Lecture 1

Introduction to Environmental Engineering

DEFINITION
Environmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principl
es to improve the environment (air, water, and/or land resources), to provide he
althy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to
remediate polluted sites.
water and air pollution control
recycling
waste disposal
public health issues
environmental engineering law
studies on the environmental impact of proposed construction projects
MIT s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
dedicated to balancing the built environment with the natural world. In our rese
arch we seek to understand natural systems, to foster the intelligent use of res
ources, and to design sustainable infrastructure systems.
Sustainable development
development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the abilit
y of future generations to meet their own needs."
Green buildings
Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources
Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity
Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation
Houses made of Earth bags
A little history
Ancient Sewer from the Harappan civilization
Romans constructed aqueducts to prevent drought and to create a clean, healthful
water supply for the metropolis of Rome
Public Health
John Snow and the Cholera Epidemic of London (1854)
RACHEL CARSON S Hidden Spring
the birth of the modern environmental movement and the development of the modern
field of "environmental engineering."
Civil Engineering
Environmental "civil" engineers focus on hydrology, water resources management a
nd water treatment plant design.
Environmental "chemical" engineers, on the other hand, focus on environmental ch
emistry, advanced air and water treatment technologies and separation processes.
FIELDS OF PRACTICE / AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Sanitary Engineering (water supply & wastewater treatment)
Air Pollution Control
Groundwater Flow & Contaminant Transport
Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
Environmental Impact Assessment

Lecture 2
MATERIALS AND ENERGY
BALANCE
CE 131
Mass & Energy Balances
provide us with a tool for modeling the
production, transport, and fate of
pollutants in the environment.
UNIFYING Theories
1. Conservation of Matter
Matter can neither
be created nor
destroyed .
Volumetric flow rate:
Q= AV
MATERIALS/ MASS BALANCE
The mass that enters a system must, by
conservation of mass, either leave the
system or accumulate within the system .
2. Conservation of Energy
Energy cannot be created nor
destroyed.
Mass and energy are
two forms of the same
thing. Energy is
liberated matter, and
matter is energy
waiting to happen.
-Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything
There is a huge amount- a
really huge amount- of
energy bound up in every
material thing.
An average-sized adult contains
around 7x10^ 18 joules of
potential energy- enough to
explode with the force of 30 very
large hydrogen bombs!
The total amount of energy and
matter is constant.
3. Conservation of Matter and Energy
MATERIALS BALANCE
For an ideal system,
Accumulation = Input Output
INPUTS Accumulation OUTPUTS CONTROL
VOLUME
In the in the
absence of a
nuclear reaction the
number of atoms
flowing in and out
are the same, even
in the presence of a
chemical reaction.
MATERIALS BALANCE
To perform a
balance the
boundaries of the
system must be well
defined .
MATERIALS BALANCE
Materials balances can be simplified with
the assumption of steady state, where the
accumulation term is zero.
MATERIALS BALANCE
Example 3-1, page 89 (Davis)
Mr. and Mrs. Konzzumer have no children. In an
average week they purchase and bring into their house
approximately 50 kg of consumer goods (food,
magazines, newspapers, appliances, furniture, etc.) .
Of this amount, 50% is consumed as food. Half of the
food is used for biological maintenance and ultimately
released as CO2. The remainder is discharged to the sewer
system.
The Konzzumers recycle approximately 25% of the
solid waste that is generated. Approximately 1 kg
accumulates in the house. Estimate the amount of solid
waste they place at the curb each week.
Konzzumers residence
Konzzumers
residence
50 kg of consumer
goods
Konzzumers residence
Konzzumers Residence
50% (food)
50 % for
biological
maintenance
Waste
CO2
Sewer
system
Other 50 %
25 % Solid
waste
recycled
1 kg
accumulates in
the house
? Estimate the amount of solid waste they place at the curb each week.
The rest is
thrown out
Solution:
Draw mass balance diagram.
Consumer
goods
Food to
people
Solid Waste
Accumulation
Solution:
Write mass balance equation for the house.
Consumer
goods
Food to
people
Solid Waste
Accumulation
INPUT = Accumulation
+ Output as Food +
Output as solid waste
Konzzumers residence
Konzzumers Residence
50% (food)
50 % for
biological
maintenance
Waste
CO2
Sewer
system
Other 50 %
25 % Solid
waste
recycled
1 kg
accumulates in
the house
? Estimate the amount of solid waste they place at the curb each week.
The rest is
thrown out
Time as a factor
Modified mass balance equation:
dt
d out
dt
d in
dt
dM ? ( ) ? ( )
Rate of accumulation = rate of input rate of output
Example 3-2, page 91 (Davis)
Truly Clearwater is filling her bathtub but she
forgot to put the plug in. If the volume of water for a
bath is 0.350 m3 and the tap is flowing at 1.32
L/min and the drain is running at 0.32 L/min, how
long will it take to fill the tub to bath level? Assuming
Truly shuts off the water when the tub is full and does
not flood the house, how much water will be wasted?
Assume density of water is 1,000 kg/m3.
More complex systems
Black box
Study example 3-3
Mass of contaminant per unit time:
(Concentration)(Flow rate)
Time
Mass ?
s
m3
m 3
mg
s
mg
MASS FLOW RATE
in in out out C Q C Q
dt
dM ? ?
Where:
C = concentration of contaminant
Q= flow rate
in in
in in out out
in in C Q
C Q C Q
C Q
dM dt ?
/ ?
Efficiency
x 100%
mass in
mass in ?mass out
? ?
x 100%
concentration in
concentration in ? concentration out
? ?
If flow rate in and flow rate out are the same,
Example 3-4, page 94 (Davis)
The air pollution control equipment on a municipal waste
incinerator includes a fabric filter particle collector (known as
baghouse). The baghouse contains 424 cloth bags arranged
in parallel, that is, 1/424 of the flow goes through each
bag.
Qin= Qout=47 m3/s Cin,particles= 15 g/m3
For normal operation, Cout=24 mg/m3 (regulatory limit)
During maintenance, one bag is inadvertently not replaced, so only
423 bags are in place.
Required:
1. Fraction of particulate matter removed and efficiency of
the baghouse when all bags are in place and emissions
comply with the regulatory requirements.
Baghouse
Mixing States
1. Completely mixed
system
The output from the
system is the same
as the contents of
the system.
2. Plug flow system
Each drop of fluid along
direction of flow is unique
and has the same
concentration and
properties as when it had
first entered the system.
Steady state condition
The input rate and output rate are constant and equal.
There is no accumulation of particles/materials.
Steady state does not imply equilibrium.
Accumulation = Input Output ± Transformation rate
Accumulation
Transformation
INPUTS OUTPUTS
Non-conservative pollutants
r
dt
d out
dt
d in
dt
dM ? ( ) ? ( ) ?
dt
r ? ?kC n ?1 ? dC
? ? ?
C t
C
k dt
C
dC
o 0
kt
oC ? C e?
In first-order reactions, the rate of loss of a substance is proportional to the
amount of substance present at any time t.
Decay Rate for the mass balance equation is kCV.
Where:
C = pollutant
concentration
t = time
k = reaction rate
coefficient [T-1]
Mass balance equation for non-conservative
pollutant:
kCV
dt
d out
dt
d in
dt
dM ? ( ) ? ( ) ?
Example 3-6:
Assuming no other water losses or gains and that the lagoon
is completely mixed, find the steady-state concentration of
the pollutant in the lagoon effluent. Note: The organic matter
in the sewage decays in the lagoon.
Sewage
Lagoon
Cin= 180 mg/L
Qin= 430 m3/day
Ceff= ?
Qeff= 430 m3/day
Decay
Surface Area of
lagoon= 10 hectares
Depth = 1.0 m
k= 0.70 /day
Sewage lagoon
Lecture 3
Ecology
the study of how organisms interact with each other and their environments
© J Beauchemin 2006
Introduction
Groups of animals live in specific
habitats.
There are two factors included in every
habitat:
Biotic factors
Living things, like ?
Abiotic factors
Nonliving things, like ?
Like a set of nesting dolls
We can think about the interactions and types of living things by organizing them
into groups, smallest to largest.
A speciesincludes only one type of organism.
Example: pigeon
 A populationincludes all members of one speciesthat live in the same area.
Example: all the pigeons in Manila
bigger and bigger groups!
A community includes all of the
different species that live in the same
area.
Example: all the pigeons, ants, acacia
trees, dogs, etc. that live in Manila
An ecosystem includes both the
community and the abiotic factors.
Example: the Manila community plus the
cars, buildings, rocks, air
The organisms in a habitat can be organized in the following way
species
community
population
ecosystem
Food webs
All organisms need FOOD to survive!
Food webs show what eats what.
Eat or be eaten
Here are some important terms that will help you describe interactions in a food
web.
1. Producer (autotroph)
can make its own food
forms the base of the food web
Mmmmm delicious.
2. Consumer (heterotroph)
cannot make its own food
There are several words that describe consumers
Prey: the hunted
Predator: the hunter
Herbivore: eats plants
Carnivore: eats animals
Omnivore: eats both plants and animals
Hey, you gonna eat that?
3. Decomposer
Breaks down dead organisms
Examples: bacteria, maggots, fungi, worms
Complete the circle of life by returning nutrients to the soil
Trophic LevelsThe trophiclevelof an organism is its position in a food chain.
Food Chain
-the feeding of one organism upon another in a sequence of food transfers.
-chain of transfer of energy (which typically comes from the sun) from one organ
ism to another
Food Web
In an ecosystem there are many different food chains and many of these are cross
-linked to form a food web.
Ecological Pyramids
Biomass Pyramidthis pyramid indicates the total mass of the organisms in each tr
ophiclevel.
Energy pyramid
indicates the total amount of energy present in each trophiclevel. It also shows
the loss of energy from one trophiclevel to the next.
Pyramid of Numbers
A pyramid of numbers is a graphical representation of the numbers of individuals
in each population in a food chain.
Bioaccumulation
occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at
which the substance is lost.
Bioconcentration
defined as occurring when uptake from the water/air is greater than excretion.
Bioconcentration differs from bioaccumulation because it refers only to the uptak
e of substances into the organism from water alone.
Biomagnification
is the process that results in the accumulation of a chemical in an organism at h
igher levels than are found in its own food.
Thus bioconcentration and bioaccumulation occur within an organism, and biomagni
fication occurs across trophic (food chain) levels.
The Carbon CycleThe movement of carbon, in its many forms, between the atmospher
e, oceans, biosphere, and geosphere.
Geological and Biological Carbon Cycle

Human alteration of the Carbon Cycle

Human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation have acce
lerated.
Some facts about Deforestation
Deforestation is thought to be releasing about 2.2 gigatons of carbon every year
into the atmosphere.
Deforestation occurs at a rate of 150,000 square km per year worldwide (every 2.
5 years, an area equivalent to the state of California disappears).
Tropical forests once occupied 16 million square kilometers of the earth's surfa
ce, but now cover only 9 million.
It is estimated that Latin America and Asia have already lost 40% of their origi
nal forest; Africa a little more than half.
In many countries the rate of deforestation is accelerating. For example, most o
f the forested areas of Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and parts
of Brazil's rain forest could be gone by the end of the century.
Only in the Congo Basin and some of the more isolated areas of the Amazon Basin
does the forest remain largely intact.
The Keeling curve, a long-term record of atmospheric CO2concentration measured at t
he Mauna Loa Observatory. Carbon concentrations are higher than they have been i
n 400,000 years.
Global mean temperature will increase between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees C over the nex
t century as a result of increases in atmospheric CO2and other greenhouse gases.
EFFECTS
significant rise in average sea-level (0.09-0.88 meters), exposing low-lying coas
tal cities or cities located by tidal rivers such as New Orleans, Portland, Wash
ington, and Philadelphia to increasingly frequent and severe floods.
Melting of the polar ice caps
impact on patterns of plant growth worldwide.
Because some species of plants respond more favorably to increases in CO2than oth
ers, scientists believe we may see pronounced shifts in plant species as a resul
t of increasing atmospheric CO2concentrations
The process of adding nutrients initially lacking in the ocean to enhance phytop
lankton bloom.
Phytoplankton bloom in the Atlantic
Ocean fertilizationDuring the 198: s fertilization of the ocean was proposed to ex
tract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
1. Add Nutrients to the Ocean
2. Phytoplankton bloom
3. Carbon Drawdown
4. Reduce Global Warming
Phytoplankton also produce compounds such as methyl halides which cause ozone de
pletion