ADVANCED ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING - MOD. B

Degree course: 
Academic year when starting the degree: 
2019/2020
Year: 
1
Academic year in which the course will be held: 
2019/2020
Course type: 
Compulsory subjects, characteristic of the class
Credits: 
6
Period: 
First Semester
Standard lectures hours: 
48
Detail of lecture’s hours: 
Lesson (48 hours)
Requirements: 

No specific prerequisites are strictly required. The basic concepts of Environmental Engineering, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry are intended to be established and the concepts of Environmental Impact Assessement and Reclamation of Contaminated Sites in a Bachelor Degree in the Environmental Sector are recommended (but not mandatory).

The examination of Advanced Environmental Engineering is considered to be passed with a grade of minimum 18/30.
The examination of Advanced Environmental Engineering is divided into two partial tests, each related to modules A and B. Both partial tests consist of a written exam, divided into various open-ended questions, to be carried out in an adequate interval of time (usually about 2 hours).
The number of applications varies depending on the required level of detail of responses and will cover both theoretical knowledge and calculations for the design and also the verification of functionality of the treatment systems. In order to pass the partial tests, the student have to demonstrate an adequate ability to apply and expose the acquired knowledge in an appropriate manner, regarding the management of treatment plants.
The answers will positively evaluate both the completeness and the synthesis in the topic presentation, also using schemes, graphs and illustrations.
As specified above, passing the exam is linked to the positive outcome of both partial tests provided for each of the two modules. The final evaluation will be the average of the two evaluations, as long as both of them are, at least, sufficient. The student who has passed both partial exams will have to enroll in the final exam which will only consist in the registration of the final grade.

Assessment: 
Voto Finale

Objectives of this course

The course constitutes a deepening and completion of the concepts of Environmental Engineering and, in particular, of pollution control systems.
The course aims to refine the knowledge and skills necessary for the activity of a technician in the field of wastewater and solid waste treatments, dedicating a specific module to each of these topics. The program topics are selected to provide an exhaustive picture of the theoretical and practical issues, related to the water and waste treatment sector, linking the various theoretical topics with the main practical problems that a technician might have to face at the beginning of the career.

Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
• know the concepts needed to critically tackle a process of wastewater or waste management
• know the normative references of the sector, the treatment and management methods of wastewater and solid waste, entering into the merits of the calculation methods to size and verify the functionality of the different treatment systems, including the most innovative treatment technologies

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
• ability to read, understand and comment a scientific passage, related to the management and treatment of liquid and solid waste (both in Italian and in English)
• ability to compare and evaluate treatment design alternatives, with the aim of recovering materials and energy and reducing the environmental impacts generated by the various types of plants
• ability to set up a treatment chain possibly aimed to recovering wastewater or solid waste and minimizing the final residues and the environmental impact generated
• ability to design the plants necessary for the treatment of wastewater and solid waste and to verify its dimensional adequacy in relation to the functionality requirements
• ability to deal with problems in a transversal manner and to be able to collaborate in the management of plant treatment, to participate in the environmental monitoring of real treatment systems and to contribute to minimize risks for operators

Communication skills
• ability to extract and synthesize the relevant information
• communication, reading and writing skills
• know how to communicate effectively with industry experts

The course is divided into two modules, one dedicated to the theme of wastewater and the other one focused on solid waste treatment. Therefore, the contents referred to the individual modules are illustrated below.

Module A. - Water
The topics are:
• Normative reference and genarl processes for the treatment of sewage
• Qualitative water characterization (physical and organoleptic parameters, chemical and biochemical parameters, microbiological parameters, sampling and water quality)
• Quantitative water characterization (flow)
• General characteristics of wastewater treatment processes
• Conventional purification processes: criteria and dimensioning methods
• Other innovative processes
• Hydraulic profile of a treatment plant
• Calculations for sizing and functional verification
• Discharge pricing
• Re-use of treated water
• Environmental impacts related to a treatment plant
• Energy saving

Apart from the description of the calculations for sizing and functional verifications, which the course will focus more attention on (about 8 hours), all the other topics will have an equivalent treatment of about 4 hours.

Module B. - Waste
The topics are:
• Reference legislation, classification of waste (4 hours)
• Authorization procedures for the plants construction (4 hours)
• Pretreatments (4 hours)
• Waste Fuel Production (4 hours)
• Composting (8 hours)
• Anaerobic digestion of OFMSW and other organic matrices (8 hours)
• Controlled landfill (8 hours)
• Incineration (4 hours)
• Equipment certification according to the Machinery Directive (8 hours)

• Reference text (only Water Module): Raboni M., Torretta V., Urbini G. Ingegneria Sanitaria-Ambientale (Environmental Engineering). Flaccovio Editore, 2015. ISBN 978-88-579-0352-1.

• Slide lessons are downloadable from the E-learning website.

• Articles and other supplementary material will be shown during the course and these will be downloadable from the e-learning website or available in the University libraries, too.

Lectures in the presence of the teacher.
Depending on the availability of the managers, technical teaching visits will be held in some treatment plants.
Classroom activities also include the drawing up of real projects, elaborations and simulations, team work and other projects, done through technical slides and videos, too.
Regarding Module B, it will be occasionally possible to count on the collaboration of experts in the classroom, coming from public administrations and companies that operate in the waste management sector. The participants to the Module have to organise working groups and, at the end of the course, they have to present the results of a bibliographic research on one of the topics connected to the didactic program assigned.

Office Hours
Students can meet with the professor in his/her study by previous phone or email appointment.