Matching Items (32)
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- All Subjects: Environmental engineering
- All Subjects: Soil moisture
- Creators: Rittmann, Bruce
- Creators: Kavazanjian, Edward
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
- Status: Published
Description
In geotechnical engineering, measuring the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of fine grained soils can be time consuming and tedious. The various applications that require knowledge of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function are great, and in geotechnical engineering, they range from modeling seepage through landfill covers to determining infiltration of water under a building slab. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function can be measured using various direct and indirect techniques. The instantaneous profile method has been found to be the most promising unsteady state method for measuring the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function for fine grained soils over a wide range of suction values. The instantaneous profile method can be modified by using different techniques to measure suction and water content and also through the way water is introduced or removed from the soil profile. In this study, the instantaneous profile method was modified by creating duplicate soil samples compacted into cylindrical tubes at two different water contents. The techniques used in the duplicate method to measure the water content and matric suction included volumetric moisture probes, manual water content measurements, and filter paper tests. The experimental testing conducted in this study provided insight into determining the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity using the instantaneous profile method for a sandy clay soil and recommendations are provided for further evaluation. Overall, this study has demonstrated that the presence of cracks has no significant impact on the hydraulic behavior of soil in high suction ranges. The results of this study do not examine the behavior of cracked soil unsaturated hydraulic conductivity at low suction and at moisture contents near saturation.
ContributorsJacquemin, Sean Christopher (Author) / Zapata, Claudia (Thesis advisor) / Houston, Sandra (Committee member) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
It is estimated that wind induced soil transports more than 500 x 106 metric tons of fugitive dust annually. Soil erosion has negative effects on human health, the productivity of farms, and the quality of surface waters. A variety of different polymer stabilizers are available on the market for fugitive dust control. Most of these polymer stabilizers are expensive synthetic polymer products. Their adverse effects and expense usually limits their use. Biopolymers provide a potential alternative to synthetic polymers. They can provide dust abatement by encapsulating soil particles and creating a binding network throughout the treated area. This research into the effectiveness of biopolymers for fugitive dust control involved three phases. Phase I included proof of concept tests. Phase II included carrying out the tests in a wind tunnel. Phase III consisted of conducting the experiments in the field. Proof of concept tests showed that biopolymers have the potential to reduce soil erosion and fugitive dust transport. Wind tunnel tests on two candidate biopolymers, xanthan and chitosan, showed that there is a proportional relationship between biopolymer application rates and threshold wind velocities. The wind tunnel tests also showed that xanthan gum is more successful in the field than chitosan. The field tests showed that xanthan gum was effective at controlling soil erosion. However, the chitosan field data was inconsistent with the xanthan data and field data on bare soil.
ContributorsAlsanad, Abdullah (Author) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Thesis advisor) / Edwards, David (Committee member) / Zapata, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The importance of unsaturated soil behavior stems from the fact that a vast majority of infrastructures are founded on unsaturated soils. Research has recently been concentrated on unsaturated soil properties. In the evaluation of unsaturated soils, researchers agree that soil water retention characterized by the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) is among the most important factors when assessing fluid flow, volume change and shear strength for these soils. The temperature influence on soil moisture flow is a major concern in the design of important engineering systems such as barriers in underground repositories for radioactive waste disposal, ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems, evapotranspirative (ET) covers and pavement systems.. Accurate modeling of the temperature effect on the SWCC may lead to reduction in design costs, simpler constructability, and hence, more sustainable structures. . The study made use of two possible approaches to assess the temperature effect on the SWCC. In the first approach, soils were sorted from a large soil database into families of similar properties but located on sites with different MAAT. The SWCCs were plotted for each family of soils. Most families of soils showed a clear trend indicating the influence of temperature on the soil water retention curve at low degrees of saturation.. The second approach made use of statistical analysis. It was demonstrated that the suction increases as the MAAT decreases. The statistical analysis showed that even though the plasticity index proved to have the greatest influence on suction, the mean annual air temperature effect proved not to be negligible. In both approaches, a strong relationship between temperature, suction and soil properties was observed. Finally, a comparison of the model based on the mean annual air temperature environmental factor was compared to another model that makes use of the Thornthwaite Moisture Index (TMI) to estimate the environmental effects on the suction of unsaturated soils. Results showed that the MAAT can be a better indicator when compared to the TMI found but the results were inconclusive due to the lack of TMI data available.
ContributorsElkeshky, Maie Mohamed (Author) / Zapata, Claudia E (Thesis advisor) / Houston, Sandra (Committee member) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This work focuses on a generalized assessment of source zone natural attenuation (SZNA) at chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon (CAH) impacted sites. Given the numbers of sites and technical challenges for cleanup there is a need for a SZNA method at CAH impacted sites. The method anticipates that decision makers will be interested in the following questions: 1-Is SZNA occurring and what processes contribute? 2-What are the current SZNA rates? 3-What are the longer-term implications? The approach is macroscopic and uses multiple lines-of-evidence. An in-depth application of the generalized non-site specific method over multiple site events, with sampling refinement approaches applied for improving SZNA estimates, at three CAH impacted sites is presented with a focus on discharge rates for four events over approximately three years (Site 1:2.9, 8.4, 4.9, 2.8kg/yr as PCE, Site 2:1.6, 2.2, 1.7, 1.1kg/y as PCE, Site 3:570, 590, 250, 240kg/y as TCE). When applying the generalized CAH-SZNA method, it is likely that different practitioners will not sample a site similarly, especially regarding sampling density on a groundwater transect. Calculation of SZNA rates is affected by contaminant spatial variability with reference to transect sampling intervals and density with variations in either resulting in different mass discharge estimates. The effects on discharge estimates from varied sampling densities and spacings were examined to develop heuristic sampling guidelines with practical site sampling densities; the guidelines aim to reduce the variability in discharge estimates due to different sampling approaches and to improve confidence in SZNA rates allowing decision-makers to place the rates in perspective and determine a course of action based on remedial goals. Finally bench scale testing was used to address longer term questions; specifically the nature and extent of source architecture. A rapid in-situ disturbance method was developed using a bench-scale apparatus. The approach allows for rapid identification of the presence of DNAPL using several common pilot scale technologies (ISCO, air-sparging, water-injection) and can identify relevant source architectural features (ganglia, pools, dissolved source). Understanding of source architecture and identification of DNAPL containing regions greatly enhances site conceptualization models, improving estimated time frames for SZNA, and possibly improving design of remedial systems.
ContributorsEkre, Ryan (Author) / Johnson, Paul Carr (Thesis advisor) / Rittmann, Bruce (Committee member) / Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Unsaturated soil mechanics is becoming a part of geotechnical engineering practice, particularly in applications to moisture sensitive soils such as expansive and collapsible soils and in geoenvironmental applications. The soil water characteristic curve, which describes the amount of water in a soil versus soil suction, is perhaps the most important soil property function for application of unsaturated soil mechanics. The soil water characteristic curve has been used extensively for estimating unsaturated soil properties, and a number of fitting equations for development of soil water characteristic curves from laboratory data have been proposed by researchers. Although not always mentioned, the underlying assumption of soil water characteristic curve fitting equations is that the soil is sufficiently stiff so that there is no change in total volume of the soil while measuring the soil water characteristic curve in the laboratory, and researchers rarely take volume change of soils into account when generating or using the soil water characteristic curve. Further, there has been little attention to the applied net normal stress during laboratory soil water characteristic curve measurement, and often zero to only token net normal stress is applied. The applied net normal stress also affects the volume change of the specimen during soil suction change. When a soil changes volume in response to suction change, failure to consider the volume change of the soil leads to errors in the estimated air-entry value and the slope of the soil water characteristic curve between the air-entry value and the residual moisture state. Inaccuracies in the soil water characteristic curve may lead to inaccuracies in estimated soil property functions such as unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. A number of researchers have recently recognized the importance of considering soil volume change in soil water characteristic curves. The study of correct methods of soil water characteristic curve measurement and determination considering soil volume change, and impacts on the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function was of the primary focus of this study. Emphasis was placed upon study of the effect of volume change consideration on soil water characteristic curves, for expansive clays and other high volume change soils. The research involved extensive literature review and laboratory soil water characteristic curve testing on expansive soils. The effect of the initial state of the specimen (i.e. slurry versus compacted) on soil water characteristic curves, with regard to volume change effects, and effect of net normal stress on volume change for determination of these curves, was studied for expansive clays. Hysteresis effects were included in laboratory measurements of soil water characteristic curves as both wetting and drying paths were used. Impacts of soil water characteristic curve volume change considerations on fluid flow computations and associated suction-change induced soil deformations were studied through numerical simulations. The study includes both coupled and uncoupled flow and stress-deformation analyses, demonstrating that the impact of volume change consideration on the soil water characteristic curve and the estimated unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function can be quite substantial for high volume change soils.
ContributorsBani Hashem, Elham (Author) / Houston, Sandra L. (Thesis advisor) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Committee member) / Zapata, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Biofuel from microbial biomass is a viable alternative to current energy production practices that could mitigate greenhouse gas levels and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Sustainable production of microbial biomass requires efficient utilization of nutrients like phosphorus (P). P is a limited resource which is vital for global food security. This paper seeks to understand the fate of P through biofuel production and proposes a proof-of-concept process to recover P from microbial biomass. The photosynthetic cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is found to contain 1.4% P by dry weight. After the crude lipids are extracted for biofuel processing, 92% of the intercellular P is found within the residual biomass. Most intercellular P is associated with nucleic acids which remain within the cell after lipids are extracted. Phospholipids comprise a small percentage of cellular P. A wet chemical advanced oxidation process of adding 30% hydrogen peroxide followed by 10 min of microwave heating converts 92% of the total cellular P from organic-P and polyphosphate into orthophosphate. P was then isolated and concentrated from the complex digested matrix by use of resins. An anion exchange resin impregnated with iron nanoparticles demonstrates high affinity for P by sorbing 98% of the influent P through 20 bed volumes, but only was able to release 23% of it when regenerated. A strong base anion exchange resin sorbed 87% of the influent P through 20 bed volumes then released 50% of it upon regeneration. The overall P recovery process was able to recover 48% of the starting intercellular P into a pure and concentrated nutrient solution available for reuse. Further optimization of elution could improve P recovery, but this provides a proof-of-concept for converting residual biomass after lipid extraction to a beneficial P source.
ContributorsGifford, James McKay (Author) / Westerhoff, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Rittmann, Bruce (Committee member) / Vannela, Ravindhar (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
As engineered nanomaterials (NMs) become used in industry and commerce their loading to sewage will increase. However, the fate of widely used NMs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) remains poorly understood. In this research, sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were operated with hydraulic (HRT) and sludge (SRT) retention times representative of full-scale biological WWTPs for several weeks. NM loadings at the higher range of expected environmental concentrations were selected. To achieve the pseudo-equilibrium state concentration of NMs in biomass, SBR experiments needed to operate for more than three times the SRT value, approximately 18 days. Under the conditions tested, NMs had negligible effects on ability of the wastewater bacteria to biodegrade organic material, as measured by chemical oxygen demand (COD). NM mass balance closure was achieved by measuring NMs in liquid effluent and waste biosolids. All NMs were well removed at the typical biomass concentration (1~2 gSS/L). However, carboxy-terminated polymer coated silver nanoparticles (fn-Ag) were removed less effectively (88% removal) than hydroxylated fullerenes (fullerols; >90% removal), nano TiO2 (>95% removal) or aqueous fullerenes (nC60; >95% removal). Although most NMs did not settle out of the feed solution without bacteria present, approximately 65% of the titanium dioxide was removed even in the absence of biomass simply due to self-aggregation and settling. Experiments conducted over 4 months with daily loadings of nC60 showed that nC60 removal from solution depends on the biomass concentration. Under conditions representative of most suspended growth biological WWTPs (e.g., activated sludge), most of the NMs will accumulate in biosolids rather than in liquid effluent discharged to surface waters. Significant fractions of fn-Ag were associated with colloidal material which suggests that efficient particle separation processes (sedimentation or filtration) could further improve removal of NM from effluent. As most NMs appear to accumulate in biosolids, future research should examine the fate of NMs during disposal of WWTP biosolids, which may occur through composting or anaerobic digestion and/or land application, incineration, or landfill disposal.
ContributorsWang, Yifei (Author) / Westerhoff, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa (Committee member) / Rittmann, Bruce (Committee member) / Hristovski, Kiril (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Population growth and fresh water depletion challenge drinking water utilities. Surface water quality is impacted significantly by climate variability, human activities, and extreme events like natural disasters. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an important water quality index and the precursor of disinfection by-products (DBPs) that varies with both hydrologic and anthropogenic factors. Granular activated carbon (GAC) is a best available technology for utilities to meet Stage 2 D/DBP rule compliance and to remove contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) (e.g., pharmaceutical, personal care products (PCPs), etc.). Utilities can operate GAC with more efficient and flexible strategies with the understanding of organic occurrence in source water and a model capable predicting DOC occurrence. In this dissertation, it was found that DOC loading significantly correlated with spring runoff and was intensified by dry-duration antecedent to first flush. Dynamic modeling based on reservoir management (e.g., pump-back operation) was established to simulate the DOC transport in the reservoir system. Additionally, summer water recreational activities were found to raise the level of PCPs, especially skin-applied products, in raw waters. GAC was examined in this dissertation for both carbonaceous and emerging nitrogenous DBP (N-DBP) precursors (i.e., dissolved organic nitrogen (DON)) removal. Based on the experimental findings, GAC preferentially removes UV254-absorbing material, and DOC is preferentially removed over DON which may be composed primarily of hydrophilic organic and results in the low affinity for adsorption by GAC. The presence of organic nitrogen can elevate the toxicity of DBPs by forming N-DBPs, and this could be a major drawback for facilities considering installation of a GAC adsorber owing to the poor removal efficiency of DON by GAC. A modeling approach was established for predicting DOC and DON breakthrough during GAC operation. However, installation of GAC adsorber is a burden for utilities with respect to operational and maintenance cost. It is common for utilities to regenerate saturated GAC in order to save the cost of purchasing fresh GAC. The traditional thermal regeneration technology for saturated GAC is an energy intensive process requiring high temperature of incineration. Additionally, small water treatment sites usually ship saturated GAC to specialized facilities for regeneration increasing the already significant carbon footprint of thermal regeneration. An innovative GAC regeneration technique was investigated in this dissertation for the feasibility as on-site water treatment process. Virgin GAC was first saturated by organic contaminant then regenerated in-situ by iron oxide nanocatalysts mixed with hydrogen peroxide. At least 70 % of adsorption capacity of GAC can be regenerated repeatedly for experiments using modeling compound (phenol) or natural organic matter (Suwannee River humic acid). The regeneration efficiency increases with increasing adsorbate concentration. Used-iron nanocatalysts can be recovered repeatedly without significant loss of catalytic ability. This in-situ regeneration technique provides cost and energy efficient solution for water utilities considering GAC installation. Overall, patterns were found for DOC and CEC variations in drinking water sources. Increasing concentrations of bulk (DOC and DON) and/or trace organics challenge GAC operation in utilities that have limited numbers of bed-volume treated before regeneration is required. In-situ regeneration using iron nanocatalysts and hydrogen peroxide provides utilities an alternative energy-efficient operation mode when considering installation of GAC adsorber.
ContributorsChiu, Chao-An (Author) / Westerhoff, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Rittmann, Bruce (Committee member) / Hristovski, Kiril (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
In this work, the vapor transport and aerobic bio-attenuation of compounds from a multi-component petroleum vapor mixture were studied for six idealized lithologies in 1.8-m tall laboratory soil columns. Columns representing different geological settings were prepared using 20-40 mesh sand (medium-grained) and 16-minus mesh crushed granite (fine-grained). The contaminant vapor source was a liquid composed of twelve petroleum hydrocarbons common in weathered gasoline. It was placed in a chamber at the bottom of each column and the vapors diffused upward through the soil to the top where they were swept away with humidified gas. The experiment was conducted in three phases: i) nitrogen sweep gas; ii) air sweep gas; iii) vapor source concentrations decreased by ten times from the original concentrations and under air sweep gas. Oxygen, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon concentrations were monitored over time. The data allowed determination of times to reach steady conditions, effluent mass emissions and concentration profiles. Times to reach near-steady conditions were consistent with theory and chemical-specific properties. First-order degradation rates were highest for straight-chain alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. Normalized effluent mass emissions were lower for lower source concentration and aerobic conditions. At the end of the study, soil core samples were taken every 6 in. Soil moisture content analyses showed that water had redistributed in the soil during the experiment. The soil at the bottom of the columns generally had higher moisture contents than initial values, and soil at the top had lower moisture contents. Profiles of the number of colony forming units of hydrocarbon-utilizing bacteria/g-soil indicated that the highest concentrations of degraders were located at the vertical intervals where maximum degradation activity was suggested by CO2 profiles. Finally, the near-steady conditions of each phase of the study were simulated using a three-dimensional transient numerical model. The model was fit to the Phase I data by adjusting soil properties, and then fit to Phase III data to obtain compound-specific first-order biodegradation rate constants ranging from 0.0 to 5.7x103 d-1.
ContributorsEscobar Melendez, Elsy (Author) / Johnson, Paul C. (Thesis advisor) / Andino, Jean (Committee member) / Forzani, Erica (Committee member) / Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa (Committee member) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are central to atmospheric chemistry and have significant impacts on the environment. The reaction of oxygenated VOCs with OH radicals was first studied to understand the fate of oxygenated VOCs. The rate constants of the gas-phase reaction of OH radicals with trans-2-hexenal, trans-2-octenal, and trans-2 nonenal were determined using the relative rate technique. Then the interactions between VOCs and ionic liquid surfaces were studied. The goal was to find a material to selectively detect alcohol compounds. Computational chemistry calculations were performed to investigate the interactions of ionic liquids with different classes of VOCs. The thermodynamic data suggest that 1-butyl-3-methylimindazolium chloride (C4mimCl) preferentially interacts with alcohols as compared to other classes of VOCs. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to probe the ionic liquid surface before and after exposure to the VOCs that were tested. New spectral features were detected after exposure of C4mimCl to various alcohols and a VOC mixture with an alcohol in it. The new features are characteristic of the alcohols tested. No new IR features were detected after exposure of the C4mimCl to the aldehyde, ketone, alkane, alkene, alkyne or aromatic compounds. The experimental results demonstrated that C4mimCl is selective to alcohols, even in complex mixtures. The kinetic study of the association and dissociation of alcohols with C4minCl surfaces was performed. The findings in this work provide information for future gas-phase alcohol sensor design. CO2 is a major contributor to global warming. An ionic liquid functionalized reduced graphite oxide (IL-RGO)/ TiO2 nanocomposite was synthesized and used to reduce CO2 to a hydrocarbon in the presence of H2O vapor. The SEM image revealed that IL-RGO/TiO2 contained separated reduced graphite oxide flakes with TiO2 nanoparticles. Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy was used to study the conversion of CO2 and H2O vapor over the IL-RGO/TiO2 catalyst. Under UV-Vis irradiation, CH4 was found to form after just 40 seconds of irradiation. The concentration of CH4 continuously increased under longer irradiation time. This research is particularly important since it seems to suggest the direct, selective formation of CH4 as opposed to CO.
ContributorsGao, Tingting (Author) / Andino, Jean M (Thesis advisor) / Forzani, Erica (Committee member) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012