Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Fluorotelomer Carboxylic Acid Degradation: Implications For Septic Systems, Alexis Marie Eaton

Honors Theses and Capstones

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of manmade organic chemicals that have been widely used since the 1940’s due to their resistance to heat, water, and oil. These compounds are associated with negative health outcomes including poor thyroid function, reproductive toxicity, and carcinogenicity. Because products with PFAS are widely used in residential settings, and because many PFAS do not completely degrade during wastewater treatment/handling, septic systems may be an important non-point source of PFAS to groundwater. Many homes that have septic systems, which discharge wastewater effluent to the subsurface, also use groundwater as a drinking water source; …

A Resilient Decarbonization Package For The Hoopa Shopping Center, Esther Obikoya

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The Hoopa Shopping Center, located within the Hoopa Valley Tribe Reservation, faces significant energy cost fluctuations and reliability issues. Given the susceptibility of remote communities to power disruptions, the Tribe's move toward achieving a sustainable and resilient power infrastructure is essential. This study investigates the technical and economic decarbonization strategies for the Hoopa Shopping Center, focusing on reducing energy bills, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions through electrification and energy efficiency improvements, as well as the integration of renewable energy sources.

This decarbonization could be done in a way consistent with the development of a microgrid to energize the community …

Design Of A Mobile Lamprey Testing Facility And Analysis Of Hydraulic Conditions Under Experimental Treatments, Ernesto Silva

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Few studies have evaluated Pacific lamprey passage at small-scale barriers such as road crossings. The Hoopa Valley Tribe was awarded a grant with the primary objective of assessing lamprey's ability to traverse small-scale barriers. The Hoopa Valley Tribe collaborated with the Environmental Resources Engineering Department at Cal Poly Humboldt to design and implement a mobile testing facility. The testing facility was then used to identify and simulate experimental treatments that would assess lamprey’s ability to pass conditions that are known or expected to be challenging or outright barriers.

A dump trailer equipped with a hydraulic hoist with the ability to …

Characterizing The Beneficial Uses Of The Arcata Marsh Constructed Wetland Treatment System And Wildlife Sanctuary, Andrew S. Wolff

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The Arcata Marsh Constructed Wetland Treatment System and Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Arcata California, has been in operation since 1986. Not only has it served as the wastewater treatment facility for the city, it has also provided other beneficial uses such as acting as a sanctuary for bird, mammal, amphibian, and macroinvertebrate species. With facility upgrades currently underway, it has become important to revisit the beneficial uses of the Arcata Marsh. This project aimed to identify and characterize these beneficial uses. Literature review was conducted, and eleven beneficial uses were identified. Existing and newly obtained data were analyzed to characterize …

Mouralherwaqh: Coastal Wetland Road Crossing Da’Luk, Filip Amborski

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The integration of Indigenous and Western science plays an essential role in Tribally led collaborations for land management. This process of woven sciences is rooted in reciprocal relations and partnerships guided by Tribal Nations. Our cohort was invited by Wiyot Tribal Representatives to investigate a culvert located within the wetlands of Mouralherwaqh— a parcel of land reacquired by the Wiyot Tribe in 2022. This document seeks to share our experience and analysis as part of the Wiyot Tribe’s broader journey in navigating ecocultural restoration projects within Mouralherwaqh. The four community interests we investigated for the wetland crossing included a resized …

Statistical Analysis For Water Quality Data Using Anova (Case Study- Lake Burullus Influent Drains), Mohamed Hussein Hegazy

Civil Engineering

Lake Burullus is considered one of the most valuable northern lakes in Egypt due to its unique ecological system and special location. Over the past four decades, the lake has suffered from high contamination levels due to expansion in fish farming and increasing of agricultural drainage water entering the southern side of the lake through eight influent drains. This research aims to assess the current situation of the lake’s influent drains. For this purpose, two types of statistical analysis, Mean average method, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used. The water quality conditions for six major drains (Therah (Tira), Nashart, …

Highlighting Opportunities For Anaerobic Co-Digestion Of Food Waste From Universities With Pulp And Paper Mill Sludge, Md Nizam Uddin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The disposal of food waste (FW) in landfills presents significant environmental and economic challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions and loss of potential resources. Concurrently, the pulp and paper industry, a major sector in the United States, generates substantial quantities of recalcitrant organic waste that is high in lignocellulosic content. Anaerobic co-digestion of FW with pulp and paper mill sludge (PPMS) emerges as a potential strategy to address both waste streams simultaneously, potentially enhancing organic matter degradation and biogas yield. However, the efficacy of this co-digestion approach and its broader sustainability implications remain insufficiently characterized. This study employs laboratory-scale experiments to …

Sustainable Materials For Environment − Multifunctional Material Made From Dead Leaves And Nanostructured Materials For Antibiotic Degradation, Siyuan Fang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

As environmental pollution from industrial processes and human activities continues to rise, finding efficient approaches to recycle waste materials and degrade persistent contaminants becomes increasingly critical. Dead leaves, an abundant but underutilized biomass, present an opportunity for creating value-added materials if their biocomponents can be preserved and transformed. Simultaneously, antibiotics such as tetracycline are widely found in water bodies but pose serious ecological and health risks, necessitating effective degradation methods. This dissertation addresses these challenges by leveraging natural and nanostructured materials to develop multifunctional products and advanced photocatalytic processes.

Chapter 3 of this dissertation addresses the challenge of converting waste …

Interplay Of Discharge Rates, Slope, And Sediment Size In River Meandering Dynamics: Insights From Experimental Studies, Yifan Zhang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Sinuosity is an important concept in various fields including hydrology, geomorphology, and ecology. It not only presents the degree of curviness of a river channel but also reflects the ecological sustaining ability. By studying the sinuosity of a stream or river channel, important implications could also be found including the transportation and deposition of the sediments, the habitats of the riverbanks, and the types of species that are able to live on the watershed and river. To study the factors that could heavily affect the sinuosity of a river channel, a full set of laboratory experiments was designed to perform …

Aluminum Critical Mineral Production Feasibility Via Landfill Mining: Preliminary Study Of Potential Project Locations And Co-Benefits, Anabel M. Needham

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In 2022, aluminum was named a critical mineral by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the global demand for aluminum is projected to increase by 40% from 2020 to 2030 (Aleksić 2023). There are currently no large-scale bauxite mines in the United States to contribute to aluminum production, and this study aims to investigate the feasibility of aluminum landfill mining in the United States to produce secondary aluminum. The feasibility of landfill mining for the purpose of recovering materials and energy is a relatively new technology, and often co-benefits are required to make these projects economically viable. Publicly available …

Assessing Wave Dynamics Induced Coastal Flooding Along The Southern Shores Of Lake Superior, Saumik Mallik

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This study provides a comprehensive assessment of coastal hazards along the southern shores of Lake Superior, encompassing the interplay of static water levels, surges, and the amplifying effects of wave dynamics. Employing 51 years of historical water level data from five gauge stations in the US portion of Lake Superior, the study conducts extreme value analysis to estimate return levels over various return periods (25, 50, 100, and 500 years) for static water levels and surges. In parallel, Significant Wave Heights (SWH) data generated from the Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) model is calibrated through a multi-step procedure based on historical …

Machine-Learning-Assisted Design Of Deep Eutectic Solvents Based On Uncovered Hydrogen Bond Patterns, Usman Lame Abbas, Yuxuan Zhang, Joseph Tapia, Md Selim, Jin Chen, Jian Shi, Qing Shao

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Non-ionic deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are non-ionic designer solvents with various applications in catalysis, extraction, carbon capture, and pharmaceuticals. However, discovering new DES candidates is challenging due to a lack of efficient tools that accurately predict DES formation. The search for DES relies heavily on intuition or trial-and-error processes, leading to low success rates or missed opportuni- ties. Recognizing that hydrogen bonds (HBs) play a central role in DES formation, we aim to identify HB features that distinguish DES from non-DES systems and use them to develop machine learning (ML) models to discover new DES systems. We first analyze the …

Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid Exposure Leads To Downregulation Of 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl-Coa Synthase 2 Expression And Upregulation Of Markers Associated With Intestinal Carcinogenesis In Mouse Intestinal Tissues, Josiane Weber Tessmann, Pan Deng, Jerika Durham, Chang Li, Moumita Banerjee, Qingding Wang, Ryan A. Goettl, Daheng He, Chi Wang, Eun Y. Lee, B. Mark Evers, Bernhard Hennig, Yekaterina Y. Zaytseva

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a widely recognized environment pollutant known for its high bio- accumulation potential and a long elimination half-life. Several studies have shown that PFOS can alter multiple biological pathways and negatively affect human health. Considering the direct exposure to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to environmental pollutants, PFOS can potentially disrupt intestinal homeostasis. However, there is limited knowledge about the effect of PFOS exposure on normal intestinal tissues, and its contribution to GI- associated diseases remains to be determined. In this study, we examined the effect of PFOS exposure on the gene expression profile of intestinal tissues of …

Stage And Discharge Prediction From Documentary Time-Lapse Imagery, Kenneth W. Chapman, Troy E. Gilmore, Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Christian D. Chapman, Aaron R. Mittelstet, John E. Stranzl Jr.

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Imagery from fixed, ground-based cameras is rich in qualitative and quantitative information that can improve stream discharge monitoring. For instance, time-lapse imagery may be valuable for filling data gaps when sensors fail and/or during lapses in funding for monitoring programs. In this study, we used a large image archive (> 40,000 images from 2012 to 2019) from a fixed, ground-based camera that is part of a documentary watershed imaging project (https://plattebasintimelapse.com/). Scalar image features were extracted from daylight images taken at one-hour intervals. The image features were fused with United States Geological Survey stage and discharge data as …

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Maize No-Till Agroecosystems In Southern Brazil Based On A Long-Term Experiment, Guilherme Rosa Da Silva, Adam J. Liska, Cimelio Bayer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Brazilian agriculture is constantly questioned concerning its environmental impacts, particularly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This research study used data from a 34-year field experiment to estimate the life cycle GHG emissions intensity of maize production for grain in farming systems under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) combined with Gramineae (oat) and legume (vetch) cover crops in southern Brazil. We applied the Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator for modeling the “field-to-farm gate” emissions with measured annual soil N₂O and CH₄ emissions data. For net CO₂ emissions, increases in soil organic C (SOC) were applied as a proxy, …

Student Use Of Anchors And Metacognitive Strategies In Reflection, Anu Singh, Heidi A. Diefes-Dux

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Context: Self-regulation, a skillset involving taking charge of one’s own learning processes, is crucial for workplace success. Learners develop self-regulation skills through reflection where they recognize weaknesses and strengths by employing metacognitive strategies: planning, monitoring, and evaluating. Use of anchors assists learners’ engagement in reflection. Purpose or Goal: The purpose of this work was to gain insight into students’ use of anchors when reflecting on their learning. The two research questions: (1) To what extent do students link their self-evaluation and learning objective (LO) self-ratings to their reflections? and (2) What dimensions and level of metacognitive strategies do students use …

Classification Of Sow Postures Using Convolutional Neural Network And Depth Images, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu R. Sharma, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The United States swine industry reports an average preweaning mortality of approximately 16% where approximately 6% of them are attributed to piglets overlayed by sows. Detecting postural transitions and estimating sows’ time budgets for different postures are valuable information for breeders and engineering design of farrowing facilities to eventually reduce piglet death. Computer vision tools can help monitor changes in animal posture accurately and efficiently. To create a more robust system and eliminate varying lighting issues within a day including daytime/ nighttime differences, there is an advantage to using depth cameras over digital cameras. In this study, a computer vision …

Machine Learning-Based Disease Classification In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Plants = Klasifikasi Penyakit Berbasis Pembelajaran Mesin Pada Tanaman Tomat (Solanum Lycopersicum), Md Towfiqur Rahman, Sudipto Dhar Dipto, Israt Jahan June, Abdul Momin, Muhammad Rashed Al Mamun

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

English abstract

In Bangladesh, tomato cultivation faces significant challenges due to its susceptibility to various microorganisms, parasites, and bacterial infections. Typically, the early symptoms of these diseases first appear in roots and leaves, complicating timely detection. This study addresses the challenge of timely and accurate detection of diseases in tomato plants, crucial for effective plant protection management. Conventional manual inspection methods are time-consuming and subjective, resulting in delays in implementing necessary protection measures. Therefore, an image processing technique and machine learning algorithms were used for rapid and robust detection of diseases in tomato plant leaves, aiming to streamline the detection …

A Validation Of Wepp Water Quality Routines In Uniform And Nonuniform Agricultural Hillslopes, Ryan P. Mcgehee, Dennis C. Flanagan, Bernard A. Engel, John E. Gilley

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Nutrients in agricultural runoff may cause offsite environmental impacts. The objective of this investigation was to examine nutrient transport by overland sheet flow on sites containing swine slurry. Data examined in this study was collected during field rainfall simulation tests conducted on cropland sites in southeast Nebraska, USA. Inflow was added to the top of experimental plots in four successive increments to simulate runoff rates occurring at greater downslope distances. Runoff rates on the experimental sites ranged from 2.3 to 21.2 L min 1 and maximum equivalent downslope distances varied from 5 to 108 m. Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) …

Effects Of Crate Size On Mortality And Postural Behavior In Post-Farrowing Sows, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu R. Sharma, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Preweaning mortality (PWM) is a economic and animal well-being issue for swine producers in the US. On average, producers face about a 16% pre-weaning mortality. A significant portion of this, around 6%, is because sows accidentally overlay their piglets in farrowing crates. The posture behavior of sow plays a vital role in overlaying piglets and this behavior has a significant effect on farrowing crate dimensions. This study aims to explore the interplay between farrowing crate size, mortality rates, and postural behavior in post-farrowing sows. This study employed three farrowing stalls: Traditional (T), Expanded creep area (C), and Expanded sow area …

A Chemistry-Transport Model Study For Source Contributions Of Pm2.5 And Its Implications For Southeast Asia Regional Haze Management Policy, Abdul Wahab

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

PM2.5 pollution is a persistent issue in Southeast Asia. In response, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launched the Second Hazefree Roadmap (2023-2030) to alleviate this issue. This roadmap can be an important institutional measure to reduce PM2.5 pollution regionally; however, it largely centres on biomass burning and does not comprehensively tackle other sources. This study aims to quantify the contributions of three key sectors—biomass burning, transport, and industry—to PM2.5 pollution. In addition, for the focus of Thailand, the study assesses transboundary PM2.5 pollution coming into Thailand. We employ the GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model, a widely used global model …

Closing Dichloramine Decomposition Nitrogen And Oxygen Mass Balances: Relative Importance Of End-Products From The Reactive Nitrogen Species Pathway, Huong T. Pham, David G. Wahman, Julian L. Fairey

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In drinking water chloramination, monochloramine autodecomposition occurs in the presence of excess free ammonia through dichloramine, the decay of which was implicated in N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation by (i) dichloramine hydrolysis to nitroxyl which reacts with itself to nitrous oxide (N₂O), (ii) nitroxyl reaction with dissolved oxygen (DO) to peroxynitrite or mono/dichloramine to nitrogen gas (N₂), and (iii) peroxynitrite reaction with total dimethylamine (TOTDMA) to NDMA or decomposition to nitrite/nitrate. Here, the yields of nitrogen and oxygen-containing end-products were quantified at pH 9 from NHCl₂ decomposition at 200, 400, or 800 μeq Cl₂·L …

Implementation Of Acid/Gas Digestion Approach To Maximize Volatile Fatty Acids Production From Municipal Sludge And A Techno-Economic Feasibility Study, Aykut Sayin

Dissertations and Theses

Acid digestion, which is the first step of two-phase acid/gas anaerobic digestion process, was studied to identify the optimum operating conditions that would maximize the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Batch and semi-continuous acid digesters were operated using combined primary sludge and waste-activated sludge as the feedstock from New York City (NYC)’s Wards Island water resource recovery facility (WRRF). Operating conditions tested in batch acid digesters for maximizing VFAs production included temperature (35-70°C), inoculum-to-substrate ratio (0.0-0.5 mgVS/mgVS), thickening (3-13%TS), and contact time (0-10 days), while simultaneously inhibition mechanisms on VFAs production were investigated. Once the optimum operating conditions for …

Ground Tire Rubber As A Sustainable Additive: Transforming Desert Sand Behavior, Nabil Ismael, Dalya Ismael, Asmaa Al-Ahmad

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Managing waste tires presents a significant challenge globally, particularly in regions experiencing high temperatures and shortage of landfill sites. This issue is affecting countries like Kuwait, where the abundance of waste tires is a major source of environmental and safety risks, particularly during the intensely hot summer months. This extreme heat has sparked numerous fires, leading to substantial air pollution due to thick black smoke. Given the limited disposal options, recycling waste tires and finding practical applications for ground tire rubber (GTR) is essential. To address the challenge, a comprehensive laboratory testing program was conducted, using locally produced rubber aggregates …

Evaluation Of The Physicochemical Properties And Soil Biogeochemistry Of Fire Residues, Lingqun Zeng

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Wildland fire is a main driving force in the Earth system and affects ecosystem properties and processes across spatio-temporal scales. The burning of biomass and production of solid fire residues (conventionally termed fire ash) that are a mixture of completely and incompletely burned materials (inorganic ash and pyrogenic carbon), represent the direct and prominent changes by fires. Cycling of the fire residues is an integral component of elemental cycles and can mediate other biogeochemical processes.

This dissertation aims to fill important knowledge gaps in understanding the disturbance of wildland fires to biogeochemical processes in soils. First, this work characterized and …

Characterizing Climatic Socio-Environmental Tipping Points In Coastal Communities: A Conceptual Framework For Research And Practice, Julie Elizabeth Shortridge, Anamaria Bukvic, Molly Mitchell, Jesse Goldstein, Tom Allen

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The concept of climate tipping points in socio-environmental systems is increasingly being used to describe nonlinear climate change impacts and encourage social transformations in response to climate change. However, the processes that lead to these tipping points and their impacts are highly complex and deeply uncertain. This is due to numerous interacting environmental and societal system components, constant system evolution, and uncertainty in the relationships between events and their consequences. In the face of this complexity and uncertainty, this research presents a conceptual framework that describes systemic processes that could lead to tipping points socio-environmental systems, with a focus on …

Novel Membrane Materials For Nutrient Recovery From Nutrient-Rich Resources, Km Prottoy Shariar Piash

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Global demand for fertilizer production is expanding substantially to meet the food demand of an increasing world population. Anaerobic digestate (AD) of various centralized wastewater facilities contains substantial amounts of ammonium (NH₄⁺) (300-800 mg/L), potassium (K⁺) (13-120 mg/L), and phosphorus (P) (30-100 mg/L)- based nutrients. In addition to reducing energy costs and CO₂ emissions compared to conventional fertilizing raw material manufacturing, recovering nutrients from these waste streams could help mitigate problems such as eutrophication, which otherwise incurs billions of dollars losses to US economy annually. Apart from nutrients, wastewater streams also contain organic pollutants …

Removal Of Phosphorous, Copper And Zinc From Stormwater Using Powdered Activated Carbon (Pac) Based Water Treatment Residuals, Foysol Mahmud

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main aim of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) based water treatment residual (WTR) in eliminating phosphorus (P), Copper (Cu), and Zinc (Zn) from stormwater. The characteristics of the PAC WTR were analyzed, and a series of batch and column tests were conducted to determine its capacity to remove P, Cu, and Zn from stormwater and synthetic solutions. The PAC WTR conformed to the Langmuir isotherm model, demonstrating P adsorption capacities of 3.51 mg/g at pH 5. Regarding Cu and Zn removal, the PAC WTR also adhered to the Langmuir isotherm model, showing …

Two-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Model Comparison For Fish Habitat Assessment In Rivers, Tyler Caseltine

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Accurate prediction of aquatic habitat availability for salmonids and other aquatic species is crucial for effective river and tributary restoration and management. Two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic models have become the standard for simulating depth and velocity conditions in open channel systems, leveraging advances in computational capabilities and spatial data collection. This study compares four 2D hydrodynamic models—SToRM, River2D, HECRAS2D, and SRH2D—using consistent topographic and calibration data, and adhering to Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) standards as outlined by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and McBain Associates. The models were evaluated with data from two study sites for their …

Development Of Erosion Functions For Micp-Treated Beach Sand, Saeed Booshi

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of microbially-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) using the recently introduced bioslurry treatment method via surface percolation. To simulate realistic water forcing conditions, a piston-style erosion rate testing apparatus, specifically the Florida Department of Transportation Sediment Erosion Rate Flume, was used. Initial tests conducted at a high shear stress of 42 Pa revealed that a combination of 15% bioslurry and 85% cementation solution exhibited the strongest erosion resistance when compared to other ratios between bioslurry and cementation solution. Subsequent experiments focused on separating the specimen into a "loose" part and a “surface crust,” with shear stresses …