Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Using Data Science And Sustainability Assessment Tools To Evaluate Wastewater Treatment Technologies, Haidar Shakuir Aldaach

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Wastewater management in small communities has faced numerous challenges in recent years, including population growth, limited budgets for operation and maintenance, and stringent effluent standards required by environmental regulations. These challenges motivate enhancing wastewater treatment processes to protect water quality. Wastewater treatment performance can be improved in small towns and rural regions by implementing data-driven strategies. Data science, life cycle assessment (LCA), and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) are three data-driven decision-making tools that require data collection, modeling, computational models, and statistical analysis that could be utilized to improve wastewater treatment efficiencies. In this study, these three tools were adopted …

Watershed-Level Survey Of Antimicrobial Resistance From Onsite Wastewater Systems, Trey Franklin Clark

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has quickly become one of the largest global health and development threats. Research related to environmental modes of transmission of AMR has accelerated in recent years, and the US Environmental Protection Agency is particularly interested in this emerging contaminant. Knowledge of how onsite (decentralized) wastewater treatment systems contribute to this issue is lacking, so this research serves to analyze and quantify the environmental dissemination of AMR and fecal contamination from these sources at a watershed level while using statistical analysis to assess relationships between physiochemical, spatial, and sampling parameters. This research surveyed four watersheds …

Leveraging Product And Process Characteristics Across The Concrete Pavement Life Cycle To Integrate Global Warming Potential Into Project Procurement Processes, Michelle Annette Cooper

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The objective of this research is to support sustainable procurement of concrete pavements by linking materials-level global warming potential (GWP) to the project-level. Infrastructure owners require reliable environmental product declarations (EPDs) and methodologies for integrating GWP into the procurement process to ensure equitable decision-making. This work provides insights into current EPD reliability by assessing the sensitivity of concrete GWP to materials-level contributors to recommend a level of supply chain specificity needed to effectively communicate GWP. A benchmarking methodology was developed and implemented to establish reference values for procuring sustainable products. Having provided evidence towards EPD reliability, this work presents a …

Dam It All: A Multi-Scalar Investigation Into The Ecological Role And Function Of Beaver Dams, Kenneth Larsen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The central theme of this dissertation is ecological scaling, which examines how small, localized features, such as beaver ponds, contribute to large-scale watershed processes and how different modeling approaches at various scales reveal distinct insights. Through a combination of probabilistic modeling and high-resolution empirical research, this work demonstrates that small ponded systems, particularly those created by beavers (Castor canadensis), serve as critical biogeochemical control points, whose contributions to sediment and nutrient dynamics have been historically underestimated.

In Chapter 1, I contextualize this research within the broader fields of freshwater ecology, watershed modeling, and ecological restoration. I introduce the …

Characterization Of A Large-Scale Electrohydrodynamic Vortex Confinement Flow For Particle Agglomeration, Sanjay Dangi

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

With industrialization and the increasing use of microplastics and nanoparticle-based products, the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the biosphere has increased due to the disposal of manufacturing waste and expired parts. If inhaled, PM2.5 can have detrimental health effects, as these particles can travel deep into the lungs and even penetrate blood vessels. Conventional fabric filters used for indoor air quality control have drawbacks, including the need for periodic filter replacement and a high-pressure drop across the filter over time, which leads to increased power consumption. In power plants, electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) are primarily used to collect fly …

Recovery Of Iron And Aluminum From Acid Mine Drainage For Beneficial Uses, Katelyn Renee Pepe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a widespread issue across the globe, in which some of the most critical cases are created by the mining industry. Researchers have investigated ways to derive benefits from AMD, such as precipitating rare earth elements (REEs) to generate potential revenue from AMD treatment and supplement market demand. However, the bulk of precipitated sludge is composed of iron and aluminum, which also have market value but are discarded in current practice.

Using the Omega site in West Virginia (WV) as a representative AMD source, the objectives of this study are (1) to determine a replicable precipitation …

Impact Of Automated Controlled Tile Drainage On Field Discharge Water, Soil Moisture, And Crop Yield In Southeastern South Dakota, Joshua Becker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automated controlled tile drainage is an innovative approach to water management, using dynamic weir settings programmed to drain water out of the tile system if it encroaches into the root zone at pre-programmed depths and duration. While past studies have indicated potential yield and water quality benefits of controlled drainage, there has been very little research into the performance of automated controlled drainage. In addition to overall performance, there is a gap in knowledge of management settings to optimize yield and water quality benefits. Two experiments, one plot-scale and one modeling, were conducted to assess the impact of automated controlled …

Digital Modeling Of Temperature-Dependent Processes In Industrial Wastewater: Advancing Ultimate Oxygen Demand Prediction For Treatment Optimization, Fatima Iqbal

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The pulp and paper industry is the third-largest consumer of freshwater globally and faces mounting pressure to optimize water usage and minimize environmental impact. Aerated stabilization basins are extensively utilized in the pulp and paper industry and play a crucial role in treating wastewater from these operations. The existing management practices fail to effectively optimize treatment processes due to the prolonged time required for testing key quality parameters. The utilization of models developed for treatment facilities presents a viable solution; however, existing open-source models often fall short in accurately predicting treatment efficiency across varying conditions and lack comprehensive accounting of …

Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Desertification Sensitivity And Influencing Factors Across The Western Inner Mongolia Plateau, China, Yang Chen, Long Ma, Xixi Wang, Tingxi Liu, Zixu Qiao

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Desertification remains a critical global ecological and environmental challenge that threatens sustainable development. Although our understanding of desertification dynamics and their underlying drivers has improved, continued research is needed due to the region-specific nature of these processes. This study focuses on the Western Inner Mongolia Plateau in China as a case study to examine the evolution of desertification and its driving factors using a multifaceted approach, including the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) model. Results show that the desertification sensitivity index (DSI) across the plateau ranged from 1.12 in prairie regions to 1.87 in desert areas, with a spatial …

Hydrogen-Enriched Lng As A Mid-Term Solution To Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Shipping, Kang-Ki Lee

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

In light of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) ambitious Initial GHG Strategy, the rise in international shipping’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2 percent in 2022 compared to 2019 poses a formidable challenge. This increase underscores the pressing need to address the limited availability of green hydrogen, prompting the exploration of mid-term solutions to bridge this critical gap. The IMO’s 2023 Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships attempted to tackle this challenge head-on, recognizing the urgency of reducing the industry’s substantial carbon footprint. While hydrogen offers a simple solution as a zero-carbon fuel, LNG remains the most widespread alternative …

Assessment Of Wave Climate Conditions At An Important Historical And Ecological Site Along The Fort George River In Northeast Florida, Ally O. Kasuwi

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated wave climate conditions at the Timucuan Preserve in northeast Florida, addressing gaps in previous shoreline erosion research that largely attributed erosion to boat wakes without detailed wave data. Field data were collected using several do-it-yourself water wave gauges. Each data collection event was for approximately one week, with an emphasis on collecting data before, during, and after periods of expected peak wave activity (i.e., holiday weekends and large-scale storms). Data were analyzed in the frequency domain to establish the likely cause of waves. Results suggested that, counterintuitively, watercraft traffic may have produced higher dominant wave periods than …

Power To Liquid And Hydrogen Use For Saf Production; A Policy And Techno-Economic Overview For Aviation​, Eva Maleviti

Publications

What is Sustainable Development: The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

1. Environmental Sustainability

2. Social Sustainability

3. Economic Sustainability

Uncertainty-Aware Deep Learning Framework For Forecasting Coastal Water Level In Virginia Beach, Md Mahmudul Hasan, Malachi Schram, Sridhar Katragadda, Diana Mcspadden, Alisa N. Udomvisawakul, Heather Richter, Frank Liu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Coastal areas like Virginia Beach, USA, are increasingly vulnerable to flooding. To mitigate the impact of flooding, it is crucial for the City of Virginia Beach to have reliable 72-hour-ahead (3 days) forecasts of water levels at key gauge locations. To support this effort, several sensors have been installed throughout the city to monitor water levels and other environmental parameters such as wind speed, precipitation, and atmospheric pressure. Leveraging sensor data from one of these locations, we developed an uncertainty-aware deep learning model to forecast water levels. We employed deep quantile regression (DQR) to quantify variability in the predictions and …