Overview of Environmental Engineering Flashcards
(25 cards)
What do Environmental Engineers do?
- Design systems to address environmental issues (prevention or remediation)
- Optimize systems to mitigate environmental impacts
- Measure, monitor, and control environmental systems
- Work with regulatory bodies to develop regulations
- Carry out inspections for compliance with environmental regulations
- etc.
Name the 2 types of water and how much of them there are:
Fresh water (2%)
Salt water (98%)
What does the term air pollution mean?
Where do most air pollutants come from?
Air pollution refers to “The release of pollutants into the air that are detrimental to human health and the planet”
Most air pollutants come from burning fossil fuels to generate energy
What are some sources of air pollution?
Nature:
- Wildfires
- Volcanos
- Lightning
Area:
- Cities
- Livestock
- Fertilizers
- Oil & Gas
- Stationary:
- Industry
- Power
- Plants
- Sewage Treatment
Mobility:
- All of the transportation
What are some of the air pollutants?
- Lead
- Carbon Monoxide (CO)
- Sulfur Oxides (SOx)
- Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
- Particulate matter (PM)
- Ozone
- Volatile organic compounds
- Biological pollutants
Describe Air Quality Control:
- Prevention from source
Control/treatment:
- Scrubbers
- Filters
- Combustion
- Absorbers
- Adsorbers
How is waste catagorized?
There are 3 catagories of waste:
- Solid waste
- Waste water
- Emission to the air
Additional categorization:
- Source
- Type of waste (plastic, metal. etc)
Destination
What are some solid waste disposal methods we used in HISTORY and CURRENTLY?
Before:
- Burying Garbage (we didn’t have the same amount of plastic before)
Current:
- Landfills
- Incineration
- Diversion
- Hazardous disposal sites
What is energy use for in the world and in our homes?
World:
- Transportation
- Manufacturing
- Residential
- services
- other industries
Home:
- space heating
- residential appliances
- water heating
- Other
What are some methods of electricity generation?
- Hydroelectricitiy
- Fossil Fuels
- nuclear
- winds, biomass, solar, etc.
What is a customer statement? What are the 2 scenarios?
The requirements and expectations of a product, where the needs can be feasible or unfeasible
- Client is knowledgeable on need and product/approach - move to next step
- client is not very clear on the need and / or approach is undefined - help client structure goals and propose an approach
What is included in a design problem statement
- client
-design goal
-technical specifications (charactersitics, parameters, features of the required solution)
-constraints (time, budget, space) - key assumptions
When gathering information, what kind of information do you gather and how?
What:
- client (production forecast)
- regulations (storage and handling of produced water)
- objectives (final target quality)
- inlet (input streams compostiion and flowrate)
- site details (proximity to utilities, stakeholders, climate, geography)
How:
- clients
- reading literature
- mathematical modeling
- experimental testing
- assumptions
- maps
- other sources
What are the design phases?
Define problem
Gather information
Conceptual design
Front-end Engineering and design (FEED)
Detailed design
Procurement
on-site / off-site fabrication
construction and installation
commission
What is a feasibility analysis?
Consists of estimates, schedules, and resources.
Asks if
- is a project achievable
- is it within cost constraints
- is it legal
- can the design stages occur
- can it be completed with the time frame
What is conceptual design?
- brainstorming
- alternative generations / design solutions using block flow diagrams
- evaluation criteria
- comparison and decision making
What is design basis memorandum (DBM)?
- Documentation of design criteria, principles, assumptions, legal requirements, technical requirements, etc.
- may be before detailed engineering
- should be used as a reference for the design
What is detailed design?
Detailed designing consisting of:
- sizing calculations
- design calculations
- technical specifications
- standards
- datasheets (documents that summarizes the required performance and other characteristics of equipment)
What is procurement?
- the act of obtaining equipment, instruments, goods and services
- typically carried by a trained team
- typically requires preparation, solicitation, and payment processing
- PROCUREMENT TYPICALLY INVOLVES COMPETITIVE BIDDING INVOLVING MULTIPLE BIDDERS
What is comissioning?
the process of assuring that all components of a designed system meet operational requirements of the owner or client
What does biometric design mean?
minic natural materials, mechanisms, and processes
What is sustainable design?
A practice of designing products, services, and processes to be sustainable, ie.
- minimize environmental imapct and improve life quality for humans
- based on environmentally friendly practices, principles, and techniques
