Date of Award

8-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Committee Member

Dr. Christophe Darnault, Committee Chair

Committee Member

Dr. Brian Powell

Committee Member

Dr. Yi Zheng

Committee Member

Dr. William Bridges

Abstract

Three studies were conducted in this thesis, and all were related to measurement of biological and physiochemical parameters in porous media. The first study focused on the detection of biological parameter, and investigated the effects of cerium oxide nanoparticles on soil enzyme activity. Different concentrations of soil-NP mixture were applied, and exposure time length in addition to the harvest events were considered during the experiments. The second study focused on the quantification of physical parameter, and revealed water saturation percentage profiles during infiltration process along the preferential flow fingers. Two microbial exudates, catechol and riboflavin, with varying concentrations were applied to the flow experiments. Light transmission method was utilized to acquire information of light intensity, which was later converted to water saturation percentage. The third study focused on the measurement of physiochemical parameters, and evaluated the pH and dissolved oxygen concentration gradients in 2D tank sand system. Optical image technique was used to obtain data, and emitted fluorescence from the sensor foils were captured by the camera.

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