Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Nutrient Removal From Clarified Municipal Wastewater Using Microalgae Raceway Ponds, Justin Andrew Kraetsch

Master's Theses

Shallow, mixed raceway ponds can be used to grow microalgae for the dual purposes of wastewater treatment and biofuel feedstock production. To improve the environmental sustainability of microalgae biofuels and to alleviate resource limitations, nutrients remaining after biofuel production should be recycled for additional cultivation. This thesis considers three topics: wastewater treatment by algae, nitrogen and phosphorus assimilation by algae, and algae cell disruption to facilitate nutrient recovery.

The main experimental work was done in pilot raceway ponds growing polycultures of microalgae on clarified municipal wastewater. In addition, two lab-scale pretreatment technologies were tested for their ability to disrupt cells, …

Identification And Quantification Of Gaseous Organic Compounds Emitted From Biomass Burning Using Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography–Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, Lindsay E. Hatch, Wentai Luo, James F. Pankow, Robert J. Yokelson, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Kelley Barsanti

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current understanding of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation within biomass burning (BB) plumes is limited by the incomplete identification and quantification of the non-methane organic compounds (NMOCs) emitted from such fires. Gaseous organic compounds were collected on sorbent cartridges during laboratory burns as part of the fourth Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME- 4) and analyzed by two-dimensional gas chromatography– time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC–ToFMS). The sensitivity and resolving power of GC × GC–ToFMS allowed the acquisition of the most extensive data set of BB NMOCs to date, with measurements for 708 positively or tentatively identified compounds. Estimated …

Assessing The Water Quality Response To An Alternative Sewage Disposal Strategy At Bathing Sites On The East Coast Of Ireland, Zeinab Bedri, John O'Sullivan, Louise Deering, Katalin Demeter, Bartholomew Masterson, Wim Meijer, Gregory O'Hare

Articles

A three-dimensional model is used to assess the bathing water quality of Bray and Killiney bathing sites in Ireland following changes to the sewage management system. The model, firstly calibrated to hydrodynamic and water quality data from the period prior to the upgrade of the Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW), was then used to simulate Escherichia coli (E. coli) distributions for discharge scenarios of the periods prior to and following the upgrade of the WwTW under dry and wet weather conditions. E. coli distributions under dry weather conditions demonstrate that the upgrade in the WwTW has remarkably improved the bathing water …

Modeling Regional Secondary Organic Aerosol Using The Master Chemical Mechanism, Jingyi Li, Meredith Cleveland, Luke D. Ziemba, Robert J. Griffin, Kelley Barsanti, James F. Pankow, Qi Ying

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A modified near-explicit Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM, version 3.2) with 5727 species and 16,930 reactions and an equilibrium partitioning module was incorporated into the Community Air Quality Model (CMAQ) to predict the regional concentrations of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the eastern United States (US). In addition to the semi-volatile SOA from equilibrium partitioning, reactive surface uptake processes were used to simulate SOA formation due to isoprene epoxydiol, glyoxal and methylglyoxal. The CMAQ-MCM-SOA model was applied to simulate SOA formation during a two-week episode from August 28 to September 7, 2006. The southeastern US has …

Fates Of Spilt Oil And Factors Affecting The Bio-Degradation Of Oil: A Review, Amogh-Ranganath Chakravarthy

Theses

The usage of crude oil and its products is increasing; in turn, the number of spills is also going up. The inland spills are the more recurrent spills in the U.S today. This review article deals with the weathering of oils, which commences just after oil spills into the environment with various processes such as evaporation, dissolution, photo-oxidation, dispersion, emulsification and bio-degradation along with other possible fates. Biodegradation is one of the most significant processes of weathering which depends on oil physical and chemical characteristics, environmental characteristics, pH, salinity and oil concentration. There is a range of oil concentration for …

Towards Sustainability In The Oil And Gas Sector: Benchmarking Of Environmental, Health, And Safety Efforts, Jennifer Schneider, Salim Ghettas, Nacer Merdaci, Mervin Brown, Joseph Martyniuk, Waleed Alshehri, Anthony Trojan

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

The environmental, social and climate change issues that face the world today have all industries considering how they will address sustainability in the future. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the maturity of environmental, health and safety (EHS) efforts and progress toward sustainability in the oil and gas sector. Ten major oil companies have been analyzed based on public information including their published annual reports. Companies refer to voluntary initiatives when reporting their performance yet the assessment suggests that the sector overall continues to make progress and is maturing in its sustainability efforts. Many management system gaps were …

2015 Nebraska Groundwater Quality Monitoring Report

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The 2001 Nebraska Legislature passed LB329 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §46-1304) which, in part, directed the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) to report on groundwater quality monitoring in Nebraska. Reports have been issued annually since December 2001. The text of the statute applicable to this report follows: “The Department of Environmental Quality shall prepare a report outlining the extent of ground water quality monitoring conducted by natural resources districts during the preceding calendar year. The department shall analyze the data collected for the purpose of determining whether or not ground water quality is degrading or improving and shall present the …

Eight Principles Of Uncertainty For Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuel Systems, Adam J. Liska

Adam Liska Papers

New environmental regulations in the USA and Europe require a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels as a component of climate change mitigation policy. The US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires GHG emission reductions from the life cycles of biofuels compared to gasoline, by 20% for ethanol from maize grain (maize-ethanol), 60% for cellulosic ethanol, and 50% for other advanced biofuels. To determine these reductions, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employs life cycle assessment (LCA) methods which were not used previously in national environmental regulations. These regulations, entitled the “Renewable Fuel Standard …

2015 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Ryan Chapman

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain high quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on nearly 17,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, more than 134,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, as well as the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

Multistage Concentration Of Cenospheres In Fly Ash Using The Inverted Reflux Classifier, A. Kiani, J. Zhou, K.P. Galvin

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Cenospheres are one of the most valuable components found in the fly ash waste of coal-fired power stations, consisting of hollow, aluminosilicate spherical shells and offering very low bulk density, high strength, and high thermal resistance. Although wet processing methods offer the best prospect for achieving recovery and concentration of the cenospheres, significant impediments remain for achieving satisfactory economics. This work was concerned with the recovery and concentration of cenospheres from fly ash using a novel system, the inverted reflux classifier (IRC), covering single and multistage processing. The system consists of a series of parallel inclined channels mounted underneath an …

Evaluating The Potential For Passive Greywater Irrigation In Northern Ghana, Chelsea L. Fagan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Water scarcity, malaria, and malnutrition are all concerns facing the people of Chirifoyili and the Northern Region of Ghana. Greywater pooling outside of homes increases human exposure to pathogens and provides breeding grounds for disease carrying insects, especially malaria spreading mosquitoes. This project looks at draining this water away from the home and using it to irrigate vegetables, fruit trees and other beneficial plants.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the effects of greywater irrigation on the growth of plants commonly found in village home gardens. The field project consisted of constructing and managing household greywater irrigation systems …

Nebraska Water Center Annual Report 2015, Nebraska Water Center

Nebraska Water Center: Administrative Materials

Contents

Foreword 4

The Nebraska Water Center: Leadership in Research, Education and Communication 6

Director’s Letter 8

For More Than 50 years: The Nebraska Water Center 10

Helping Build the Future 11

Nebraska Water Center Advisory Board 14

Water Resources Advisory Panel: A key to success 15

Information for Our Clients and the Public 16

Primary Goals 18

USGS 104b Projects 20

Dvorak, Ray Aim at Improving Water Quality for Small Communities 20

October Retreat at UNK 24

Public Water Lectures 25

2015 Special Seminars 26

2015 Water Symposium and Water Law Conference 28

Water Tour Visits Republican River Basin …

Trihalomethane Removal And Re-Formation In Spray Aeration Processes Treating Disinfected Groundwater, Cassandra Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, chlorination has been widely utilized as a primary and secondary disinfectant in municipal water supplies. Although chlorine disinfection is effective in inactivating pathogenic microbes, the use of chlorine creates the unintentional formation of regulated chemicals. On January 4, 2006, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated the Stage 2 Disinfectants/Disinfection by-product rule (DBPR) that focuses on public health protection by limiting exposure to four trihalomethanes (THM) and five haloacetic acids (HAA5), formed when chlorine is used for microbial pathogen control. This thesis examines post-aeration TTHM formation when employing spray-aeration processes to remove semi-volatile TTHMs from chlorinated potable water …

Flow, Spray Pattern, And Droplet Spectra Characteristics Of An Electronically Actuated Variable-Orifice Nozzle, Joe D. Luck, Santosh Pitla, M. P. Sama, S. A. Shearer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the flow rate, spray pattern, and droplet spectra characteristics of an actively controlled variable-orifice nozzle at constant carrier pressures. A commercially available variable- orifice nozzle (VariTarget) was modified to allow for direct electromechanical control of the metering stem. The modified system was tested at five carrier pressures ranging from 138 to 414 kPa and five metering stem (and thus orifice) positions. The metering stem position range was chosen because it provided a linear response in flow rate at each carrier pressure. Flow rate testing indicated a turndown ratio of 2.4:1 …

Strengthening Black Cotton Soil With Fly Ash And Moorum: An Investigation Of The Role Of Subgrade And Subbase Layers, Gourav Saxena, Nikhlesh Chaurasia

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

One of the most effective and economical methods to strengthen clayey soils is addition of stabilizing agents such as fly ash to the soil. In this study, highly plastic clay was stabilized using fly ash. Geotechnical properties such as Atterberg limits, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and the California bearing ratio (CBR) value of virgin black cotton soil and soil treated with fly ash were evaluated. Soil was stabilized with various proportions of fly ash, i.e., at 0%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 30%. The UCS of black cotton soil–fly ash mixes is found to be at its maximum at 20% fly …

Using Coal Fly Ash In Agriculture: Combination Of Fly Ash And Poultry Litter As Soil Amendments For Bioenergy Feedstock Production, E. Kudjo Dzantor, Ekundayo Adeleke, Vanaha Kankarla, Oluwatosin Ogunmayowa, Dafeng Hui

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Increasing fiscal, human, and environmental costs of coal fly ash (FA) management are leading to advocacy for greater beneficial uses of the by-products as soil amendments in agriculture. Greenhouse experiments were conducted in Armour silt loam (ASL) soil that was amended with FA (10%, wt/wt) with and without poultry litter (PL 5 75 mg N/kg). Biomass productivity of eastern gamagrass (GG), a warm-season perennial grass, was measured to serve as complementary biofuel feedstock to switchgrass (SG). FA was obtained from a site at the 2008 ash spill in Kingston, TN. GG and SG were grown individually in 15-cm-wide 3 41-cm-high …

Bromide Removal From Surface Waters By Silver Impregnated Activated Carbon, Chen Chen

All Theses

Bromide is a precursor of disinfection by-products (DBPs) during potable water treatment, because it causes the formation of brominated DBPs that are more cyto- and geno-toxic than their chlorinated analogues. Due to the potential health risks of DBPs, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has been imposing increasingly stringent regulations for controlling the DBPs. Therefore, removal of bromide ions from source waters becomes critical for controlling the DBPs formation. In my study, it was hypothesized that silver impregnated activated carbon (SIAC) can be a promising adsorbent for bromide removal from water. The main research objectives of this study were …

Control System Development And Response Analysis Of An Electronically Actuated Variable-Orifice Nozzle For Agricultural Pesticide Applications, Joe D. Luck, S. A. Shearer, M. P. Sama, Santosh Pitla

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The goal of this research project was to further the development of an electromechanically controlled variable-orifice nozzle by creating an electronic control system and then evaluating that system based on step and ramp inputs. The control system was developed in a programming environment that combined an electronic data acquisition system and actuator with pressure and flow sensors. A proportional, variable-gain (based on system pressure) control system was developed to adjust nozzle flow rates to meet target application rates. The constraints were to achieve settling time of less than 1.0 s, overshoot of less than 10% of maximum flow (or minimum …

Fabrication And Testing Of Low-Energy Calcium Sulfoaluminate-Belite Cements That Utilize Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion By-Products, Robert Jewell, Robert Rathbone, Tristana Duvallet, Thomas Robl, Kamyar Mahboub

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

The utilization of circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) ash to make cement products that provide added value and offset CO2 production is the objective of this research. CFBC burns coal in the presence of a bed of slaked limestone, which effectively absorbs sulfur dioxide (SO2) to form anhydrite (CaSO4). CFBC produces two kinds of spent bed materials, coarse bottom ash and a much finer fly ash. Both of these products are very high in calcium. When properly conditioned, these materials are capable of acting as hydraulic cements, forming both calcium aluminosulfate minerals, most importantly ettringite, as well as calcium-alumina-silica gels, …

Prediction Of The Unburned Carbon Content Of Fly Ash In Coal-Fired Power Plants, Saeid R. Dindarloo, James C. Hower

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Prediction of carbon content in fly ash is a valuable index in both designing and optimizing coal-fired boilers. In this study, methods of multiple regression (MR), decision trees (DT), and support vector regression (SVR) were used for prediction of unburned carbon content of fly ash in a 300-MW power plant with a tangentially fired furnace using a low-NOx concentric firing system. Twenty-one boiler operational and coal petrological variables from 21 experiments in a previous benchmark study were used. A variables correlation matrix was used for feature (independent variables) selection in order to reduce the dimensions (number) of input variables from …

Recycling Of Lignite Coal Fly Ash By Its Conversion Into Zeolites, Silviya Boycheva, Denitza Zgureva, Annie Shoumkova

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

The present study emphasized the conversion of fly ash from lignite coals into zeolites by a double-stage fusion-hydrothermal synthesis. The raw and the converted fly ashes were characterized with respect to their morphology, composition, and crystallinity. The effects of process parameters such as fusion temperature, concentration of the alkaline activator, and the duration of the hydrothermal incubation on the zeolitization process were studied. The experimental results indicate that the fusion temperature does not influence the process mechanism in the range 550–850uC, but it has an acceleration effect. The elevation of the sodium hydroxide/fly ash ratio from 1.6 to 2.0 enhances …

Modeling The Impact Of Future Climate On Drainage Infrastructures, Tyler J. Baumbach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown a potential 20% increase in future heavy and extreme precipitation events over the Midwestern States. Drainage infrastructures designed using current design conditions may not be able to convey projected runoffs resulting in flooding and damage to infrastructure. The objective of this paper is to determine the effects of future climate variability on culvert selections in a southwest South Dakota watershed. The scope of the study was defined through a comprehensive literature review. Future climate events were based on a 20% increase in current annual precipitation over the Upper White River Subbasin Watershed. A portion of the White …

Differences In Waste Generation, Waste Composition, And Source Separation Across Three Waste Districts In A New York Suburb, Omkar Aphale, Krista L. Thyberg, David J. Tonjes

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Six tonnes of discards and recyclables from three waste districts in a New York suburb were sorted in 2012. The districts were chosen because one had a higher recycling percentage, one had median performance, and one was a low performing district. ASTM standards were followed for the waste composition sorting. The results showed, as expected, that the waste district with the highest recycling rate appeared to have the highest separation efficiencies, leading to greater amounts of recyclable materials being source separated. The waste districts also had different overall waste generation, both in terms of the amounts of wastes generated, and …

A Management Framework For Municipal Solid Waste Systems And Its Application To Food Waste Prevention, Krista L. Thyberg, David J. Tonjes

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Waste management is a complex task involving numerous waste fractions, a range of technological treatment options, and many outputs that are circulated back to society. A systematic, interdisciplinary systems management framework was developed to facilitate the planning, implementation, and maintenance of sustainable waste systems. It aims not to replace existing decision-making approaches, but rather to enable their integration to allow for inclusion of overall sustainability concerns and address the complexity of solid waste management. The framework defines key considerations for system design, steps for performance monitoring, and approaches for facilitating continual system improvements. It was developed by critically examining the …

Quantification Of Food Waste Disposal In The United States: A Meta-Analysis, Krista L. Thyberg, David J. Tonjes, Jessica Gurevitch

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Food waste has major consequences for social, nutritional, economic, and environmental issues, and yet the amount of food waste disposed in the U.S. has not been accurately quantified. We introduce the transparent and repeatable methods of meta-analysis and systematic reviewing to determine how much food is discarded in the U.S., and to determine if specific factors drive increased disposal. The aggregate proportion of food waste in U.S. municipal solid waste from 1995 to 2013 was found to be 0.147 (95% CI 0.137-0.157) of total waste, which is lower than that estimated by USEPA for the same period (0.176). The proportion …

Sustainable Disposal Of Coal Processing Waste Streams, Mohammad Rezaee

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Modern coal preparation facilities incorporate a wide array of solid-solid and solid-liquid separation processes for rejecting mineral matter to meet market specifications. The coarse mineral matter is typically placed into engineered refuse piles whereas the fine refuse is either stored in impoundments or co-disposed with the coarse refuse. The discharge water from the refuse material represents an environmental concern due to the potential release of trace elements, and the subsequent elevation of total dissolved solids and conductivity. The research findings reported in this dissertation addresses sustainable coal processing waste disposal through using strategies aimed at minimizing the environmental impacts. To …

Polychlorinated Biphenyl Source Identification In Fish Tissue Using A Multivariate Statistical Evaluation Of Congeners And Stable Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry, William Edward Corl Iii

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were commercially produced mixtures primarily utilized as dielectric fluids in the electrical industry. However, due to their stability, they were widely used in many other applications. Although production of PCBs ceased in the 1970's, they continue to be a contaminant in the environment due to their widespread use, their recalcitrant behavior, and their proposed toxicological effects.

In 2008, a routine environmental investigation of an abandoned, concrete-lined pool at a Department of Defense (DoD) training facility in Williamsburg, Virginia led to the discovery of a PCB release from the facility into an adjacent reservoir. A forensic study was …

Sustainable River-Basin Salinity Management: Treatment Of Natural Brine Springs For Recovery Of Purified Sodium Chloride And Other Valuable Minerals, Priscilla L. Sandoval

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A treatment process was developed to extract sodium chloride salt, via evaporation, from high-salinity natural brine springs. The source of the brine studied in this project is watershed of the Salt Fork of the Brazos River in Texas. When evaporation is applied to the brine, various impurities precipitate along with the sodium chloride salt (halite). Therefore, a treatment was developed in order to produce a valuable, high-purity salt product. The treatment consists of pretreating the brine with sodium carbonate and hydrochloric acid to for softening and decarbonation. After evaporation, a brine wash post-treatment process was employed to increase the purity …

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 …

A Technical And Cultural Feasibility Assessment Of Household Microbial Fuel Cells For Use In Hanan'g District, Tanzania, Erinn Kunik

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an emerging electricity generation technology that has the potential for use in developing countries. This study assessed the feasibility of using MFCs in Tanzania through technical analysis of a MFC prototype alongside with interviews with Tanzanians for a cultural feasibility assessment of MFCs. For the technical analysis, this study evaluated the inputs needed for a household MFC to operate and produce electricity with cattle manure as a fuel and evaluated the electrochemical and chemical performance as well as the fecal coliform reduction of the manure during MFC operation. For this study, a MFC was built …