Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Liquid Phase Nano Metal Catalyzed Dechlorination Of Chlorinated Organic Compounds, Omneya El-Sharnouby

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

1,2-Dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) is among the most prevalent groundwater chlorinated organic compounds (COCs) found at hazardous sites throughout the world. Given its pervasive contamination and adverse health effects, there is considerable interest in developing novel remediation technologies for successfully treating 1,2-DCA along with other COCs from water sources. Chemical reduction by nano zero valent iron (monometallic (nZVI) or bimetallic (Pd-nZVI)) has proven to be a successful field applicable technology, yet it has failed in degrading such a recalcitrant compound as 1,2-DCA.

In this study, the development of a field applicable nano metal based technology capable of degrading 1,2-DCA was carried out. …

Combined Analysis Of Tide- And Wave-Induced Water Table Fluctuations For Structural Characterization Of A Coastal Aquifer, Victoria A. Trglavcnik

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Understanding of coastal hydrogeology is essential for the assessment, management, and protection of coastal groundwater resources. Coastal groundwater is often an important source of drinking water for coastal communities but can be contaminated by saltwater or human-derived contaminants. The groundwater table in coastal aquifers fluctuates in response to various oceanic pressure forces acting at the shoreline, including tides, individual waves, and offshore storms. Measurements of water table fluctuations in response to tides and waves can be used to characterize coastal aquifers and provide important insight into the hydraulic properties and structure, including the connectivity between the aquifer and ocean. Most …

Fate Of Benzalkonium Chlorides In Natural Environment And Treatment Processes, Adnan Hossain Khan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Benzalkonium chlorides (BACs) are a type of cationic surfactant and are highly adsorptive to negatively charged surfaces during the wastewater treatment process. They can, therefore, enter the aquatic environment via the suspended organic matter in wastewater effluents, and the terrestrial environment through the application of biosolids as a soil amendment for crop production or by the use of reclaimed wastewater for irrigation. This research investigated the fate of the two most commonly used BACs, benzyl dimethyl dodecyl ammonium chloride (BDDA; C₁₂-alkyl chain) and benzyl dimethyl tetradecyl ammonium chloride (BDTA; C₁₄-alkyl chain), individually and in mixture in …

Multiscale Wind Modelling For Sustainability And Resilience, Djordje Romanic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The research presented herein is a mix of meteorological and wind engineering disciplines. In many cases, there is a gap between these two fields and this thesis is an attempt to bridge that gap through multiscale wind modelling approaches. Data and methods used in this study cover a multitude of spatial and temporal scales. Applications are in the fields of sustainability and resilience. This relationship between multiscale wind modelling and sustainability and resilience is investigated examining several case studies of three different developments: urban, rural and coastal.

An urban wind modelling methodology is proposed and applied for a specific development …

The Effects Of Furfural On Biological Hydrogen Production In Batch And Microbial Electrolysis Cell, Hyeongu Yeo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Furfural inhibits biohydrogen production and numerous studies has been carried out on detoxification of furfural to enhance biofuel production. Electrochemical detoxification of furfural is a new approach to remove furfural without the degradation of sugars. However, there is limited information on the effects of the degradation products of furfural on biohydrogen production in batch tests and the impact of furfural on anode-respiring bacteria (ARB) in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). This study investigated the effect of furfural and its derivatives, furfuryl alcohol (FFA) and 2-furoic acid (FA), on biohydrogen production. The impact of furfural on hydrogen production in MECs was also …

Evapotranspiration From Extensive Green Roofs: Influence Of Climatological Conditions, Vegetation Type, And Substrate Depth, Maria Eloisa Sia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Green roofs are gaining popularity worldwide as a low impact development tool to mitigate increasing stormwater runoff within dense urban areas. Evapotranspiration (ET) is the key hydrologic process governing the capacity of a green roof to retain rainfall as it regenerates available water storage space in the green roof substrate (soil) between rainfall events. To date, there are limited data on how the interaction between different climatological conditions and design parameters (e.g., vegetation type, substrate depth) affect ET rates. This currently limits the ability to optimize green roof design for stormwater management. In this field study, the impact of climatological …

Anaerobic Digestion And Co-Digestion Of Thickened Waste Activated Sludge (Twas) And Food Waste (Fw), Mohammad M I Chowdhury

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study aimed at assessing the impact of ultrasonication on the anaerobic digestibility of thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) in anaerobic fluidized bed reactor (AnFBR), determining the unbiodegradable fraction of TWAS, and exploring co-digestion of food waste (FW) and TWAS. Two lab-scale AnFBRs treating TWAS were studied to explore the impact of ultrasonication (US) in the break down and reuse of scum for methane production. At an organic loading rate (OLR) of 4.7 kg COD/m³-d and 480 kJ of US energy, COD and VSS destruction efficiencies were 65% and 63%, respectively roughly 20% higher than the control reactor …

Starx Technology For Waste Oil Sludge Treatment Investigated With Numerical Modelling, Rebecca L. Solinger

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Growing stockpiles of industrial liquid waste stored in lagoons are an outstanding problem worldwide. Self-sustaining Treatment for Active Remediation (STAR) is an emerging technology based on smouldering combustion that has been successfully deployed for in situ remediation of field sites (Grant et al., 2016). STAR is currently being developed as an ex situ treatment system (STARx) for industrial wastes by intentionally mixing them with sand. One engineering concept for STARx is the “hotpad”, for which some initial experiments have been conducted. However, a thorough experimental investigation is challenging due to the cost and time associated with each experiment. This work …

Hydraulic And Electrokinetic Delivery Of Remediants For In-Situ Remediation, Ahmed I. A. Chowdhury

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Nano-scale zero valent iron (nZVI) has shown promising mobility and in-situ reactivity with chlorinated volatile organic compounds when injected into saturated porous media. The current study evaluated nZVI mobility and subsequent reactivity with in-situ contaminants in a variably saturated porous media. The nZVI particles, synthesized onsite at subzero temperatures, demonstrated complete trichloroethene (TCE) degradation within the target area. Furthermore, a three dimensional finite difference model (CompSim) was utilized to investigate nZVI mobility in variably saturated zones. Model predicted well head data were in very good agreement with field observations. Simulation results showed that the injected slurry migrated radially outward from …

Removal Of Target Ppcps From Secondary Effluent Using Aops And Novel Adsorbents, Venkateswara Reddy Kandlakuti

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Atenolol (β-blocker), Clofibric Acid (Lipid regulators) and Diclofenac (Anti-inflammatory) are the drugs widely used and reported to have adverse effects on fish and other organisms. These drugs are found at trace levels in lakes, rivers and sewage treatment plants and conventional treatment plants are ineffective to eliminate these at those levels. A high resolution LC-MS/MS was used to quantify these drugs at low levels. Various advanced oxidation methods were used for the present research to eliminate these drugs from secondary effluent. Complete removal of PPCPs was achieved by synthesizing immobilized TiO2 on a stainless steel mesh and using a combination …

Soil Aquifer Treatment For Wastewater Reclamation In A High Water Demand Society, Diego J. Velasquez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Water resources around the world are under increasing pressure from the rapidly growing demands of rising population and industrialization. Furthermore, changes in global weather patterns are expected to intensify its current and future stresses. In the present study, knowledge and perceptions towards wastewater reclamation for potable and non-potable uses were investigated by the used of an on-line survey distributed amongst the university community at Western university. Subsequent statistical analysis of the results was performed using IBM-SPSS software. Survey results show that member of the university community are more likely to accept reclaimed wastewater for applications that do not involve drinking …

Evaluation Of Voc Degradation In Photo-Catalytic Air Reactors: Tio2 Immobilization, Energy Efficiency And Kinetic Modeling, Cristina S. Lugo Vega

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The high VOC emissions from anthropogenic sources are detrimental to both the environment and humans, contributing with ground-level ozone and particle matter formation. Heterogeneous photocatalysis provides significant potential for VOC degradation. However, the approaches to be used for photocatalyst immobilization in scaled and highly efficient photoreactors are still not well established. Furthermore, there is a lack of reported photonic efficiencies and a shortage of required methods to establish these efficiencies.

To address these issues, this PhD Dissertation reports the study of photonic efficiencies, TiO₂ immobilization on a stainless steel mesh and kinetic models in a scaled-up Photo-CREC-Air Reactor. Acetone …

Automated Control Flaw Generation Procedure: Cheakamus Dam Case Study, Bogdan Pavlovic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis deals with the problem of aging hydropower infrastructure systems and system components, a problem that is very common across Canada. Flaws of common risk analysis methods are noted, and the need for new risk analysis approaches is identified. System dynamics simulation method is introduced as an implementation mechanism for the System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA). STPA and its adaptation to complex hydropower systems are explained thoroughly. Fuzzy logic is used to model operator’s decision making. The main objectives of the research include the development of an automated generic approach that implements STPA and fuzzy logic for the investigation …

Catalytic Conversion Of Fructose, Glucose And Industrial Grade Sugar Syrups To 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural, A Platform For Fuels And Chemicals, Sadra Souzanchi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) as a versatile and polyfunctional compound derived from dehydration of biomass has attracted increasing attentions in research over the past decades. HMF is an important intermediate and platform chemical, which can be converted into different useful chemicals as well as the promising biofuels. It can be obtained from acid-catalyzed dehydration of different C₆-based carbohydrates such as glucose, fructose, sucrose and cellulose.

In this thesis, a cost-effective process for catalytic conversion of simple sugars (particularly glucose and fructose) and industrial grade sugar syrups to HMF was studied in a novel biphasic continuous-flow tubular reactor using inexpensive heterogeneous …

Hydrothermal Liquefaction Of High-Water Content Biomass And Waste Materials For The Production Of Biogas And Bio-Crude Oil, Laleh Nazari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Growing interest in renewable energies due to shrinking reserves of fossil fuels and climate change concerns have led to extensive research towards gaseous and liquid fuels production from renewable energy resources such as biomass and wastes. Energy generation from municipal and industrial wastes such as wastewater sludge is also environmental friendly way to deal with large volume of waste disposal with the additional advantage of eliminating part of the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from energy crops-derived biofuels.

In this thesis, a novel process for co-production of biogas and bio-crude oil from high-water-content wastewater sludge through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) treatments is …

Identification Of Groundwater Discharge Along The Shoreline Of Large Inland Lakes In Southern Ontario, Tao Ji

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Groundwater discharge may be an important pathway for delivering pollutants into nearshore waters of large inland lakes, including the Great Lakes and Lake Simcoe in Southern Ontario, Canada. This pathway however is poorly understood and quantified. While field methods for evaluating groundwater discharge to surface waters in tributary and marine settings have been widely applied and are well tested, there are limited field methods available for evaluating groundwater discharge to large inland lakes, particularly at the regional scale (i.e. 5-100 km). The objective of this thesis was to evaluate suitable field methods for quantifying groundwater discharge into large inland lakes …

Env-601: A New Method For Converting Sewage To Energy Using Self-Sustaining Smouldering, Tarek L. Rashwan, Jason I. Gerhard, Gavin P. Grant

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

A major challenge in designing resilient infrastructure is to meet the needs of sustainable development (Kennedy & Corfee-Morlot, 2013). Sustainable development requires a high degree of energy efficiency. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in particular, have the potential to be much more sustainable. In the U.S., 3 – 4% of the total energy consumed is dedicated to WWTPs and drinking water services, accounting for 30 – 40% of energy consumed by municipalities (U.S. EPA, 2014). In Canada, 25% of the $123 billion municipal deficit in 2006 was tied to water supply systems (i.e., drinking water, wastewater, and storm water) (Mirza, …

Env-604: Enhanced Electro-Oxidation For Tkn Removal From Highly Polluted Industrial Wastewater, Arash F. Jahromi, Maria Elektorowicz, Nadezda Zhukovskaya

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Many industrial effluents contain concentrated Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), which may might be also accompanied with ammonia, sulfur, iron, total solids, etc. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are unable to remove TKN, to a level acceptable for the ecosystem, thus, such wastewater has to be treated at the source; however, adequate methods have not been demonstrated yet. The industrial wastewater of concern, which contained 14 g TKN/L and 11 g NH4/L had a low probability to be biologically treated, therefore, an enhanced electro-oxidation method was proposed in this study. The industrial effluent was subjected to a series of tests, where finally …

Env-605: Use Of Nonwoven Geotextiles For Removing Nutrients And Suspended Solids From A Eutrophic Lake, Shrabani Sarma, Catherine N. Mulligan, Keoponnreay Kim, Dileep P. Veetil, Sam Bhat

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Eutrophication has been identified as one of the leading risks to surface water quality especially for lake water quality in Canada. The objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of nonwoven geotextiles in reducing the nutrients and suspended solids to improve lake water quality. A small scale field experiment was conducted beside a lake by using nonwoven geotextiles as filter media. Custom-made geotextiles were used in different combinations to provide maximum efficiency in removing nutrients and suspended solids (SS) to achieve an acceptable level within a shorter period of time. For an initial turbidity ranging from 4 to …

Env-609: Treatment Of Pcbs Contaminated Soil Using An Integrated System, Linlong Yu, Jordan Hollman, Stephanie Kroeker, Sobhan Iranmanesh, Gopal Achari, Cooper H. Langford, Janine Wildschut

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

This research describes the full scale evaluation and testing of an integrated PCBs treatment system. Experiments were conducted on organic soil contaminated with PCBs. The result showed that a removal efficiency of 95% can be achieved using a three cycle isopropyl alcohol (IPA) extraction. It also showed that at least 80% of IPA can be recycled and reused for further extraction of PCBs. The concentrated PCB extracts can be photodechlorinated in an alkaline condition. The successful testing of this integrated PCB treatment system demonstrates this technology to be a promising solution to a very difficult problem.

Env-607: Surfactant-Modified Biomass Adsorbents For Enhanced Removal Of Pollutants From Aqueous Solution, Chunjiang An, Gordon Huang, Yarong Shi, Xiaying Xin, Yao Yao, Yan Zhang, Wenxia Wang, Xia Liu

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

From the view of economical efficiency and technology sustainability, considerable attention has been recently given to the use of low-cost biomass residues as adsorbents in pollution control. To achieve a desirable adsorptive efficiency, some efforts have also been made to modify biomass adsorbents through appropriate treatments. There is a particular interest in surfactant-assisted biomass surface modification. Although some findings from previous studies are encouraging, knowledge about the adsorption of pollutants onto surfactant-modified biomass is still limited. A number of issues about the characteristics of involved interface transport are poorly understood. The present study therefore aims to examine the adsorption of …

Env-608: A Feasibility Study On Sulfolane Degradation In Groundwater Using Neutral Fenton Catalysts, Linlong Yu, Gopal Achari, Cooper H. Langford, Ian Keir

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

In this paper, degradation of sufolane in an acidic or near neutral pH using Fenton or modified Fenton catalysts was investigated. The catalysts included nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) iron complex and several commercially available products marketed as neutral pH catalysts. The experiments were conducted both in lab synthetic water and sulfolane contaminated groundwater. Our results showed that more than 99% of sulfolane can be removed by the classic Fenton-like reagent in acidic condition. At near neutral pH, 60% of sulfolane reduction in groundwater was achieved by adding NTA/Fe(III)/H2O2. Among the four commercially available products investigated, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelated iron showed …

Env-612: A Novel Sludge-Bed Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor For Sustainable Treatment Of Industrial Wastewater, Kripa S. Singh, Mayur M. Kale

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Dissolving pulp mill wastewater called prehydrolysis liquor (PHL) obtained from steam (at 150-1700C) treatment of wood had a total chemical oxygen demand (COD) of approximately 100 g/L contains mainly sugars, furfural, lignin, and acetic acid, poses a considerable wastewater disposal problem. Replacement of the current energy intensive disposal method (evaporation and use of recovery boiler) is a requirement of dissolving pulp industry. The bioreactors were fed with PHL at organic loading rates (OLR) ranging from 0.8 to 5 kg-COD/m3-d to study the performance with respect to the COD removal, methane (bio-energy) production, effluent characteristics, and membrane fouling. Average COD removal …

Env-610: Effect Of Nutrients On Methanotrophic Oxidation Activity In Batch Experimental Studies, Helen La, J. Patrick A. Hettiaratchi, Gopal Achari

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Methane biofiltration (MBF) has been proposed as an effective and cost efficient method for mitigating methane emissions from anthropogenic sources. Previous MBF studies have successfully demonstrated effective methane oxidation using compost, soil and biodegradable organic materials as the filter medium because they are a natural source of nutrients, organic matter content, and provide adequate space to support microbiological growth. However, these media types will inevitably decompose over time and lose their effectiveness. This study investigates the use of biologically stable media mixtures of lava rock and biochar in batch oxidation studies to determine their ability to support a methanotrophic bacterial …

Env-617: Waste-Based Biorefineries In Developing Countries: An Imperative Need Of Time, Iqbal Mohammad Ismail, Abdul-Sattar Nizami

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

The current world population of 7.2 billion is projected to reach up to 8.2 billion in 2025 with current annual growth rate of 1%. The Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America are the places, where most of this growth will occur due to rapidly growing industries and urbanization. As a consequence, the generation rate of municipal solid waste (MSW) will increase from 1.2 to 1.5 kg per capita per day in next 15 years. Globally, around 2.4 billion tons of MSW is generated every year that will reach up to 2.6 billion tons by 2025. Similarly, the energy demand …

Env-620: Assisting A Columbian Community Respond To Tougher Water Regulations, Rick Vansant, Maryam Eyvazi

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Colombia is strengthening the standards for treatment processes to protect public health from chlorine-resistant pathogens such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium. UV Pure recently assisted Progresar E.S.P., a water services company by adding disinfection to a potable water supply serving 5,000 residents outside Bogota.

This project marks the first installation of UV Pure systems for potable water disinfection in Colombia.

UV Pure Upstream systems, with Crossfire™ technology, is ideal for this challenging application providing a minimum UV dose of 40mJ/cm2, even when UVT is as low as 75%. The plant operates with an average flow of about 12L/sec (190 gpm) and …

Env-621: Risk-Based Performance Assessment Of Stormwater Drainage Networks Under Climate Change: A Case Study In The City Of Kingston, On, Michael G. Nanos, Yves R. Filion

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

The ability of urban drainage systems to operate satisfactorily under a wide range of possible future hydrologic conditions is an important system characteristic. As weather patterns shift, it is important to understand how local infrastructure may be affected as extreme rainfall events have the potential to cause direct and indirect damages to communities. Continuous simulation in SWMM 5.1 coupled with synthetic precipitation files generated using GCM outputs were used to assess the risk-based performance in terms of reliability, resiliency and vulnerability of an urban drainage system in the City of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The study drainage network investigated in this …

Env-623: Analysis Of Reaction Kinetic Parameters In Enzyme Catalysed Aerobic Waste Degradation, Eranda M. Bartholameuz, J. Patrick A. Hettiaratchi, Helen La

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

The study discussed here is an attempt at comparing three of the most important kinetic parameters in an enzyme catalysed aerobic system; overall reaction kinetic constant, hydrolysis rate constant and oxygen assimilation constant. The kinetic parameters are compared with each other as well as between uncatalyzed and enzyme catalyzed reactions. Theatrical reaction kinetic models were developed for the analysis. Batch experiments were conducted to characterize solid waste behaviour and the results used to calibrate the developed models. Lignin content, cellulose/hemicellulose content, total organic content, oxygen depletion and CO2 production was used as responses in the experiments. Manganese peroxidase from white-rot-fungi …

Env-624: A New High-Yielding Bio-Dispersant Producer Mutated From Rhodococcus Erythropolis Strain P6-4p, Ze Lv, Qinhong Cai, Baiyu Zhang, Bing Chen

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Preeminent effectiveness and feasibility of dispersants have been the key reasons for their widely serving as the response agents in oil spill responses. Moreover, dispersants can also overcome the limitation factors of other countermeasures like accessibility, weather conditions, sea states, and oil thickness. However, the public concerns of the usages of the chemically synthetic dispersants are also essential due to their toxicity and persistency in the ecosystem. Bio-dispersants can be a promising alternative as the proven features of lower toxicity and persistency while with high effectiveness, but its broad application prospects are currently restricted by the high production cost that …

Env-625: Impacts Of Treated Wastewater Reuse In Irrigation On Groundwater: Case Study Of Sadat City – Egypt, Heba Abd El-Aziz Abu-Bakr, Mustafa Elkhedr, Ashraf Ghanem, Abdallah Sadik Bazaraa

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Groundwater is becoming an essential water resource in Egypt due to the deficit in water balance. It is planned to increase withdrawal in 2017 to 7.5 BCM and 3.5 BCM from renewable and non-renewable groundwater aquifers, respectively. In recent years there have been efforts to protect this water resource. The main objective of this paper is studying the impacts of reusing treated wastewater in irrigation after natural attenuation through the vadose zone. Hydrogeological data were collected to characterize the aquifer in Sadat City. A field program was conducted to identify the saturated hydraulic conductivities of the aquifer and the contaminant …