Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• The aim of the course is to introduce the transport processes of fluids, water and pollutants, in the porous media that constitute the geo-environment.
• The module aims to address the factors that influence groundwater, heat and pollutant transport, practical and design applications and problems that might arise.
• This course aims to introduce the students to the flow regimes that occur in porous media and ways to estimate the flow quantities using flownets.
• Similarly heat flow through porous media is introduced drawing parallels with the groundwater flow.
• Contaminant transport through porous media is another important aspect in geo-environmental engineering that is addressed in this module.
• Practical ways to dispose waste into the ground, the effects the contaminants have on the host soil and necessary aspects of remediation of contaminated land will also considered.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Understand the geotechnical environment.
• Determine flow patterns in steady state groundwater seepage.
• Evaluate potentials, pore water pressures, and flow quantities in the ground by constructing flow nets.
• Anisotropic soils and flow nets
• Seepage below concrete dams
• Seepage through embankment & earth dams
• Excavations and seepage, Cofferdams and stability
• Draw parallels between groundwater flow and heat flow in porous media
• Develop necessary skills to estimate heat storage and extraction from ground
• Introduction to contaminated soil and its remediation
• Understand the soil properties that affect the geo-environment and vice versa
• Develop an understanding of the interactions between soils and contaminants
• Understand the effect of soil contamination on geotechnical properties
• Develop an understanding of the fate and transport mechanisms of contaminants in the ground
• Solving of Advection-Dispersion equation using error functions
• Develop appreciation of the contaminated land/landfills environment
• Understand disposal of waste into well-engineered systems
• Be able to design a solution relevant to land remediation or a landfill

Content

The following topics will be covered:

Flow of Water through Porous Media, is an important aspect in the design of many civil engineering structures such as retaining walls, caissons, excavation for foundations, etc. As it will be shown in the second part of the module, the same physical principles and mathematical concepts can be used to understand flow of heat in porous media, for example, in the design of energy piles or ground source heat pumps.

Contaminant Transport through Porous Media, is important to understand the presence of contaminants in the ground and how they are transported through various mechanisms and how they affect the properties of the soil. Equally disposal of waste of waste safely into well-engineered facilities is critical to minimise the environmental impact of the waste.

Groundwater, Seepage and Heat Flow in Granular media (8L)

• Introduction
• Concept of porous media and bulk properties.
• Definitions of potential head, pressure head and pore pressure.
• Groundwater flow and seepage
• Theory of flownets
• Anisotropic soils and flownets
• Darcy's law and Hydraulic conductivity
• Laboratory and in situ measurements
• Seepage below concrete dams
• Seepage through embankments and earth dams
• Stability and seepage around excavations
• Coffer dams and their stability
• Fourier’s law and heat flow in porous media
• Parallels between ground water flow and heat flow
• Ground source heat pumps
• Storage and extraction of heat from ground

Contaminated Land and transport of contaminants through ground (8L)

• Introduction to contaminated land and contaminants in the geo-environment
• Introduction to waste containment structures – landfills
• The structure of clays
• The clay-water interactions
• The clay-water-contaminant interactions
• The effect of contaminants on the geotechnical properties of soils
• Mechanisms of contaminant transport
• Fick’s law for diffusion in porous media, dispersion and sorption, Peclet’s number
• Solving advection-dispersion equation, Error functions
• Land remediation and waste containment design applications
• Relevant case studies and project examples.

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

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Last modified: 24/05/2022 12:55

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• The aim of the course is to introduce the transport processes of fluids, water and pollutants, in the porous media that constitute the geo-environment.
• The module aims to address the factors that influence groundwater, heat and pollutant transport, practical and design applications and problems that might arise.
• This course aims to introduce the students to the flow regimes that occur in porous media and ways to estimate the flow quantities using flownets.
• Similarly heat flow through porous media is introduced drawing parallels with the groundwater flow.
• Contaminant transport through porous media is another important aspect in geo-environmental engineering that is addressed in this module.
• Practical ways to dispose waste into the ground, the effects the contaminants have on the host soil and necessary aspects of remediation of contaminated land will also considered.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Understand the geotechnical environment.
• Determine flow patterns in steady state groundwater seepage.
• Evaluate potentials, pore water pressures, and flow quantities in the ground by constructing flow nets.
• Anisotropic soils and flow nets
• Seepage below concrete dams
• Seepage through embankment & earth dams
• Excavations and seepage, Cofferdams and stability
• Draw parallels between groundwater flow and heat flow in porous media
• Develop necessary skills to estimate heat storage and extraction from ground
• Introduction to contaminated soil and its remediation
• Understand the soil properties that affect the geo-environment and vice versa
• Develop an understanding of the interactions between soils and contaminants
• Understand the effect of soil contamination on geotechnical properties
• Develop an understanding of the fate and transport mechanisms of contaminants in the ground
• Solving of Advection-Dispersion equation using error functions
• Develop appreciation of the contaminated land/landfills environment
• Understand disposal of waste into well-engineered systems
• Be able to design a solution relevant to land remediation or a landfill

Content

The following topics will be covered:

Flow of Water through Porous Media, is an important aspect in the design of many civil engineering structures such as retaining walls, caissons, excavation for foundations, etc. As it will be shown in the second part of the module, the same physical principles and mathematical concepts can be used to understand flow of heat in porous media, for example, in the design of energy piles or ground source heat pumps.

Contaminant Transport through Porous Media, is important to understand the presence of contaminants in the ground and how they are transported through various mechanisms and how they affect the properties of the soil. Equally disposal of waste of waste safely into well-engineered facilities is critical to minimise the environmental impact of the waste.

Groundwater, Seepage and Heat Flow in Granular media (8L)

• Introduction
• Concept of porous media and bulk properties.
• Definitions of potential head, pressure head and pore pressure.
• Groundwater flow and seepage
• Theory of flownets
• Anisotropic soils and flownets
• Darcy's law and Hydraulic conductivity
• Laboratory and in situ measurements
• Seepage below concrete dams
• Seepage through embankments and earth dams
• Stability and seepage around excavations
• Coffer dams and their stability
• Fourier’s law and heat flow in porous media
• Parallels between ground water flow and heat flow
• Ground source heat pumps
• Storage and extraction of heat from ground

Contaminated Land and transport of contaminants through ground (8L)

• Introduction to contaminated land and contaminants in the geo-environment
• Introduction to waste containment structures – landfills
• The structure of clays
• The clay-water interactions
• The clay-water-contaminant interactions
• The effect of contaminants on the geotechnical properties of soils
• Mechanisms of contaminant transport
• Fick’s law for diffusion in porous media, dispersion and sorption, Peclet’s number
• Solving advection-dispersion equation, Error functions
• Land remediation and waste containment design applications
• Relevant case studies and project examples.

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.

 
Last modified: 27/07/2021 16:23

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• Introduce the physics behind heat, liquid, and mass (air and moisture) transfer in materials,buildings, and energy systems and their interactions with outside environment, both air and ground.
• Provide the foundational knowledge for understanding environmental characterstics of the built environment, with a focus on aspects important for structural durability and energy efficiency.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Understand the geotechnical environment.
• Determine flow patterns in steady state groundwater seepage.
• Evaluate potentials, pore water pressures, and flow quantities in the ground by constructing flow nets.
• Analyze environmental behaviour of building components, such as heat flow rates, temperature variations (seasonal and diurnal).
• Calculate steady state energy balance for a building to determine hearing, cooling and ventilation demand from auxillary systems.
• Understand how choice of design and components influences the indoor environment and energy consumption of building.

Content

The following topics will be covered:

Flow of Water through Porous Media, which is an important aspect in the design of many civil engineering structures such as retaining walls, caissons, excavation for foundations, etc. As it will be shown in the second part of the module, the same physical principles and mathematical concepts can be used to understand flow of heat in porous media, for example, in the design of energy piles or ground source heat pumps.

Heat, air and moisture transfer across building elements: composite roofs and walls, surface-to-air, air gaps, ventilated spaces, transparent envelopes, and heat exchange between surfaces in a room; Heat exchange with ground will be covered for slab-on-grade, sub-surface structures, and ground-source heat exchangers.

The topics cover theoretical aspects of important energy flows through most common building elements, from foundations to the building envelope. This knowledge is also pre-requiste for learning simulation and modelling techniques for energy balance and environmental control systems of buildings.

Groundwater and Seepage (8L)

• Introduction
• Concept of porous media and bulk properties.
• Definitions of potential head, pressure head and pore pressure.
• Groundwater flow and seepage
• Theory of flownets.
• Darcy's law and Hydraulic conductivity
• Laboratory and in-stu measurements

Heat, Air and Moisture Transfer through Building Elements (8L)

• Conservation of energy, Fourier's laws, concept of steady state, periodic and transient.
• Conduction: 1D heat flow through single and multi -layered structures, response to temperature variations, contact temperature between layers, network analysis.
• Heat exchange with ground: examples of 2D and 3D heat flow between ground and building elements - pipes, slabs, sub-surfaces.
• Radiation: reflectance, absorption and transmission; radiant surfaces and block bodies; heat gains from solar (short wave) radiation, long wave radiation exchange between 2 isothermal surfaces in enclosures.
• Ventilation: Driving forces (wind, stack, mechanical), air exchange rates.
• Infliteration: air through permeable materials, gaps, ventilated cavities, heat losses due to transmission and ventilation.
• Moisture: Water vapour in air and relative humidity, characteristics of moist air, mold and surface condensation, moisture balance of building components and ventilated spaces.
• combined Heat and Mass Transfer: exercised from practical scenarios.

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

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Last modified: 29/10/2019 13:29

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
• Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
• Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
• Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
• Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
• Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
• Understand simple models of infiltration
• Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
• Understand river hydraulics.
• Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
• Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
• Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
• Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
• Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
• Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
• Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
• Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
• Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
• Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
• Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
• Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context

Content

Hydrology (3L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Prof F. A. McRobie)

• Global water issues
• Hydrologic cycle
• Unit hydrographs

Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 2-8 (Dr D. Liang)

• Boundary layer and turbulence
• Flow resistance
• Steady flow in pipelines
• Water pollution
• Steady flow in open channels
• Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
• Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
• Sediment transport and bed form
• Pipeline systems
• Pumping systems

Water/Waste Treatments (1L) 2 lectures/week,week 8 (Prof F. A. McRobie)

• Water treatment
• Wastewater treatment

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.

 
Last modified: 03/08/2018 14:48