Environmental Engineering Commons^™

A Guide To Floodplain Cattle Fencing, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia, Main Roads, Western Australia

Animal production and livestock published reports

A seminar and workshop was held at Fitzroy Crossing in October 1993 to address the consequences of flooding to landholders and communities.

Damage to flood plain fencing was identified as one of the major concerns to landholders.

An outcome from the workshop was the decision to draw on local knowledge and collate information on options for fence and floodgate designs.

This information was to be made available to land holders and other interested parties - hence this publication.

Integration Of Surfactants And Time Release Nutrients With Pneumatic Fracturing Process, Atiqur Md. Rahman

Theses

The objective of this laboratory study was the development of two novel improvements to the pneumatic fracturing process which would extend its present application. The first involved use of surfactant during pneumatic injection, and the second was subsurface injection of "time-release" dry nutrient pellets for enhancement of in situ biodegradation.

Bench scale tests demonstrated that pneumatic fracturing can be successfully performed with air containing a surfactant solution (foam fracturing). The results showed that foam fracturing followed by increased the rate of surrogate contaminant removal from 8% to 10% compared with regular pneumatic fracturing. These increases were attributed to enlarged fracture …

The Use And Evaluation Of Cleaner Wicks To Accelerate In Situ Bioremediation Of Organically Contaminated Groundwater And Soil, Brian Michael Sielski

Theses

The adaptation of Cleaner Wicks to accelerate in situ bioremediation of organically contaminated ground water and soil can be accomplished by making minor modifications to the Cleaner Wick design.

Once these changes in the Cleaner Wick design have been made the two primary ingredients necessary for aerobic microorganisms, nutrients and oxygen, can be delivered via the Cleaner Wick to the subsurface environment both above and below the water table to stimulate microbial growth and activity. Therefore, the microbial population will be able to biodegrade the target contaminants, rendering them harmless products such as carbon dioxide and water.

An adequate understanding …

Predicting The Future Fate Of Pcbs In Lake Hartwell, Alan W. Elzerman, Kevin J. Farley, Frank M. Dunnivant, Craig Cooper

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Seawalls On Beach Responses To Storms, Seasonal Transitions And Long-Term Erosion, John Marshall Hazelton

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

It has been argued that seawalls have a detrimental effect on the adjacent beaches. These effects may only be noticeable over a period of years or may be short-term effects associated with storms or with seasonal transitions of the beach. Many theories on beach and seawall interaction have been speculative and have lacked actual field or laboratory evidence for their basis.

This study uses four years of monthly and post-storm beach profile data to examine what influences the seawalls at Sandbridge, Virginia have on the adjacent beaches. Long-term effects of the seawalls are analyzed using fourteen years of profile data. …

Optimal Pulsed Pumping For Aquifer Remediation When Contaminant Transport Is Affected By Rate-Limited Sorption: A Calculus Of Variation Approach, Richard T. Hartman

Theses and Dissertations

The remediation of groundwater contamination continues to persist as a social and economic problem due to increased governmental regulations and public health concerns. Additionally, the geochemistry of the aquifer and the contaminant transport within the aquifer complicates the remediation process to restore contaminated aquifers to conditions compatible with health-based standards. Currently, the preferred method for aquifer cleanup pump-and-treat has several limitations including, the persistence of sorbed chemicals on soil matrix and the long term operation and maintenance expense. The impetus of this research was to demonstrate that a calculus of variations approach could be applied to a pulsed pumping aquifer …

Application Of A Risk Model To Quantify Relative Risk Of Remedial Actions, Timothy L. Fuller

Theses and Dissertations

To properly manage the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) in the future, Air Force remedial project managers (RPMs) need a metric to assist in the selection of remedial alternatives for the safe and effective clean up of waste contamination sites. If the baseline site risk assessment indicates that it is necessary to remediate a waste contamination site, it is important to the RPM that the selection process for remediation alternatives considers the potential human health and ecological risks associated with the proposed remediation process. In some instances, the risks may be significant when compared to the baseline conditions. The Air Force …

Development Of An Analytical Hierarchy Process (Ahp) Model For Siting Of Municipal Solid Waste Facilities, Dimasalang F. Junio

Theses and Dissertations

Deciding on locations for municipal solid waste facilities is a difficult problem where qualitative criteria compete with quantitative economic and engineering criteria, in an environment that is highly political and emotional. State guidelines often describe different methodologies but fall short in offering a solution or a methodology in arriving at a solution. This study develops a decision modeling procedure, based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), that can be used by public sector decision makers to locate and site municipal solid waste facilities. The applicability of the procedure is demonstrated at the City of Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. Research efforts …

Modeling Trihalomethane Formation Potential From Wastewater Chlorination, Carol A. Mccormick

Theses and Dissertations

The deletion of federally mandated fecal coliform limits has led many states to review and modify their wastewater disinfection requirements. One issue in analyzing wastewater disinfection is the discharge of potentially carcinogenic halogenated organics formed during the chlorination process. This research investigates the formation of one class of the halogenated organics, the trihalomethanes. The applicability of using drinking water trihalomethane formation models for use with wastewater effluent is examined. Three models are compared for predictive capability by using measured trihalomethane values from previous research data. The results show that a previously developed model is applicable for use based on assumptions …

Volatile Organic Compound Emissions From Usaf Wastewater Treatment Plants In Ozone Nonattainment Areas, Brian A. Ouellette

Theses and Dissertations

In accordance with the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments CAAA, this research conducts an evaluation of the potential emission of volatile organic compounds VOCs from selected Air Force wastewater treatment plants. Using a conservative mass balance analysis and process specific simulation models, volatile organic emission estimates are calculated for four individual facilities--Edwards AFB, Luke AFB, McGuire AFB, and McClellan AFB--which represent a cross section of the current inventory of USAF wastewater plants in ozone nonattainment areas. From these calculations, maximum facility emissions are determined which represent the upper limit for the potential VOC emissions from these wastewater plants. Based on …

Evaluation Of Alternative Methods For Wastewater Disinfection, David C. Piech

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the alternative methods of wastewater disinfection. Areas of interest included methods of operation, ease of maintenance, and effectiveness for various types of wastewater. A literature search revealed three major disinfection options, which include chlorination dechlorination, ultraviolet light, and ozone. A questionnaire was sent to the active duty Air Force installations that operate wastewater treatment plants, requesting permit limitations and monthly averages for a variety of wastewater parameters. The majority of Air Force wastewater treatment plants use chlorine for disinfection. Using the data obtained from the questionnaire responses and established wastewater parameters from other research, the basic design …

Optimal Utilization Of Field Generated Analytical Data For Site Characterization And Remedial Decision Making, Ronald J. Lester

Theses and Dissertations

This study developed data quality standards for assessing environmental analytical data quality and its use in remedial decision making, specifically in risk assessment calculations. The primary purpose was to increase the use of field generated data in environmental site investigations versus the continued reliance on costly and time consuming EPA Contract Lab Program data. Increased reliance on field lab data could significantly reduce remedial investigation costs. The standards developed are based on regulatory criteria for data useability, achievable quality in a CLP lab setting, and basic statistical methods. The standards were applied to sets of Volatile Organic Compound data in …

An Analysis Of Alternative Methods Of Measuring Hazardous Waste Reduction Progress At The Air Force Materiel Command's Air Logistic Centers, Edward C. Finke

Theses and Dissertations

his study investigated the relationship between aircraft related maintenance activity and the amount of hazardous waste (HW) disposed of by Air Force Materiel Command's (AFMC) Air Logistic Centers (ALC). These ALCS, along with the Aircraft Guidance and Meteorology Center, generate approximately 76 percent of the HW generated by the Air Force. The activity indexing and least squares curve fitting methods were used to predict the amount of HW that would have been disposed of based on the relative level of aircraft related maintenance activity had no pollution prevention efforts been implemented. These predictions were then compared to what historically occurred …

Standardization Of Protocol For The Sampling, Testing And Abatement Of Asbestos Containing Joint Compound, Gary J. Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the differing regulatory guidelines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency concerning the abatement of Asbestos Containing Joint Compound (ACJC). The specific interest was whether or not adequate protection was being afforded demolition workers when exposed to working with ACJC materials that contain less than 1.0 percent asbestos. A spreadsheet was written to estimate the exposure scenario which might be experienced within a given room size on a demolition or renovation jobsite. Spreadsheets were calculated for ACJC with an asbestos content of 0.1 to 0.9 percent in 0.1 increments for rooms ranging …

A Preliminary System Dynamics Model Of A Constructed Wetland For The Mitigation Of Metals In Usaf Storm Water, Mark P. Smekrud

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis determines the potential removal and corresponding accumulation of trace metals from Air Force storm water in a constructed wetland through the use of a System Dynamics model. The goal is to determine whether constructed wetlands used as storm water best management practices provide efficient metal removal while creating only benign accumulations of such pollutants. Its purpose is to allow Base Civil Engineers and Environmental Managers a better tool to assess the long-term effects of a constructed wetland used as a storm water mitigation technique. The research is limited to the assessment of typical metal concentrations found in Air …

Solvent Substitution Methodology Using Multiattribute Utility Theory And The Analytical Hierarchical Process, Jaimie S. Tiley

Theses and Dissertations

This study developed a multicriteria decision making methodology for the ranking of solvent cleaning process alternatives. This includes development of univariate value functions and criteria and the incorporation or required alternative attributes. It also compares the Analytical Hierarchical Process and Multiattribute Utility Theory in reference to a cleaning substitution process. An actual Air Force cleaning process evaluation problem is considered to verify the research. The test problem ranks several cleaning alternatives for the replacement of a hazardous solvent used in the general cleaning of aircraft engine components.

Developing An Emission Factor For Hazardous Air Pollutants For An F-16 Using Jp-8 Fuel, Donald J. Van Schaack

Theses and Dissertations

The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments drastically changed the legislation of hazardous air pollutants HAPs or air toxics. Title 3 of the act which specifically addresses HAPs now lists 189 substances which may require regulation as air toxics. Consequently, the reporting of HAP emissions from all Air Force operations will be required in the future. However, the Department of Defense DoD does not have methods available to report this information. This thesis develops emission factors for selected HAPs from an F-16 CD aircraft F110 engine operating on JP-8 fuel. The methodology included determining which HAPs should be selected, using past …

A Quantitative Method For Screening Pollution Prevention Program Options At United States Air Force Installations, Wayne M. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

US Air Force installations worldwide are required to implement pollution prevention (PP) programs designed to reduce the release of pollutants to the environment, and the Air Force uses opportunity assessments (OAs) to identify and evaluate waste producing processes that could benefit from a PP project. The OA process guidance provides extensive details on how to identify potential projects and on how to economically evaluate a project selected for implementation. However, it provides only cursory information about how to decide which projects should be selected for this evaluation. This thesis bridges that gap by providing a quantitative model to be used …

Decision Support Model To Compare Hazardous Waste Site Remediation Process Alternatives, Christopher E. Findall

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the development of a decision support model to identify the preferred methods of site characterization and treatment technology identification using the principles of decision analysis theory. The model provides an effective decision making tool to evaluate and compare the feasibility of using alternative methods of completing the RIFS process. Given a specific site remediation project, the users of this model can enter site- specific cost, duration and likelihood values to determine the expected value for various alternative processes. This thesis postulates that the alternative having the highest expected value is considered the preferred alternative. In calculating …

Status Of Storm Water Pollution In The United States, Lynne A. Urquhart

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of storm water pollution in the United States Air Force. This is important since most AF bases are now required to have applied for a NPDES storm water permit. The objectives of the study were to: evaluate the sampling rates used at AF bases; determine the pollutants tested for by the AF bases; compare the pollutant concentrations of the AF bases to an EPA water quality standard; and determine if there were any trends in sampling or pollutant concentrations due to seasonal changes or across AF Commands or EPA Regions. …

Simulation Of Hydrologic Influences On Wetland Ecosystem Succession, Robert A. Pompilio

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the development of a simulation model to determine the effects of hydrological influences on a wetland ecosystem. The model allows perturbations to the inputs of various wetland data which in turn, influences the successional development of the ecosystem. This research consisted of converting a grassland ecosystem model to one which simulates wetland conditions. The critical factor in determining the success of wetland creation is the hydrology of the system. There are four of the areas of the original model which are affected by the hydrology. The model measures the health or success of the ecosystem through …

Modeling Of Ground Water Aquifer Remediation By Pulsed Pumping When Contaminant Transport Is Affected By Physical, Non-Equilibrium Sorption And Desorption, Jeffrey L. Caspers

Theses and Dissertations

This research postulates and demonstrates a modification incorporating rate-limited sorption effects in the USGS SUTRA code for cleanup of a hypothetical sandy aquifer by pump-and-treat remediation methods. Contaminant transport is assumed to be affected by advection, dispersion, and rate-limited sorption/desorption. Sorption is assumed to be either equilibrium or rate-limited, with the rate-limitation described by either a first-order law, or by Fickian diffusion of contaminant through a spherical immobile pore region. Solutions are arrived at by split operator methods for the transport and one-dimensional Galerkin solutions for the solute concentration equations. The resulting model is tested against an analytical Laplace transform …

Use Of Infrared Spectrometry To Determine The Effect Of Trichloroethylene Resident Time On Desorption Rates From Flint Clay, Peter T. Lapuma

Theses and Dissertations

This laboratory based thesis investigated the desorption rate of trichloroethylene (TCE) from flint clay while varying the resident time of TCE exposed to the clay. It is thought that in long contaminated soil, a majority of contaminant mass will become entrained within the interior of the soil particles to slowly desorb out of the soil over long periods of time. Recent studies suggest that the longer a contaminant is resident in soil, the longer the contaminant will take to desorb from the soil. To understand more about soil desorption, this experiment was developed using infrared spectroscopy to detect TCE vapor …

The Application Of Nepa Requirements To Cercla Remedial Actions, Connie L. Strobbe

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the application of National Environmental Policy Act NEPA requirements to Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act CERCLA actions. Similarities in the documentation and public participation requirements of NEPA and CERCLA include identification and evaluation of alternatives and public participation. Differences include document contents and timing of public participation. This study presented four options for ensuring NEPA compliance at CERCLA sites. Option one included a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement PEIS with subsequent combined FSEIS report for each subunit. Option two eliminated the PEIS, but retained a stand-alone NEPA document for each CERCLA subunit. Option three included a …

Method And Apparatus For Objective Evaluation Of Patent Ambulation, Balance And Weight Bearng Status, Eric B. Lancaster, Michael F. Kocher

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

A walker is provided which is equipped with detectors for measuring various loads and torques placed thereon by a user including right side and left side loads as well as torque loads on the handles of the walker and having time and distance detectors to allow the ambulation status of a user to be progressively monitored by medical personnel.

Fluid Flow Modeling For Pneumatically Fractured Formations, Deepak Nautiyal

Theses

This thesis investigates the flow of compressible fluids in pneumatically fractured formations. Pneumatic fracturing is a recently developed technique for increasing permeability in geologic formations by the controlled injection of high pressure air. The artificially induced fractures enhance the flow rate of liquids and vapors in the subsurface, and can be applied to in situ remediation of hazardous waste sites, and for other hydrogeological applications.

A flow model for discrete fractures is derived based on the assumptions of viscous, laminar fluid flow through planar fractures (Poiseuille type flow). The model takes into account non-linearity introduced by gas compressibility effects. Provision …

Modeling Arsenic Transformation In Clay Soils, Chao-Yi Chung

Theses

This project is designed to estimate the possible transformation forms of arsenic in clay soil. A computer model was established to simulate arsenic transformations. The amount of arsenic species adsorbed, dissolved, and the predominant soluble species are calculated by the model, which is mainly based on the Freundlich adsorption isotherm, solubility data collected by Keaton and Kardos, and pH-Eh diagram established by Ferguson and Garvis. The computer language used is Turbo PASCAL version 5.5.

The clay soil environment is considered to be in standard state: 25°C 1 atm. Environmental factors of the soil system which are accounted for by the …

The Use Of Cod As An Indicator For Evaluation Of Pretreatment Of Nitrocellulose With Acid Hydrolysis, Han-Chung Lee

Theses

Nitrocellulose is a toxic waste by definition. It is widely used in military and commercial industries. Nitrocellulose fines escaped from the manufacture's process has created problems in receiving water. However, little information is available for the treatment of nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose is difficult to treat by microorganisms without any pretreatment. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to use acid hydrolysis to break down this material before biological treatment, and find the optimal operation conditions in this process.

In this work, the results indicate that percentage of nitrocellulose decomposing in hydrolysis depends on types of acid, acid concentration, reaction temperature, …

Sulfuric Acid Resistance Of Fly Ash Mortar, Walairat Bumrongjaroen

Theses

Crown corrosion of concrete pipe and its subsequent repair is a topic much discussed in recent years. Present protective methods have not worked effectively. Due to its properties and its low cost, fly ash was used as a cement replacement of mortar to investigate its sulfuric acid resistance.

Different types and different percentages of fly ashes were mixed with and without admixtures including microsilica, and superplasticizer. The main parameters investigated included the chemical compounds, the fineness and the volume of fly ash. 2"x2" cubes were immersed in a 10% sulfuric acid pond. The weight of each cube was determined continuously …

Landfill Leachate Production And Gas Generation Numerical Model, John Edward Riester Jr.

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Numerous processes occur in landfills which lend themselves to modeling. Many of the processes are mutually interdependent. An unsteady numerical model is developed combining the major processes. The three-dimensional moisture transport equations and boundary conditions are solved using an implicit finite difference scheme. The boundaries are determined through a two-dimensional runoff model for the landfill surface and a one-dimensional leachate liner flow model at the bottom of the landfill. The runoff model accounts for evapotranspiration, runoff, infiltration, and leachate recirculation. Richard's equation is solved for saturated and unsaturated vertical flows and Darcy's Equation is solved for lateral flow between adjacent …