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Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-113).

Abstract of Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1935. / Cover title. Bibliography: p. 20-21.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1977. / Also available in print.

Thesis (MTech: Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012 / The microbial ferrous-iron oxidation process plays a significant role in bioleaching, providing ferric-iron (Fe3+) − a strong oxidising agent for the dissolution of most sulphide minerals. An extensive literature review has shown that several studies have been carried out on microbial ferrous-iron oxidation, mostly in stirred tank reactors and in conditions close to optimum. However, limited studies have been carried out on this subject in the context of heap bioleach situation. Despite the fact a packed column system may be used to represent heap bioleaching, most of the studies on microbial ferrous-iron oxidation in such systems were carried out under flooded/fluidised conditions which do not adequately represent solution flow dynamics in a heap system. The microbial ferrous-iron oxidation kinetics of Leptospirillum ferriphilum were studied at substrate loading rates of 0.17 – 0.5 g.L-1h -1 (dilution rates 0.033 – 0.1 h-1). The study was conducted in a packed column with a view to investigating the kinetics in a system which simulates the solution flow dynamics of a typical heap bioleach operation. Glass marbles, 15 mm in diameter, were used as reactor packing. The microbial oxidation kinetics were investigated in a continuous mode at the desired loading rates. The pH of the bioreactor was maintained at pH 1.45 ± 0.05 and the aeration at 15 mL.s-1. Both Monod and Hansford models were used to describe the biooxidation kinetics.

The oxidation of ferrous in acidic sulfate media by dissolved oxygen is an important reaction in any sulfide mineral leach process that uses ferric as a surrogate oxidant. Ferric is reduced as it oxidizes metal sulfides, and the resulting ferrous is re-oxidized by dissolved oxygen. The oxidation of ferrous to ferric by dissolved oxygen is quite slow outside of elevated pressure-temperature autoclaves. However, pyrite in solution has been found to have a catalytic effect on the reaction, speeding it up significantly. This effect is particularly significant in the context of the Galvanox™ acidic sulphate atmospheric leach process. To quantify the kinetics of this reaction and the effect of pyrite, tests were run in an atmospheric batch reactor with constant tracking of pH and redox potential. The kinetics of this reaction were quantified with respect to primary variables such as acidity, pyrite pulp density, temperature, and total iron concentration. Secondary factors such as copper concentration, gas liquid mixing rate and the source of pyrite mineral were also considered. Redox potential is a logarithmic function of the ratio of the activity of free ferric to free ferrous and is complicated by speciation within the Fe(III)-Fe(II)-H₂SO₄-H₂O system. Correlating redox potential data with extent of reaction was achieved by using permanganate redox titration and the isokinetic technique to link redox potential data directly to the fraction of ferrous reacted. This technique is effective over the potential range of interest – 360 to 510 mV vs Ag/AgCl. Under these conditions the leaching rate of pyrite is appreciable, so the rate of pyrite dissolution was predicted with the shrinking sphere model developed by Bouffard et al. Ferrous oxidation in solution was simulated with an adjusted version of the model of Dreisinger and Peters, which also accounts for the catalytic effect of dissolved copper. Oxygen solubility was predicted using the model of Tromans. Experimental data show a clear enhancing effect of pyrite on ferrous oxidation. A mathematical model of this effect applicable to the conditions of Galvanox™ leaching is presented. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Materials Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Dollar spot is one of the most common diseases of warm- and cool-season turfgrass stands and is especially devastating on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.). The fungus Sclerotinia homoeocarpa degrades the foliage by creating silver, dollar-sized depressions of dead and bleached turf. Frequent fungicide applications and cultural management strategies are required throughout the growing season to prevent or reduce severity of this disease. Previous research has demonstrated that ferrous sulfate applied at 48.8 kg ha-1 suppresses dollar spot epidemics without traditional fungicides. In vitro studies showed 100 to 1,000 mg kg-1 of ferrous sulfate directly suppressed S. homoeocarpa growth of an isolate collected from an established, intensively-maintained creeping bentgrass putting green. Genetic diversity of S. homoeocarpa segregates isolates into two groups; strains generally associated with warm-season and cool-season grasses. It is unknown whether isolates of each group react similarly in the presence of ferrous sulfate. Our research explored use rates of ferrous sulfate required to suppress 50% of dollar spot in the field and in vitro. Ferrous sulfate (heptahydrate 20% Fe, Valudor Products Inc) rates in field trials included 0, 4.88, 24.4, 48.8, and 97.6 kg ha-1. Our results indicate a hyperbolic relationship between ferrous sulfate rate and dollar spot reduction. Using this model, 26.4 kg ha-1 reduced dollar spot incidence by 50%. We concluded that ferrous sulfate suppresses 50% of S. homoeocarpa mycelial growth at between 480 and 720 mg L-1 concentration in 0.25 strength potato dextrose agar in vitro, and fungitoxic activity of ferrous sulfate was dependent primarily on historical fungicide inputs at isolate collection sites. The use of ferrous sulfate may supplement traditional fungicide use. Chlorothalonil is the most common fungicide used to suppress dollar spot in turfgrass. Annual site-use limitations of chlorothalonil often prevent turf managers from achieving acceptable dollar spot control throughout the season. It is not known how ferrous sulfate may contribute to a successful chlorothalonil fungicide program. Therefore, we examined whether ferrous sulfate can be used to minimize chlorothalonil requirements through reducing active ingredient concentrations and extending the longevity, while still maintaining acceptable disease control. Chlorothalonil treatments were applied at 0, 2.28, 4.57, 6.86, and 9.16 kg ai ha-1 (Daconil WeatherStik) across plots treated with and without 48.8 kg ha-1 ferrous sulfate applied bi-weekly. Ferrous sulfate reduced the chlorothalonil rates necessary for 80% disease reduction by 36 to 51% across all trials. Additional studies showed that ferrous sulfate applied with chlorothalonil increased duration of disease control by five days and eliminated two seasonal treatments. Our research expands the guidelines for practical ferrous sulfate usage for dollar spot suppression by elucidating the rate-to-disease relationship and providing best management practices involving admixtures with chlorothalonil. / Master of Science / Turfgrass systems offer many environmental and recreational benefits. Managing turfgrass stands that are free of damaging turf pests is essential to providing aesthetically pleasing lawns, golf courses, and sports fields. Creeping bentgrass is one of the most common turfgrass types found on golf course putting greens but is also used on golf course fairways and tee boxes. There are many diseases that can be found on creeping bentgrass when environmental conditions are favorable. Of these diseases, dollar spot is the most common. When dollar spot is present, half-dollar sized spots of bleached turf can be seen. In order to prevent these easily noticeable spots from appearing, fungicide applications are required in a given growing season to prevent the pathogen from infecting. Available fungicides are very effective at providing control but can be very costly. Beyond fungicide use, other research has shown various cultural practices to reduce disease incidence. Previous research has shown that iron sulfate applied to creeping bentgrass can reduce dollar spot epidemics without the use of fungicides. Laboratory studies have shown a similar trend as ferrous sulfate at varying concentrations directly suppressed dollar spot pathogen growth. In both cases, a limited range of ferrous sulfate rates was tested. To obtain more information we explored use rates of ferrous sulfate required to suppress 50% of dollar spot in the field and in vitro. Ferrous sulfate rates in field trials ranged from 0 to 97.6 kg ha⁻¹ . Results from these trials were used to create a hyperbolic regression. Using this model, we were then able to determine that 26.4 kg ha⁻¹ iron sulfate was required to suppress 50% of the dollar spot in the field. For the laboratory studies we concluded that ferrous sulfate suppresses 50% of the dollar spot pathogen mycelial growth between 480 and 720 mg L ⁻¹ iron sulfate concentrated potato dextrose agar. Although there are many different fungicides available for dollar spot control, the active ingredient chlorothalonil is the most common used. Due to the mode of action which chlorothalonil exhibits, it is much less likely that the pathogen causing dollar spot can become resistant. Although resistance is not an issue, governmental annual site-use limitations restrict turf managers from achieving desirable control. The use of iron sulfate in conjunction with chlorothalonil has not been previously studied. Chlorothalonil treatments were applied at a range of labeled use rates across plots treated with and without 48.8 kg ha⁻¹ ferrous sulfate applied bi-weekly. Ferrous sulfate reduced the chlorothalonil rates necessary for disease reduction. If a threshold of 80% is used, up to 50% reduction in chlorothalonil use was observed. Supplemental studies investigating the duration of control achieved by the combination showed an increase of up to 5 days and eliminated the need for two applications across one season. This research fills a huge gap in our knowledge base on the practical use of iron sulfate for dollar spot control.

This thesis investigates the possibility of utilizing data from multiple modalities to enable an automated recycling system to separate ferrous from non-ferrous debris. The two methods sensor fusion and hallucinogenic sensor fusion were implemented in a four-step approach of deep CNNs. Sensor fusion implies that multiple modalities are run simultaneously during the operation of the system.The individual outputs are further fused, and the joint performance expects to be superior to having only one of the sensors. In hallucinogenic sensor fusion, the goal is to achieve the benefits of sensor fusion in respect to cost and complexity even when one of the modalities is reduced from the system. This is achieved by leveraging data from a more complex modality onto a simpler one in a student/teacher approach. As a result, the teacher modality will train the student sensor to hallucinate features beyond its visual spectra. Based on the results of a performed prestudy involving multiple types of modalities, a hyperspectral sensor was deployed as the teacher to complement a simple RGB camera. Three studies involving differently composed datasets were further conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods. The results show that the joint performance of a hyperspectral sensor and an RGB camera is superior to both individual dispatches. It can also be concluded that training a network with hyperspectral images can improve the classification accuracy when operating with only RGB data. However, the addition of a hyperspectral sensor might be considered as superfluous as this report shows that the standardized shapes of industrial debris enable a single RGB to achieve an accuracy above 90%. The material used in this thesis can also be concluded to be suboptimal for hyperspectral analysis. Compared to the vegetation scenes, only a limited amount of additional data could be obtained by including wavelengths besides the ones representing red, green and blue.

published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The maximum contaminant level (MCL) for arsenic in drinking water was reduced to 10 parts per billion in 2006 by the USEPA. As a result, approximately 10,000 tons of arsenic-bearing residuals (ABSRs) are estimated to be generated every year from water treatment processes. It has also been established that the standard Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), underestimates arsenic leaching from ABSRs, particularly under mature, mixed solid waste landfill conditions. This makes it critical to investigate stabilization technologies that would ensure long-term stability of arsenic residuals after disposal. Arsenic is ubiquitously associated with iron oxides in natural environments as well as water treatment residuals. Hence, knowledge of iron oxide transformations under landfill conditions is critical to understanding the fate and mobility of the associated arsenic. In this work, the effect of high local Fe(II) concentrations on ferrihydrite transformation pathways was studied. Magnetite was the sole transformation product in the presence of high local Fe(II) concentrations. In the absence of high Fe(II) concentrations, goethite was the major transformation product along with minor quantities of magnetite. These results have implications for arsenic mobility from ABSRs since goethite and magnetite have different arsenic sorption capacities and mechanisms. Two technologies were investigated for the stabilization of ABSRs - Arsenic Crystallization Technology (ACT) and Microencapsulation. The strategy for ACT was to convert ABSRs into minerals with a high arsenic capacity and long-term stability under landfill conditions. Scorodite, arsenate hydroxyapatites, ferrous arsenate, arsenated schwertmannite, tooeleite and silica-amended tooeleite, were synthesized and evaluated for their potential to serve as arsenic sinks using TCLP and a simulated landfill leachate test. Ferrous arsenate type solids and arsenated schwertmannite showed most promise in terms of low arsenic leachability and favorable synthesis conditions. Microencapsulation involved coating arsenic-loaded ferrihydrite with a mineral having high stability under landfill conditions. Based on results from a previous study, vivianite was investigated as a potential encapsulant for ABSRs. A modified version of the TCLP was used to evaluate the effectiveness of microencapsulation. Although vivianite did not prove to be a promising encapsulant, our efforts offer useful insights for the development of a successful microencapsulation technology for arsenic stabilization.