Civil & Environmental Engr: Sustain Resource Recovery Dsgn

Environmental engineering strategies to create circular economies emphasizing the role of wastes as resources. Course topics include life cycle assessment, carbon and nutrient management, materials recycling, and waste-to-energy processes. Project-based. Prerequisite: CEE 3510 or CEE 3515.

Prereqs enforced by the system: CEE 3510 or CEE 3515; Design Elective (CE, EENV), Tech Elective (CE, EENV); Open to Degree and PACE students

This course will investigate environmental engineering aspects of solid waste management, with an emphasis on resource recovery and organic waste management. This course will start with a consideration of waste characteristics. We will then discuss conventional solid waste management practices, including landfilling, recycling, and incineration. In the second part of the course, we will investigate composting, anaerobic digestion, and emerging waste-to-resource technologies. Lastly, this course will introduce students to using life cycle assessment to quantify the environmental and societal impacts of products and processes central to human life.

Expectations are that students will attend lectures and participate in their group activities. After completing this course, students will be able to: 1. Describe the types of solid wastes generated by society and the characteristics that determine their fate 2. Design conventional solid-waste management facilities (e.g., landfills) 3. Design recycling systems to support sustainable elemental cycles and resource conservation 4. Design processes for recovering carbon and nutrients from organic wastes 5. Use life-cycle assessments to quantify the environmental impacts of consumer products and waste management processes

Undergraduate students: Professionalism - 5% Problem Sets - 20% Quizzes - 35% Comprehensive Project - 40%