Abstract

As indicated by the National Academy of Engineering, the understanding of nitrogen cycle has been deemed as one of 14 grand challenges in engineering of the 21st century. Due to rapid population growth and urbanization, the stormwater runoff increased in quantity as well as its nutrient concentrations, which may trigger serious environmental issues such as eutrophication in aquatic systems and ecosystem degradation. This study focuses on stormwater and groundwater quality control via Biosorption Activated Media (BAM) which can be applied to enhance the nutrient removal potential as an emerging Best Management Practices (BMPs). BAM was tested in this study with respect to two changing environmental factors including the presence of toxins such as copper and the addition of carbon sources that may affect the removal effectiveness. In addition, the impacts on microbial ecology in BAM within the nitrification and denitrification processes due to those changing environmental conditions were explored through the identification of microbial population dynamics under different environmental conditions. To further enhance the recovery and reuse of the adsorbed ammonia as possible soil amendment or even fertilizer, a new media called Iron Filing Green Environmental Media (IFGEM) was developed based on BAM, with the inclusion of iron filings as a key component for nitrate reduction. The functionality of IFGEM was analyzed through a serious column studies with respect to several key factors, including varying influent nutrient concentrations, pH values, and temperature. The results of the column studies demonstrate promising nutrient removal and recovery potential simultaneously under changing factors.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2019

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Chang, Ni-bin

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering

Degree Program

Environmental Engineering

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0007770

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007770

Language

English

Release Date

June 2020

Length of Campus-only Access

1 year

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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