Texas Environmental Resources InstituteEngineering Tomorrow’s Environment Today

Environmental and Water Resources Engineering ProgramCollege of Engineering

The University of Texas at Austin

Environmental Engineering: Top 20 Programs

Rank1-56-1011-20

Source: US News and World Report, 1998

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)

Research Sponsors

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

Randall CharbeneauHydrocarbon Fate and Transport

GAS - FOOD - BEER

Ground Water Flow

Leaking TankSand

LNAPL VaporsResidual

Oil

Smear Zone

DissolvedGasoline Components

Research ObjectivesResearch Objectives

• Design of Efficient Free-Product Recovery Design of Efficient Free-Product Recovery Systems Using Trenches, Skimmer Wells, Systems Using Trenches, Skimmer Wells, Single and Dual-Pump Wells, and Vacuum Single and Dual-Pump Wells, and Vacuum Enhanced Recovery SystemsEnhanced Recovery Systems

• Evaluate Potential Exposure to Evaluate Potential Exposure to Hydrocarbon Contaminated GroundwaterHydrocarbon Contaminated Groundwater

Plume Reduction Through Biodegradation

Tank

Tank MTBE(Conservative Tracer)

BTEX(Biodegrading Plume)

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.

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

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.

Dichlorobenzene: Carpet

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model

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.

Predicted & Measured: PERC

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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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Ceiling T

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Apples

Reference

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.

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

Using SCWO to Treat Wastewater

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

Using SCWO to Treat Sludge

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

Hillary Hart:Environmental 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.

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

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

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 gov’t has declined– 55% to 19% between 1966 and 1980

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 Sandman’s Work– practical applications for government and industry

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.

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

Contaminant TransportContaminant Transport

Toxics, Inc

Trichloroethylene

Uranium

Arsenic LeadToxic Ions

Radionuclides

Do WeMeetWater Quality Standards?

Gasoline Benzene

Chlorinated Solvents

Toluene

Plutonium

Well

Contaminant Fate and TransportContaminant Fate and Transport

MacroscopicQuantify Removal

MicroscopicIdentify Reactions

Rock

H2O

Air & Water

Field ScalePredict Transport

Research StrategyResearch 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.

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

Cavity Planforms on a Propeller Blade

Simulated

Observed

Flow Field Around a Propeller

Transient Flow Through a Propulsor

B-spline Representation of a Propeller

Interaction of waves and ocean bodies

Viscous Flow Inside a Channel

Biological Treatment of Vapor Phase Contaminants

Dr. Kerry A. Kinney

Civil Engineering Department

Why is Air Pollution Control Important?

• Approximately 46 million Americans currently live in areas that do not meet EPA’s ambient air quality standards: VOCs + NOx

Ozone SMOG

• Approximately 3.7 million tons of air toxics are emitted annually.

What does this mean in Texas?

UT Program in Air Resources Engineering

Source Characterization

Ambient Air Monitoring

Air Pollution Control

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

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 !

Fungal Vapor-Phase Bioreactor

Fungus: Doing Your Dirty Work For You!

Desmond F. LawlerPhysical/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

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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Particle Trajectories inFlocculation/Sedimentation

CriticalOpen

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Analysis of Continuous Flow Sedimentation

Drinking Water Treatment: From Particle Size to Plant Performance

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

Ray LoehrSite Remediation

• Environmentally acceptable endpoints

• Kinetics of chemical release from soil and sediment

• Technologies for site remediation

• Data for risk-based site decisions

Remediation Approaches

• Obtaining sound knowledge for sound decisions

• Based on Assessment of site-specific risks

• Performance based evaluations

Daene McKinneyWater Resources Planning and Management

Precipitation

Surfacewater Groundwater

David Maidment:GIS in Water Resources

• Better flood risk assessment

• Better drought planning

• Better water quality planning

CRWR-FloodMap

ArcViewDigital

ElevationModel

HEC-HMSFlood

discharge

HEC-RASWatersurfaceprofiles

ArcViewFlood

plain maps

CRWR-PrePro AvRAS

Digital map database

3D Flood Modeling

Surface Water Rights in Texas

Rio Grande

Colorado

Brazos SulphurTrinity

Nueces

8000 water rightlocations

23 main river basins

City of Austin

Water Rights in the Sulphur BasinWater right locationStream gage location

Drainage areas delineated fromDigital Elevation Models are used to estimate flow at water right locations based on flow at stream gage locations

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

Points Connected by a River Network

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 usefor the assistance of other peoples are limited. But ourimponderable resources in technical knowledge are constantly growing and are inexhaustible. I believethat we should make available to peace-loving peoplethe benefits of our store of technical knowledge in orderto help them realize their aspirations for a better life…”

President Harry S. Truman Inaugural Speech, January 1949

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

Runoff Quality from Highways

Gerald E. Speitel, JrTreatment Processes for

Hazardous Organic Chemicals

• Biodegradation

• Adsorption

• Oxidation

• Drinking water treatment

• Treatment process design

• Treatment process computer simulation

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

Schematic of an Experimental Reactor

Lumen Influent

Sample Port

Experimental Laboratory Reactor

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Results from the Reactor

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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

Texas Population and Water Resources

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17 million

Population (Millions)

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Water Resources(Millions Acre-ft)

Year20501990

Surface WaterGroundwater

• 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

B

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AIR LAB

SITE REMEDIATION

WASTE WATER TREATMENT

WATER TREATMENT

WASTE MINIMIZATION

ORGANIC & INORG. LABS

NEW INITIATIVES

COMPUTER LAB

ADMINISTRATION

STUDENT OFFICES

FACULTY OFFICES

SEMINAR/CONFERENCE

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FA

CIL

ITIE

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UP

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SUPPORT LABSA = Microbiological preparation labB = Clean roomsC = Temperature & humidity control roomsD = Cold Storage

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

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

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

Future Concerns in Texas

• Environmental sustainability

• Rapid population growth

• Diminishing supply of drinking water

• Air pollution in urban areas

• Hazardous chemicals

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

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

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