In this work a comparison of multiphase PIV and LDA measurement methods is made. The objective of the work is twofold: to provide measurement results that can be used to validate multiphase CFD simulations and to assess the different acquisition and analysis methods in multiphase measurements. The former is done with the use of a two-camera PIV/LIF method. It is shown that this method gives det...

Title of Document: MODELING THE IMPACT OF SEDIMENT RESUSPENSION AND FLOCCULATION ON THE FATE OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS. Chihwei Chang, Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Directed By: Professor Joel E Baker, University of Maryland, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) are important pollutants in urban estuaries. HOCs include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), p...

This work describes the synthesis and testing of a novel environmental sorbent that combines the advantages of biochar, chitosan, and zerovalent iron (ZVI). Chitosan was used as a dispersing and soldering reagent to attach fine ZVI particles onto bamboo biochar surfaces. Characterization of the resulted ZVI-biochar composites (BBCF) indicated that chitosan effectively soldered the iron particle...

We study the kinetics of infiltration in which contaminant particles, which are suspended in a flowing carrier fluid, penetrate a porous medium. The progress of the "invader" particles is impeded by their trapping on active "defender" sites which are on the surfaces of the medium. As the defenders are used up, the invader penetrates further and ultimately breaks through. We study this process i...

In this paper, we present counterarguments against the direct LDA algorithm (D-LDA), which was previously claimed to be equivalent to Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). We show from Bayesian decision theory that D-LDA is actually a special case of LDA by directly taking the linear space of class means as the LDA solution. The pooled covariance estimate is completely ignored. Furthermore, we de...

When a contaminant diffuses on the surface of a nanomechanical resonator, the motions of the two become correlated. Despite being a high-order effect in the resonator-particle coupling, such correlations affect the system dynamics by inducing dissipation of the resonator energy. Here, we consider this diffusion-induced dissipation in the cases of multiple particles adsorbed on carbon nanotube a...

Microplastics contamination of Lake Ontario sediments is investigated with the aim of identifying distribution patterns and hotspots in nearshore, tributary and beach depositional environments. Microplastics are concentrated in nearshore sediments in the vicinity of urban and industrial regions. In Humber Bay and Toronto Harbour microplastic concentrations were consistently >500 particles per k...

In this project the efforts were geared towards building and testing a high aspect ratio (HAR) microfluidic device to concentrate microalgae in a continuous flow microfluidic chip. This project was made possible through funding from USDA, SBIR phase-I grant to Phycal, Inc. Algae are a promising candidate for large-scale production of biofuels, an important source of renewable energy. However, a...

The purpose of this study was to characterize the physical and chemical properties of particles generated from the interaction of tires and road surfaces. Morphology, size distribution, and chemical composition were compared between particles generated using different methods, including on-road collection, laboratory generation under simulated driving conditions, and cryogenic breaking of tread...

BACKGROUND We studied the effects of removing small airborne particles in an office building without unusual contaminant sources or occupant complaints. METHODS We conducted a double-blind crossover study of enhanced particle filtration in an office building in the Midwest United States in 1993. We replaced standard particle filters, in separate ventilation systems on two floors, with highly ...