ENE806 - Environmental Engineering Process Laboratory


Syllabus: Spring Semester 2022

 

COURSE OBJECTIVE: At the end of this environmental engineering process lab course you will be able to formulate hypotheses related to environmental engineering processes of medium complexity, plan and design experiments, collect and analyze data to test the formulated hypotheses, use/validate mathematical models capable of describing the processes, and draw conclusions with due attention to statistical power and quality of data. You will also gain considerable experience in making presentations and writing technical reports. 

EXPERIMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES: We plan to complete three experiments focusing on three different environmental engineering processes. All three experiments (and especially the third experiment) are somewhat open-ended meaning you may take the same general approach and propose tasks that go beyond the basic elements.  

Experiment 1

Disinfection Kinetics in Drinking Water Treatment: Online, completed individually; Experiment focused on modeling of disinfection kinetics using MATLAB. 3-4 weeks. 

Parameters and Elements of Interest for this experiment include Models (Chick-Watson log-linear model, Hom model, Intrinsic Quenching model, Others); Pathogens (Microbial species, Protozoa, Viruses), Genes, Temperature, Contact Time, pH, Disinfectants Type and Dosage, etc. More details will be provided during the lecture on Jan 10. 

Experiment 2

In-person, completed as a two-person team; Experiment to be selected from the list below: 4-6 weeks At the start of Experiment 2, we will form teams (2 students per group; your choice is fine which will remain the same for Experiment 3 as well). Each team will select an experiment from the list of experiments given below. Additional consideration e.g., availability of probes, reagents, and set-up may be necessary before making the final selection. We will omit those experiments that involve handling of activated sludge, manure, or digested sludge due to SARS-CoV-2. . 

List of Potential Experiments:

  1. Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) Column for Removal of Emerging Contaminants (2010)
  2. Oxygen Transfer Efficiency (KLa) (2007)
  3. Performance of Plug Flow Reactors(2007) and CSTRs in Series(2007, 2010)
  4. Measurement of Indoor/Outdoor Airborne Particulate and Bacterial Density
  5. Water Softening (2007a, 2007b) and Color Removal by Coagulation/Flocculation (2007a, 2007b)
  6. Membrane Filtration (2006), P-removal using membrane filtration (2011)
  7. Head Loss During Sand Filter Backwashing (2006)
  8. Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste (2011)
  9. Oxygen Uptake Rate in Activated Sludge Process (2007, 2010)
  10. Nitrification Inhibition in Activated Sludge Process
  11. Disinfection Kinetics in Plug Flow Reactors
  12. Synthesis and SEM-based characterization of Silica Nanoparticles
  13. Biosensors using Quartz Crystal Microbalance (2008)
  14. Phosphorus Removal using Fluidized Bed Reactor (2006)
  15. Kinetics of Biofilm Development using Continuous Microscopy (2006)
  16. Bacterial Removal Efficiency in Home Water Filtration Units
  17. Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing (AST)
  18. Toxicity of Single Wall Nanotubes to Escherichia coli (2008)
  19. Fabrication of a Low Flow Gas Sensor for Lab-scale Anaerobic Digester Monitoring
  20. Catalytic Conversion of Chlorinated Solvents
  21. Polymerase Chain Reaction-based Monitoring of Waterborne Pathogens

Experiment 3

In-person, completed as a two-person team; Experiment to be designed by you as a team; 4-6 weeks For the third experiment, you have the option to design your own experiment in consultation with me. For a completely new third experiment, you should starts your discussions early on so ordering and receiving of materials and reagents can be completed while you are working on the previous experiment(s). Significant discussion is necessary for this option but the rewards are also substantial (experience of designing/creating something new is always more fun!).  

ATTENDANCE

Your attendance and work on the experiments is expected during lab hours for in-person classes.

Until Jan 31, 2022, this meeting will be by Zoom. When we meet in person (based on the MSU directives we receive closer to that date), it will be in Room 3578 Engineering Building.

If you plan to spend additional time outside the class hour when Joseph is not present in the lab, please arrange at least one additional team/lab member to be present. At the start of class time (1:50 PM on Mon and Wed), we will meet for 15- to 30-min (initially this may take more time) for planning/Q&A/discussion of progress. The remaining time will be used for conducting the experiments.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING

All lab experiments will be conducted in accordance with the rules implemented by the Environmental Health and Safety at MSU. Training modules are available at https://ehs.msu.edu/ When the face-to-face lab begins, Joseph Nguyen will show you the laboratory, provide the basic laboratory safety training, and get you a key to the laboratory (which must be returned at the end of this course). If you have already completed these as part of your graduate research lab work, the safety training may be waived but site-specific training will still be necessary. For your own safety and the safety of others, please also make sure that you do not work alone in the lab during evenings. Joseph will also help you get supplies and equipment that are available for use in all your experiments and help you with any issues related to finding lab equipment, components, and setting up the experiments.

INSTRUCTOR

Syed A. Hashsham, Professor
Email: hashsham@egr.msu.edu
Webpage
Phone: (517) 355 8241

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNICIAN/LAB MANAGER

Joseph Nguyen, Office: 3578A Engineering Building
Email: nguyenj@egr.msu.edu
Phone: (517) 353-0688