Environmental Engineering
Environmental Engineering |
| Environmental Engineering |
RESEARCH AREAS OF THE FACULTY MEMBERS
RESEARCH PROGRAMIn the Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer Department at the Faculty of Engineering of the Tel Aviv University research efforts in two principal branches of Environmental Engineering are currently in progress. The first branch is concerned with the treatment and control of pollution; the second is on the modeling of pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere, in water bodies and in soil. Examples of the ongoing research work conducted in the two aforementioned branches are described below. Research efforts are currently underway to improve methods of organic solvents and heavy metals extraction from waste streams. A separate research is geared towards the removal of organic vapors and odors from polluted air by combined ozonation and adsorption processes. Another research work is aimed towards enhancing the thermal efficiency of power plants by utilization of novel working fluid in combined turbine cycles as well as of putting to use waste-heat. The latter, beyond energy conservation benefits, reduces emissions of green house gases such as carbon dioxide and thereby reduces global warming effects. In this domain, research activity for solar energy collection and use is conducted. In the critical issue of water resources, an ongoing research deals with the improvement of the reverse-osmosis desalination process, both to reduce costs and upgrade the desalinated water quality. For the control of pollutant dispersion, several research projects were initiated and are at different stages of progress. Amongst these projects, one is associated with the transport of underground contaminants for the reduction of industrial waste penetration into aquifers. For atmospheric pollution dispersion, studies are conducted both in specially designed wind tunnels and in actual field conditions. For instance, a field study on vehicle emission in urban areas intersections is in progress to improve and identify preferred traffic control with respect to pollution reduction. Another project was aimed towards improvement of stacks as a mean of diluting pollutant emissions and was conducted in a wind tunnel
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMCourses in environmental engineering are offered to graduate and undergraduate students. The focus, however, is on education for the M.Sc. degree - a program from which students graduate as masters in Environmental Engineering. Selected research topics in Environmental Engineering are presented to Ph.D. candidates. Specialization in the field can be studied already at the undergraduate level. In a practical sense, classes cover a wide range of subjects concerning environmental engineering and science, and therefore are interdisciplinary. The M.Sc. program in Environmental Engineering has been initiated in response to strong demand. This demand comes from governmental bureaus, municipalities, industrial enterprises, and consulting firms. Two kinds of students are enrolled in this program, one group consists of graduate students that come from the industry and the other are in-house students that want to pursue a career in the field. The external graduate students enhance the ties of the department to the community industrial needs. These ties help adapt the environmental studies curriculum and research work to the actual countrywide needsRESEARCH FACILITIES The department research activities are supported by the following laboratory facilities: |
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