CIVN2013A I Introduction to
Environmental Engineering
Introduction, Mass
Agenda
o Housekeeping
o Course timeline
o Preliminary survey
o Week one’s reading list
o Introduction to environmental engineering
o Mass
Housekeeping
Please, make sure you:o download a copy of the course syllabus and
schedule
o familiarize yourself with CIVN2013 rules
o Understand that I will not tolerate noise
and/or any form of disorderly conduct when I
am lecturing
o Understand that participating during lectures
is vital in this course, you may be called
upon to participate even if you do not
volunteer to do so
Course Timeline – 3rd Block
Course Timeline – 4th Block
Preliminary survey
Prescribed Textbook
The textbook required for this course is
Introduction to Environmental Engineering and
Science by Masters and Ella, 3rd Edition
(Pearson International Edition), Pearson
Education Limited, ISBN: 978-1-292-02575-9
(2014).
New copies of this book are available at Van
Schaik Bookstore, at the Matrix Students Center
and 15 copies of the standard 3rd edition (as
opposed to the international version) are on
short loan at the Engineering Library.
Week One’s Reading List
1. Masters and Ella
Pages 1 – 5, 47 - 75
2. Mihelcic and Zimmerman
Pages 1, 26 – 38, 56 – 59, 65 – 76,
Introduction to Environmental
Engineering
Learning Objectives
After this lecture you should (be able to):
1. Define the “environment”
2. Define environmental engineering
3. Appreciate the role of environmental
engineers in society
4. Calculate chemical concentrations in
mass/mass, mass/volume, volume/volume,
mole/mole, and mole/volume units
Is Environmental Engineering:
One Field or Many Fields?
A legitimate question
o Environmental Engineering (EE) is often
defined in broad terms
o EE addresses a wide variety of issues
o Some engineering faculties have neither a
separate EE department nor program
o South Africa completely lacks environmental
engineering (UG) degree programs
o SADC and other African countries?
Is Environmental Engineering:
One Field or Many Fields?
Creating one EE curriculum, let alone a single
course, that equally, and sufficiently, covers
all aspects of the field is near impossible
A well rounded, elementary, course in EE
should expose students to at least five core
areas:o Water Supply and Treatment
o Wastewater Transmission and Treatment
o Air Quality Management
o Solid Waste Management
o Environmental Management
Is Environmental Engineering:
One Field or Many Fields?
Environmental management topics covered in
CIVN4006A:o Introduction to environmental management
o Government framework for environmental
governance and management (EG&M) in SA
o Environmental impact assessment
Approach to Teaching
CIVN2013
Interdisciplinary teaching, drawing on
principles from:o Mathematics
o Physics
o Chemistry
o Biology
o Engineering Design
Teaching informed by current research and
the scholarship of teaching and learning
Approach to Teaching
CIVN2013
Interdisciplinary teaching, drawing on
principles from:o Mathematics
o Physics
HS & YOS1 Level
o Chemistry
o Biology
o Engineering Design YOS1/2 Level
Teaching informed by current research and
The scholarship of teaching and learning
How To Succeed in CIVN2013?
1. Attending lectures and engaging with ALL
material from lectures
2. Engaging with the material outside of class while
avoiding/limiting engaging with material from
outside of class!
3. Attempting all continuous assessment
pieces from first principles
4. Being sufficiently prepared for the September
test
5. Honestly assessing your mastery in your
assessment of prerequisite skills and taking
steps to bring these up to par, if/when necessary
Mass
Why “Worry” About Mass?
EE is all about the application of basic
sciences (biology, chemistry, mathematics
and physics) to develop quantitative
indicators of environmental quality and
sustainable Design. The operative words
here being:
1. Quantitative, and
2. Sustainable
Common Units of Mass
“Weighable Mass”: based on grams
Common Units of Mass
Pay attention to
capitalization!
Source: Masters and Ella, 2014
Common Units of Mass
“Chemical Mass”: based on moles
Common Units of Mass
“Chemical Mass”: based on moles
To save your time in exams/tests, know the molar masses of the CHNOPS
elements!
Mass Concentration Units
Concentration is the “amount” of material
normalized to the “amount” of the total
system that the said material is part of
Concentration is the most important
determinant of all aspects of chemical
fate and transport in natural & engineered
systems
Mass Concentration Units
Among other things, concentration controls
o the movement of chemicals
within/between environmental media
o the rate of (many) chemical reactions
o the severity of adverse effects e.g. toxicity,
bioconcentration, and climate change
Concentrations of chemicals can be
expressed in a variety of units
Mass Concentration Units
Mass/Mass Units
Commonly expressed as parts per million
(ppmm), parts per billion (ppbm), or parts per
trillion (pptm)
ppm (by mass) means the number of units
of mass of chemical of interest per million
units of total mass
Mass Concentration Units
Mass/Volume Units
For gases, the units of mass (of chemical
of interest) per volume of air, e.g. mg/m3,
are commonly used
For aqueous systems the units of mass (of
chemical of interest) per volume of liquid,
e.g.mg/l, are commonly used
Mass Concentration Units
Volume/Volume and Mole/Mole Units
The units of volume fraction e.g. ppmv or
mole fraction are commonly used for gas
concentrations
Mass Concentration Units
HS Chemistry Review: The Ideal Gas Law
The units of concentration used in the gas
phase vary slightly from those used in the
liquid phase. This is due to two things:1. gases are compressible fluids prone to
deformation with small changes in pressure
2. the density of air is significantly less than the
density of water
Mass Concentration Units
HS Chemistry Review: The Ideal Gas Law
The Ideal Gas Law is used to convert
concentrations between mass/volume and
volume/volume units
Mass Concentration Units
HS Chemistry Review: The Ideal Gas Law
The Law:
Concentration of compound I at its partial
pressure, Pi:
- in chemical mass/volume:
- in weighable mass per volume:
P, absolute pressure (atm); V, volume; n, mass (mol);
R, ideal gas constant = 0.082056 (L·atm·K-1 ·mol -1); T, absolute temperature (K)
Mass Concentration Units
Mole/Volume Units
o The units of moles per liter (molarity, M)
are used to report the concentrations of
compounds dissolved in water
o Define molarity, molality, and normality
Conclusion
Environmental engineering is a quantitative
discipline and the ability to properly measure
and/or accurately model the amount of a
material present in the environment is vital if
one is to study the transport and fate of such
a material in the environment