KKA 5102 FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

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KKA 5102 FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

• A.P. Dr. Robiah Yunus

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Chapter 1 Why Do I Need Engineering
Fundamentals?
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Why Do I Need Fundamentals?

• To demonstrate how fundamentals learned in
  mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology are
  applied in environmental problem
• To design and evaluate performance of physical or
  chemical treatment system, one must understand
  mass balance, reactor design, reaction order, and
  chemical and physical treatment processes

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Case 1 Municipal Wastewater Treatment

• How do I design, construct, and operate treatment
  plant to treat a specific wastewater, at certain
  volume daily, and the influent wastewater has
  specific pollutant characteristics.
• How large is the reactor, and can I speed up a
  chemical or biological reaction in order to
  construct a smaller and less expensive reactor.
• If I have several types of reactor, which one
  works best for a given treatment plant.
• How do daily or seasonal variation in the flow of
  wastewater influence the design and operation of
  a treatment process
• Are there special requirements specified by the
  customer?

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Case 1 Municipal Wastewater Treatment

• How much of a particular waste can I discharge to
  a receiving water body how do mixing and
  transport influence the fate of the waste and
  will this discharge adversely affect the
  chemistry or biology of the water body?
• How do I optimize a particular treatment process
  to more efficiently treat a particular waste?
• Should I biologically treat a particular waste in
  the presence of oxygen (aerobically) or in the
  absence of oxygen (anaerobically), and how do
  these methods differ?
• What are the most efficient methods of supplying
  needed oxygen to an aerobic biological reactor?
• How do temperature changes during the summer and
  winter affect chemical or biological treatment
  processes or naturally occurring recovery
  processes of a lake or river.

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Case 2 Acid rain
SO2 NO, NO2
H2SO2, HNO3
Rain, snow fog dry deposition
Industry
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Case 2 Acid rain

• How do I design, construct, and operate a
  physical, chemical, or biological treatment
  method to scrub SO2 and NOx from stack gas?
• If I scrub acid-rain precursors from the stack
  gas, do I create a water pollution or solid-waste
  problem which I will then have to treat as well?
• How are air emissions mixed and transported
  downwind, and do such processes influence air
  quality on a local or regional scale?

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Case 2 Acid rain

• What is the atmospheric chemistry of acid-rain
  production, and how fast do the reactions take
  place?
• What is the effect, if any, of acid deposition on
  a particular forest, lake, or agricultural area
  provided that I have some knowledge about the
  underlying geology, chemistry of a watershed or
  lake,and biotic community?
• How does the design and implementation of a local
  or regional transportation system influence air
  quality on the local or regional scale?

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Case 3 Fate of Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon
in Soil and Groundwater
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Case 3 Fate of Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon
in Soil and Groundwater

• How do I design, construct, and operate a
  treatment system for air, water, soil/sediment
  stream contaminated with these chemicals?
• Should the treatment process I select use
  physical, chemical, or biological methods, or a
  combination?
• If these chemicals were spilled on the grounds
  surface, how much of the chemical would partition
  to the air,water, and underlying soil after
  equilibrium is reached?

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Case 3 Fate of Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon
in Soil and Groundwater

• What is the speed at which these chemicals cycle
  between water, air, and soil and what effect will
  variations in this speed have on the transport,
  fate, toxicity, and treatment of the chemical?
  How does dilution of the chemical as it spreads
  through the environment influence these
  parameters?
• Will these chemical degrade to non hazardous end
  products by naturally occurring chemical or
  biological processes? Is it feasible to engineer
  a system , what are the features on its design
  and operation?

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Case 3 Fate of Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon
in Soil and Groundwater

• If groundwater is contaminated, how long will it
  take before a down gradient drinking water source
  will be contaminated given that the chemical may
  undergo a chemical or biological reaction or have
  its movement slowed down by interacting with soil
  particles?
• Will the degradation of a chemical like
  trichloroethylene result in the production of
  vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen, and
  more hazardous chemicals? And if it does, how
  fast will this reaction occur?