Texas Environmental Resources Institute Engineering Tomorrow

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Texas Environmental Resources InstituteEngineerin
g Tomorrows Environment Today
Environmental and Water Resources Engineering
Program College of Engineering The University of
Texas at Austin
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Environmental Engineering Top 20 Programs
Source US News and World Report, 1998
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Environmental Engineering at UT Austin

• Only top 20 program West of the Mississippi
  except for California and Washington
• Only top 20 program in Big XII Conference States
  (TX, OK, KS, CO, NE, MO, IA)
• Nearest top 20 program is 800 miles away (Georgia
  Tech)

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Research Sponsors
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Neal ArmstrongSurface Water Quality Modeling

• Characterization of point and nonpoint pollution
  sources
• Water quality modeling in rivers, bays and
  estuaries
• Effects of aquatic vegetation on water quality
• Water quality monitoring

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Randall CharbeneauHydrocarbon Fate and Transport
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Research Objectives

• Design of Efficient Free-Product Recovery Systems
  Using Trenches, Skimmer Wells, Single and
  Dual-Pump Wells, and Vacuum Enhanced Recovery
  Systems
• Evaluate Potential Exposure to Hydrocarbon
  Contaminated Groundwater

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Plume Reduction Through Biodegradation
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Richard L. Corsi Indoor Air Quality

• Indoor air quality is of great importance to the
  collective health of Texans
• Texans spend 90 of their time indoors
• Levels of hazardous air pollutants and allergens
  are generally much greater indoors than outdoors
• Studies suggest that poor IAQ causes as much as
  a 168 billion dollar/year drag on the U.S.
  economy.

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Indoor Air Quality Research Initiatives at UT
Austin

• Volatilization of hazardous air pollutants
  (HAPs) from drinking water to indoor air
• Indoor air quality in public schools
• Emissions of HAPs from computers
• Emissions of HAPs from photocopy machines
• Human exposure to HAPs - that new car odor
• Interaction of HAPs with indoor materials
• HAP levels in homes above contaminated soil
• Development of a state-of-the-art indoor air
  quality model for residential homes, public
  schools, and office buildings

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Interaction of Hazardous Air Pollutants Indoor
Materials

• The following slides include the results of
  recent studies to better understand how volatile
  and hazardous air pollutants interact with indoor
  materials. Such interactions can lead to
  prolonged chemical retention in homes, schools,
  and offices. Humans may then be exposed to these
  chemicals via ingestion (e.g., eating food that
  was contaminated by air pollutants), dermal
  contact (e.g., infant skin contact with
  contaminated carpet), or inhalation (e.g., as
  chemicals are slowly released from materials to
  indoor air over time). The latter is clearly
  illustrated when non-smokers receive a smoking
  room in a hotel, and find the odors
  objectionable. These odors are from chemicals
  that desorb from material surfaces such as
  carpet, walls, and curtains.

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Dichlorobenzene Carpet
These results were obtained in a novel test
chamber at UT. They depict the extent to which
dichlorobenzene (a major ingredient of moth cakes
and a suspected human carcinogen) can adsorb to
carpet under various conditions. The solid line
depicts what the dichlorobenzene concentration
would be in the absence of the material. Such
results can be used to develop parameters that
allow for the prediction of chemical storage and
release over time.
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Predicted Measured PERC
These results depict the concentration of
tetrachloroethene (a suspected human carcinogen
and common dry cleaning agent) in air adjacent to
carpet. The symbols depict measured data. The
solid line represents predicted values using a
novel model developed at UT. The good comparison
between predicted and measured values indicates
that the model can be used for predicting levels
of pollutants in indoor air after indoor
contamination, and should be useful for
establishing delay times prior to humans
re-occupying a contaminated building.
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Material Effects DCB
These results illustrate the extent to which
dichlorobenzene is adsorbed to several different
materials over a 10 hour release period. Carpet
appears to be the interior material with the
greatest affinity for sorbing and storing
dichlorobenzene. However, sorption can also
occur to material such as unpainted, painted, and
wall-papered gypsum board, vinyl flooring, and
even to apples that are left exposed to
contaminants in indoor air.
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Earnest F. GloynaSuper Critical Water Oxidation
(SCWO)

• Hazardous wastewater converted to near drinking
  water quality standards
• Can take less than one minute of treatment time
• Environmentally friendly and economical
• By-products are
• recoverable heat
• acceptable gaseous emissions
• possible inorganic precipitates
• small amounts of oxidized ash

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Using SCWO to Treat Wastewater

• Wastewater contains 30 hazardous organic
  substrate.
• Treated effluent can meet drinking water quality

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Using SCWO to Treat Sludge

• Hazardous biological sludge contains 5 foul
  organic substrate
• Treated effluent can be released to the
  environment

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Hillary HartEnvironmental Risk Communication

• Good environmental policy requires good
  communication.
• Such policy is crafted by many stakeholders
  government, business, regulators, the public.
• Stakeholders must talk same language.

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Who Thinks Environmental Risk Communication Is
Necessary?

• . . . decision-making responsibility involving
  risk issues must be shared with the American
  people.
• William Ruckelhaus, 1986
• . . . we must ensure that citizens have a
  fuller understanding of the inevitable tradeoffs
  . . . in the management of risk.
• Lee M. Thomas, 1986

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How Has Environmental Risk Communication Changed?

• No longer one-way messages from experts to
  non-experts . . .
• but rather . . .
• -- an interactive process of exchange of
  information and opinion among individuals,
  groups, and institutions -
• National Research Council, 1989

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Current Problems

• Public debate has become polarized
• Two camps developers/industry vs. zero-growth
  proponents
• Each camp has its own support system -- both seek
  credibility
• Public confidence in big business and govt has
  declined
• 55 to 19 between 1966 and 1980

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Risk Communication now has its own body of
research

• Mental Model Approach
• focus on cognitive studies
• Procedural Approach
• focus on risk perception and social movement
  studies
• Peter Sandmans Work
• practical applications for government and industry

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My Research Approaches

• Collect data through surveys and focus group work
• Test risk messages in verbal, written, and
  graphical forms.
• Use case studies to gather best practices.
• Devise and test mechanisms for ensuring
  interactive communication (the feedback loop).
• Create communication plans that integrate
  communication into risk management.

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Ed HolleyTransport and Fate of Pollutants in
Water Bodies

• Analyticalstudies
• Laboratorystudies
• Fieldstudies

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Lynn KatzContaminant Fate and Transport

• Research Areas
• Contaminant Fate and Transport
• Contaminant Remediation
• Multimedia Learning Tools
• Areas of Expertise
• Water Chemistry
• Surface Chemistry
• Funding Agencies
• National Science Foundation
• Department of Energy
• DuPont Engineering

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Contaminant Transport
Toxics, Inc
Well
Toxic Ions
Arsenic
Lead
Do We Meet Water Quality Standards?
Gasoline
Benzene
Toluene
Trichloroethylene
Chlorinated Solvents
Uranium
Radionuclides
Plutonium
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Contaminant Fate and Transport
Air Water
H2O
Rock
Field Scale Predict Transport
Macroscopic Quantify Removal
Microscopic Identify Reactions
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Research Strategy

• Identify Reactions
• that increase/decrease contaminant
  concentrations.
• Quantify Removal
• as a function of environmental conditions.
• Incorporate these Reactions
• into models that will enable us to predict
  transport.
• Develop Treatment Processes
• that employ these reactions to reduce contaminant
  levels.

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Spyros KinnasOcean Engineering and Computational
Hydrodynamics

• External and internal propulsor flows
• Propulsor/hull interaction
• Prediction of cavitation
• Design of optimum propeller blades
• Wave dynamics and wave/body interactions
• Viscous flows

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Cavity Planforms on a Propeller Blade
Simulated
Observed
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Flow Field Around a Propeller
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Transient Flow Through a Propulsor
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B-spline Representation of a Propeller
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Interaction of waves and ocean bodies
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Viscous Flow Inside a Channel
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Biological Treatment of Vapor Phase Contaminants

• Dr. Kerry A. Kinney
• Civil Engineering Department

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Why is Air Pollution Control Important?

• Approximately 46 million Americans currently live
  in areas that do not meet EPAs ambient air
  quality standards
• VOCs NOx
• Ozone SMOG
• Approximately 3.7 million tons of air toxics are
  emitted annually.

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What does this mean in Texas?
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UT Program in Air Resources Engineering

• Source Characterization
• Ambient Air Monitoring
• Air Pollution Control

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Vapor Phase Bioreactors

• Use microorganisms to remove pollutants from air.
• Advantages
• high efficiency
• minimal byproduct generation
• less energy intensive
• lower operating costs

Biologically Active Packed Bed
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Current Research

• Develop Environmentally Friendly Air Pollution
  Control Systems
• Specific Applications
• Treat waste gas streams from paint spray booth
  operations or from hazardous waste site
  remediation activities.
• Explore New Types of Bioreactors
• Fungal Based Bioreactors !

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Fungal Vapor-Phase Bioreactor
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Fungus Doing Your Dirty Work For You!
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Desmond F. Lawler Physical/Chemical Treatment
Processes for Water and Wastewater

• Removal of Particles
• Flocculation
• Sedimentation
• Filtration
• Membrane Processes--Ultrafiltration
• Removal of Soluble Contaminants
• Precipitation of Metals
• Stripping of Dissolved Gases
• Adsorption of Natural Organic Matter

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Current and Recent Applications

• Removal of disinfection by-products from drinking
  water
• Hydrodynamic effects on particle collisions in
  flocculation
• Particle and fluid dynamics in continuous flow
  sedimentation
• Softening and ultrafiltration a drinking water
  treatment strategy
• Recycling water in semiconductor manufacturing
• Dynamics of deep bed filtration
• Lead removal from soil
• Chromium removal from groundwater

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Drinking Water Treatment From Particle Size to
Plant Performance
Analysis of Continuous Flow Sedimentation
Particle Trajectories in Flocculation/Sedimentatio
n
a
j
a
i
Critical
Open
X
c
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Howard LiljestrandEnvironmental Chemistry

• Air Chemistry
• Coupling air chemistry with vertical turbulent
  transport
• Predicting rates of reaction from molecular
  structure
• Collection and treatment of Volatile Organic
  Compounds
• Prediction of air quality from accidental releases

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Ray LoehrSite Remediation

• Environmentally acceptable endpoints
• Kinetics of chemical release from soil and
  sediment
• Technologies for site remediation
• Data for risk-based site decisions

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Remediation Approaches

• Obtaining sound knowledge for sound decisions
• Based on Assessment of site-specific risks
• Performance based evaluations

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Daene McKinneyWater Resources Planning and
Management
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David MaidmentGIS in Water Resources

• Better flood risk assessment
• Better drought planning
• Better water quality planning

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CRWR-FloodMap
CRWR-PrePro
AvRAS
Digital map database
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3D Flood Modeling
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Surface Water Rights in Texas
Trinity
Sulphur
Brazos
Colorado
Rio Grande
8000 water right locations
City of Austin
Nueces
23 main river basins
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Water Rights in the Sulphur Basin
Water right location Stream gage location
Drainage areas delineated from Digital Elevation
Models are used to estimate flow at water right
locations based on flow at stream gage locations
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Water Quality Planning in the Trinity Basin

• Discharge points
• Water right locations
• Water quality segment points
• USGS flow gage locations
• Surface water quality monitoring stations

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Points Connected by a River Network
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Global Outreach
The United States is pre-eminent among nations
in the development of industrial and scientific
techniques. The material resources which we can
afford to use for the assistance of other peoples
are limited. But our imponderable resources in
technical knowledge are constantly growing and
are inexhaustible. I believe that we should make
available to peace-loving people the benefits of
our store of technical knowledge in order to help
them realize their aspirations for a better life
President Harry S. Truman Inaugural Speech,
January 1949
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Joe MalinaMunicipal and industrial wastewater
treatment

• Environmental impacts and controls from highway
  construction
• Sludge handling, treatment, disposal and
  management
• Inactivation and fate of indicator organisms in
  wastewater sludge
• Solid waste engineering and management

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Runoff Quality from Highways
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Gerald E. Speitel, JrTreatment Processes for
Hazardous Organic Chemicals

• Biodegradation
• Adsorption
• Oxidation
• Drinking water treatment
• Treatment process design
• Treatment process computer simulation

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Treatment Process Engineering

• Improve understanding of basic mechanisms
  affecting process performance
• Develop new technologies
• More cost-effective approaches to design and
  operate treatment processes
• Reduce raw materials consumption and waste
  production

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Schematic of an Experimental Reactor
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Experimental Laboratory Reactor
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Results from the Reactor
Lumen Residence Time 1.5 min
Lumen Residence Time 2.5 min
Lumen Residence Time 3.7 min
Shell Residence Time Constant at 10 min
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EWRE Institute Vision

• What does Texas need in the future?
• What are we doing about supplying that now?
• How can we define our mission in such a manner as
  to enlist the support of donors, program
  sponsors, and the University administration

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Texas Population and Water Resources

• By 2050, twice the population to support on less
  water than now
• Increasing dependence on more polluted surface
  water
• Droughts reduce water resources by half or more

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SUPPORT LABS A Microbiological preparation
lab B Clean rooms C Temperature humidity
control rooms D Cold Storage
WATER TREATMENT
WASTE MINIMIZATION
AIR LAB
LABORATORY FACILITIES
ORGANIC INORG. LABS
SITE REMEDIATION
NEW INITIATIVES
WASTE WATER TREATMENT
COMPUTER LAB
SEMINAR/ CONFERENCE
ADMINISTRATION
SUPPORT
STUDENT OFFICES
FACULTY OFFICES
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Current EWRE Program Data

• 15 faculty
• 100 graduate students
• 10 professional research staff
• 25 graduate courses offered per year
• 200 graduate degrees granted over the past five
  years
• Average research funding of 6.9 million/yr

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Future Areas of Excellence

• Treatment process engineering
• Water resources engineering
• Air resources engineering
• Environmental remediation
• Water quality
• Risk analysis and assessment
• Environmental management and policy

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Future Directions

• Water reuse planning, management, and treatment
• Drought planning and management
• Indoor air quality
• Pollution prevention and industrial ecology
• Environmental toxicology
• Environmental molecular sciences
• Solid waste management

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Future Concerns in Texas

• Environmental sustainability
• Rapid population growth
• Diminishing supply of drinking water
• Air pollution in urban areas
• Hazardous chemicals

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Fund Raising Goals

• New Environmental and Water Resources Engineering
  Research Facility
• Building (12,000,000)
• Equipment (3,000,000)
• Endowments
• Technical staff (3,000,000)
• Equipment upgrades (1,500,000)
• Distinguished Visiting Scholar (2,000,000)
• Total Funds Needed 21,500,000

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Impact of a New Facility

• A focal point for research and educational
  excellence
• An environment for integrated, interdisciplinary
  projects
• State of the art laboratories
• Consolidation of all EWRE activities in one
  facility

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Impact of a New Facility

• Continue momentum for growth of the EWRE program
• A base of support for leveraging external funds
• A unique opportunity to better serve Texas