaving the water vulnerable to microbial growth. Plastic cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) pipes have become popular and have shown to influence water quality. While several studies have been carried out on chemical leaching from PEX piping, none were found that examined the role of pipe diameter in relation …

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 …

Lead In Residential Water Heaters: An Analysis Of Lead Dissolution Kinetics In Non-Ideal Aquatic Environments, Kelsey Vought, Inez Hua, Amisha D. Shah, Nadezhda N. Zyaykina, Mackenzie Davies

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Lead dioxide, a lead corrosion product, is an important contributor to residential drinking water contamination. A neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor, lead poses serious human health concerns. Despite previous research on water distribution pipes, lead in water heating and softening systems is unexplored. Standard tank water heaters and water softeners have significantly different aquatic environments compared to distribution pipes, due to increased temperature and ion concentration levels. This research verifies the iodometric method for lead dioxide detection and quantifies total lead and dissolved lead(IV) ions over time in simulated water heater and softener environments. Initial experiments confirmed the iodometric method for …

Spot-R By Triax, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Triax’s Spot-r system was developed to tackle the construction industry’s unique safety and productivity challenges, stemming from a demonstrated lack of total jobsite visibility and automatically collected, easily accessible field data. Spot-r by Triax combines a proprietary mesh network with sensor technology to record and transmit previously unattainable workforce and equipment location, activity and safety data within a defined area – all in real-time.

The Spot-r network is installed around the site and operates in a 900 MHz network, with a subset using a cellular connection to forward Spot-r sensor data to Triax’s custom, cloud dashboard. In the hazardous construction …

Purdue’S Biowall, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Mechanical ventilation, energy recovery ventilation, and infiltration (air that leaks into a building) are commonly used to introduce fresh air. These are all valid approaches, but a living plant-based filter is an innovative complement to these traditional technologies. A Biowall has the potential to improve indoor air quality while reducing the quantity of air needed for ventilation, creating the potential for energy savings. Figure 1 shows a Biowall prototype being evaluated in the ReNEWW House, a research home located near the Purdue University campus (http://www.renewwhouse.com/).

Mdp (Machine Drive Power) Intelligent Compaction Technology, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Caterpillar developed MDP (Machine Drive Power) technology to fill this gap. Rather than an accelerometer and vibratory drum, it uses the principle of rolling resistance to provide indications of soil stiffness. This allows it to perform more reliably on cohesive and granular soils with less variability than accelerometer systems. It also means that the technology can be used on both vibratory and static drum compactors, which are often used on larger sites. While the technology is quite useful on its own, it is even better as a complementary technology to the existing accelerometer-based systems. Contractors who use vibratory soil compactors …

Best Management Practices: A Community-Based Approach To Construction And Installation, Nathanael J. La Breche

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

The Wabash River Enhancement Corporation (WREC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving both the health of the Wabash River and the surrounding terrestrial areas. In an effort to improve water quality, their urban cost-share program focuses on supporting green projects within a critical region surrounding the Great Bend of the Wabash River. In this essay, a Purdue student describes his experience as leader of a six-member group who worked with WREC to locate a suitable site within this critical area and implement a green project. They selected the Lighthouse Baptist Church, located in Lafayette, Indiana, since it was experiencing …

Datumate, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Datumate is digitally transforming civil engineering processes used in construction, surveying and infrastructure inspection markets with fully automated, highly precise, cost effective and safe tools. It utilizes state-of-the-art image processing and advanced drones and camera technologies dramatically reducing the amount of time surveying crews spend in the field, speeding up construction progress checks and shortening infrastructure inspection duration, while maintaining survey grade accuracy. The intuitive, simple and automated solutions increase productivity by saving field and office time in civil engineering and inspection projects of roads, intersections, stockpile volumes, topography, piping, industrial facilities, bridges, property surveys, building facades, railways, cellular infrastructure …

Assessment Of The Ecosystem Services Of Rain Gardens, Hannah M. Hawrot, Dr. Sara Mcmillan, Rachel Scarlett

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces contributes to degradation of urban stream ecosystems. Impacts include increased flooding, water quality impairment, and disruption of habitats. Rain gardens are a type of green infrastructure designed to mitigate the adverse effects of stormwater runoff by promoting evapotranspiration, reducing peak flows, and retaining pollutants. Rain gardens can provide additional ecosystem services, defined as benefits that ecosystems provide to people. This includes, but is not limited to, increasing biodiversity by providing habitat, creating green spaces for recreation, and storing carbon. To date, little research has been done integrating these multiple services. My research measured water quality, …

Laboratory Characterization Of Unsteady Boundary Layers, Umair Sarwar, Cary Troy

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The study of waves and their effects on mean flow and turbulence in natural water bodies is an important issue for applications in aquatic biology, coastal engineering, sediment transport and hydrodynamic of the lake. These waves result in the generation of an oscillatory (Stokes) boundary layer near the bottom of the water column. The goal of this study was to conduct various experiments that will be used to characterize the turbulence in unsteady boundary layers and help understand the relation between various flow variables (e.g. wave amplitude, frequency, water depth, turbulent kinetic energy, etc.). Using the research facilities provided, three …

Electrochemical Removal Of Lead In Water With Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotube Filters, Benjamin M. Stryker, Sol Park, Zhi Zhou

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Heavy metals, such as lead, are highly toxic and typical removal techniques are costly for household applications; causing serious public health risks and economic burdens. Previous studies using electrochemical filtration showed that singe-wall carbon nanotube membranes (SWCNTs) were effective at removing lead, but the use of less expensive multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has not been fully explored. Therefore, there is a critical need to determine if MWCNTs are cost-effective for the removal of lead in water. The removal efficiency of lead(II) ions in an aqueous solution was evaluated in a flow-through filtration system over 50 minutes at 1.5 mL/min. Calcium …

Improving The Accuracy For The Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-Thia) Model, Anqi Zhang, Lawrence Theller, Bernard A. Engel

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Urbanization increases runoff by changing land use types from less impervious to impervious covers. Improving the accuracy of a runoff assessment model, the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA) Model, can help us to better evaluate the potential uses of Low Impact Development (LID) practices aimed at reducing runoff, as well as to identify appropriate runoff and water quality mitigation methods. Several versions of the model have been built over time, and inconsistencies have been introduced between the models. To improve the accuracy and consistency of the model, the equations and parameters (primarily curve numbers in the case of this model) …

Technology To Manufacture Oriented Pvc (Pvc-O) Pipes, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

The development of Molecor´s technology, which is based on the application of a Molecular Orientation process, has delivered a significant turning point in the pipelines sector. With this technological development, the company has begun to manufacture TOM® PVC-O pipes, the most eco-friendly pipes on the market. The Molecor technology enabled eradicating many of the existing disadvantages of thermoplastic pipes.

This technology delivers a clear objective; to provide the water industry with a solution for pipes carrying pressurized water in an environmentally friendly, yet cost efficient manner. This also extends a service life compared to pipeline materials currently in use.

The …

Full-Water Column Turbulence Parameterization Of Stratified Waters In Southern Lake Michigan, Kyla A. Prendergast, Cary D. Troy, David Cannon

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Full water column mean flow and turbulence structure was characterized at two stratified locations in Lake Michigan (a. Muskegon, MI; b. Michigan City, IN) in order to better understand the filtration potential of invasive quagga mussels. Invasive quagga mussels in Lake Michigan are filter feeders and can dramatically alter clarity as well as the biological/chemical characteristics of the water column. This filtering capacity is highly contingent on turbulence characteristics throughout the water column, which is poorly understood in the Great Lakes. Using velocity, temperature, and turbulence data collected from these locations, the structure of the water column turbulence was modeled …

Assessing The Hydraulics Of Water Heaters By Adding Fluoride As A Tracer To Inform Its Overall Effect On Water Quality, Christian A. Guerrero, William Schmidt, Antoine Aubeneau, Amisha D. Shah

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

As residential water heaters are the primary source of waterborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. there is a need to better understand how they are contributing to decreased water quality in buildings. Previous work has indicated that intermittent stagnation, low disinfection residual and operation temperatures promote the growth of pathogens in water heaters. The overall effect of hydrodynamics of water heaters on these factors remains unclear. Therefore, a tracer study was performed to determine the effect of and characterize hydraulics of the typical residential water heater on water quality. Controlling temperature and flow rate, a pilot-scale hot water system (50 …

Fluid Isolator, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

The reliability of concrete infrastructure is vital to ensuring daily life, as well as commerce, can progress without interruption. From the pavement of interstate highways to the driveways and sidewalks in a local neighborhood, concrete is expensive to install and often even more expensive, and intrusive, when it needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, to maintain functionality in winter climates concrete is heavily exposed to deicing salts. This not only affects the roads, driveways, and sidewalks where salt is applied directly, but many other areas such as parking and residential garages where vehicles (and people) will track salt along with water …

Netpoint®, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

The vast majority of construction scheduling software uses a combination of spreadsheets and Gantt charts for developing and depicting Critical Path Method (CPM) schedules. While this paradigm works for the expert scheduler, it is not conducive to collaboration, and it is prohibitively difficult for non-scheduling experts to understand.

NetPoint® provides a dynamic, visual interface conducive to touch and gestural input. Activities are drawn directly on a time-scale and may be placed on the same row or arranged automatically using codes or the WBS. Such control of the presentation makes it easier to communicate the plan to any type of audience. …

Smartvid.Io, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

The collection, organization, and retrieval of industrial media is a pervasive challenge that is especially glaring for companies in the AEC industry. Construction projects often generate large volumes of pictures & videos from the field for tracking progress and communicating between engineers, contractors, and subcontractors. It is not uncommon for field personnel to capture hundreds of photos per week on any given jobsite.

Smartvid.io is a cloud-based software solution designed for the specific needs of industrial media. The application’s internal deep-learning engines, collectively nicknamed VINNIE (for ‘Very Intelligent Neural Network for Insight and Evaluation’), use speech and image recognition to …

Hillman Composite Beam (Hcb®), Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

The Hillman-Composite Beam (HCB®), is an innovative structural member for use in highway and railroad bridges as well as marine facilities. The HCB is essentially a lightweight reinforced concrete beam strengthened and protected by a corrosion-resistant and resilient Fiberglass Reinforced Polymer (FRP) shell.

The beam is comprised of three main components, a concrete arch (compression reinforcement), an FRP bottom flange encapsulating steel strands tying the ends of the arch together (tension reinforcement) and the FRP shell. Galvanized Rebar “shear connectors” are used to make the beam composite with the concrete deck in the same manner as pre-stressed concrete beams.

The …

Industrial-Grade Monitoring Solution: Hoistcam, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Safety and productivity are top priorities for contractors and industrial operations. Improving either makes a company more profitable and competitive. Technology advancements that can do both are important for every company to consider. HoistCam^TM industrial-grade video monitoring solutions can improve employees’ productivity and workplace safety in the construction industries. HoistCam also improves efficiency of operations and reduces job site accidents resulting in substantial cost savings to a contractor.

HoistCam™ is an integrated, wireless video system. The use of HoistCam eliminates blind lifts, blind spots and can share the live video with anyone, anywhere with solid security and easy control. …

Purdue Ect Report - Fourth Quarter 2016, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Fourth Quarter 2016

This is a quarterly report from the Purdue ECT.

Road Zipper™, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Construction work zones are growing in number around the world. The natural aging of existing roadway infrastructure ensures that more and more maintenance and rehabilitation will be required. Work zones, by their very definition, create two major problems that must be addressed in some way: safety and mobility. In the United States, highway work zones are responsible for almost 25% of all non-recurring congestion and 10% of overall congestion. Vehicle accidents are more common in work zones, and traffic congestion through work zones on urban arterials and freeways is often considered to be “unavoidable." To address these issues, ROAD ZIPPER™ …

Lucidpipe™ Power System, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

In most gravity fed water transmission pipelines, it is desired to reduce excess pressure head to prevent undue strain on a pipeline and lower the incidence of leaks. Normally this is done with pressure reducing valves that essentially burn off this excess pressure as heat. The LucidPipe™ system converts it to low cost electricity thereby removing unwanted pressure and generating energy at the same time - energy that can be put used behind the grid or put back on the grid. The LucidPipe™ system extracts a small percentage of pressure head providing nearly invisible operation allowing water operators to fulfill …

Impact Of Rfid Information-Sharing Coordination Over A Supply Chain With Reverse Logistics, Juan Jose Nativi Nicolau

Open Access Dissertations

Companies have adopted environmental practices such as reverse logistics over the past few decades. However, studies show that aligning partners inside the green supply chain can be a substantial problem. This lack of coordination can increase overall supply chain cost. Information technology such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has the potential to enable decentralized supply chain coordinate their information. Even though there are research that address RFID on traditional supply chain, few researches address how to coordinate RFID information sharing in a green supply chain. We study, through simulation experiments, two types of RFID information-sharing coordination under different configurations related …

Study On Adsorption For Pb2+ Of Red Mud Sintering-Expanded Haydites, Aoping He, Wenfeng Zhu, Linjiang Wang, Jianmin Zeng, Xiyong Chen

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

Urban Water Project At Food Finders, Abby Zielinski

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Abby Zielinski is a sophomore in environmental and ecological engineering. In this article, she describes her community experience at Food Finders Resource and Education Center, which was associated with a course called Urban Water Projects.

Reducing Landfill Waste: Implementation And Optimization Of A Vermicomposting System, John Hemmerling, Jeremy Pan, Sahil Bhalla, Karan Kedia

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

John Hemmerling, a senior in chemical engineering and project leader, Jeremy Pan, a sophomore in computer science, and Sahil Bhalla and Karan Kedia, both freshman in first-year engineering, are a team of four students participating in the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) Environmental Improvement Initiatives (EII). In this article they describe how they are investigating waste generation reduction at the Retrofit Net-Zero Energy Water and Waste (ReNEWW) house in West Lafayette, Indiana, in conjunction with Whirlpool Corporation. Their work is intended to provide guidance to households on implementing vermicomposting systems so food waste can be diverted from our landfills.

Study Of Poisoning Mechanism Of Hg And As On V2o5–Wo3/Tio2 Scr De-Nox Catalysts, Qingcai Liu, Ming Kong, Lu Yao, Shan Ren, Jian Yang

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

Research On Photocatalytic Properties Of Tio2–Graphene Composites With Different Morphologies, Guang Hu, Jian Yang, Dong Zhao, Ying Chen, Yan Cao

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

Pore Scale Transport Of Miscible And Immiscible Fluids In Porous Media, Tolulope O. Odimayomi, Arezoo M. Ardekani

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The separation of harmful or valuable substances entrapped in porous media has applications in processes such as enhanced oil recovery, diffusion in tissue, and aquifer remediation. In this study the motion and removal rate of immiscible and miscible solutions have been analyzed to gain understanding of solvent effectiveness as it is diluted due to diffusion or mixing within porous materials. The extraction of oil using water, a surfactant solution of 4% CTAB in water, and a foam produced form the surfactant solution is observed using two dimensional flows between parallel slides containing cylindrical obstacles. The fluid motion is visualized. The …