Geoenvironmental Engineering - CIVL5351

Geoenvironmental Engineering is an applied science concerned with the protection of the subsurface from human activities. It can be divided into 2 main branches: waste containment and treatment of pollution sites. The former is usually a preventative activity, whereas the latter is corrective, i. e. it occurs after pollution has taken place. Geoenvironmental Engineering draws on fundamental science, especially the chemistry of low-permeability material such as clay, fluid flow in soil and contaminant migration in soil. The goal of CIVL5351 is to introduce you to the science behind Geoenvironmental Engineering and develop your skills at designing waste containment systems. Learning Outcomes: 1. Analyse flow regime in soil using Darcy equation; 2. Analyse contaminant migration in soil using coupled flow and reactive diffusion-advection equations; 3. Design a single or double composite landfill liner satisfying groundwater quality requirements; 4. Predict the potential for methane production in a landfill and assess the feasibility of waste-to-energy conversion; 5. Conduct research on a geoenvironmental topic as part for group. Syllabus Summary: introduction to geoenvironmental engineering; integrated waste management and life cycle assessment; soil composition and mineralogy; types and characteristics of contaminants; theory of water seepage in soil and hydraulic conductivity; theory of reactive contaminant transport in soil including molecular diffusion, mechanical dispersion and advective flow; analytical and numerical solutions of reactive diffusion advection equation; design of landfills; geosynthetics and geomembranes; defects and leakage rates; methane generation in landfills and landfill gas management.

Classes
Lectures, Tutorials, Laboratories

Assessment
Through semester assessment (100%)