THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING: LEVEL (I) SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATION

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CIVL1012 Environmental Engineering and Fluid Mechanics

DATE: May 23,2013 TIME: 2:30- 5:30p.m. (3 hours)

Sections A and B carry 50 marks each. Use a separate answer book for each section.

Use of Electronic Calculators:

Only approved calculators as announced by the Examinations Secretary can be used in this
examination. It is candidates' responsibility to ensure that their calculator operates satisfactorily,
and candidates must record the name and type of the calculator used on the front page of the
examination script.

Section A (Environmental Engineering)

Answer ANY (and ONLY) 25 out of the following 30 questions, all of which carry equal marks.

conversion factors: I W = I J/s, I cal = 4.18 J

atomic weights: HI; C 12; N 14; 0 16; S 32; P 31; Ca 40; Mg 24.3; and Al27.

I. A room with volume 500 m 3 has 50 smokers in it, each smoking two cigarettes per hour. An individual
cigarette emits about 1.4 mg of formaldehyde (HCHO). Formaldehyde converts to carbon dioxide with a
reaction rate coefficient of K = 0.40/hr. Fresh air enters the room at the rate of 1000 m 3/hr, and stale air
leaves at the same rate. Assuming complete mixing, what is the steady state concentration of
formaldehyde in the air at 25C: (a) 0.080 ppm, (b) 0.085 ppm, (c) 0.090 ppm, or (d) 0.095 ppm.
(Atomic weight: C 12; 0 16; H I)
2. Which pair in the following are not directly relevant to each other: (a) Minamata Bay and chromium; (b)
Silent Spring and pesticides; (c) emergent pollutants and antibiotics; or (d) Giardia and protozoan.
3. Cryptosporidium was found in Sydney's drinking water supply a few months before the 2000 Olympics
Games, causing a serious concern worldwide. Cryptosporidium is a: (a) protozoan, (b) virus, (c)
bacterium, or (d) helminth.
4. What is the closest value ofk (reaction rate constant) for a wastewater sample which has a BOD 2 of 130
mg/1 and a BOD 5 of200 mg/1: (a) 0.2, (b) 0.3, (c) 0.4, or (d) 0.5.
5. A 1000-MW coal-fired power plant in Hong Kong has an efficiency of 33.3% with 15% ofthe waste heat
being released to the atmosphere as stack heat and the other 85% taken away in the cooling water. If the
cooling water is allowed a rise in temperature by 8.0C, what flow rate would be required, in m3/s: (a) 40.8,
(b) 50.8, (c) 60.8, or (d) 80.8.
6. Stumm and Morgan found in 1981 that algae has a common chemical composition as C 106H263 0 110N 16P.
Based on this information, which of the following is false: A water body is considered P limited if it has a
NIP ratio (by weight) of (a) 16, (b) 12, or (c) 10, or (d) cannot tell due to insufficient information.
7. Ammonia (NH3) dissolves in water forming NH/ and 01-1. The equilibrium constant for this reaction is
1.82 x 105 In order to remove NH/ from water by stripping, the pH of the water has to be adjusted. At
which of the following pH levels that over 99.8% ofNH/ becomes NH3 : (a) 10.5, (b) 11, (c) 11.5, or (d)
12.

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8 Ammonia (NH3, atomic weight: N 14) dissolves in water forming NH/ and OR. The equilibrium
constant for this reaction is 1.82 x 105 . The sewage of Hong Kong contains 28 mg/L of total NH3-N
(sum ofNH3-N and NH/-N) at pH=7.26 and T=25C. According to Henry's law (KH = 26.6 mole/L-atm
for NH3 ), the concentration of NH3 in the sewer atmosphere (I atm, 25e) in ppm by volume is around
(a) 0.55, (b) 0.62, (c) 0.75, or (d) 0.83.
9. Calcium (ea'+), magnesium (Mg2+) and aluminum (AJ'+) are among the most common cations found in
groundwater. Which of the following waters has the highest degree of hardness as expressed by eae03
equivalent? Water (a) containing 100 mg/1 of ea'+, or (b) containing 50 mg/1 of Ca2 + and 50 mg/1 of
Mg'+, or (c) containing 35 mg/1 of ea'+, 35 mg/1 ofMg'+ and 35 mg/1 of Al3+, or (d) containing 50 mg/1
ofMg2+ and 50 mg/1 of AJ'+.
I 0. A sample of groundwater has I 00 mg/L of ea'+ and I 0 mg/L of Mg2+.. What are the hardness expressed
in meq/L and mg/L as eae0 3: (a) 5.8 meq/L and 291 mg/L; (b) 2.9 meq/L and 291 mg/L; (c) 5.8 meq/L
and 146 mg/L; or (d) 2.9 meq/L and 146 mg/L.
11. Which ofthe following elements is false: (a) chlorine is not considered as an essential element for the
growth of living organisms, (b) the lower the number of chlorine atoms in an organic pollutant often
means the lower the toxicity; (c) organic pesticides may contain phosphorus; or (d) ozonation of drinking
water may produce harmful by-product trihalomethane.
12. Which one of the following statement is false: Eutrophication may result in (a) increased growth of
algae, (b) increase of fish population, (c) increased water turbidity, or (d) increased dissolved oxygen in
daytime on the water surface.
13. Which one of the following descriptions related to secondary sewage treatment is false: (a) suspended
solids in the sewage accounted for over 113 of total BOD, (b) most of sewage in Hong Kong is treated by
secondary treatment, (c) sludge handling and disposal are as expensive as BOD reduction, or (d)
chlorination of treated effluent is not required in Hong Kong.
14. Disinfection is the final treatment process in many water treatment plants. Although chlorination is the
most commonly used, there are many other disinfection processes being used. Identify the process in the
following which is not a disinfection process: (a) activated carbon, (b) reverse osmosis, (c) ozonation, or
(d) UV irradiation.
15. Which one of the following statement regarding coagulation is false: (a) it always followed by the
flocculation process, (b) it always requires addition of chemicals, (c) it requires only a very mild mixing,
and (d) it is used for both water and wastewater treatment in Hong Kong.
16. The effluent quality of a conventional secondary wastewater treatment plant has been determined in the
laboratory as follows: (a) COD= 10 mg/L, (b) BOD5 = 20 mg/L, (c) suspended solids= 30 mg/L, and (d)
ammonia nitrogen= 2.5 mg/L. Which value is most probably incorrect?
17. Typically, one gram of activated carbon may have an adsorbing surface area of about (a) 0.6 m2, (b) 6
m2, (c) 60m2 , or (d) 600m2
18. Which one of the following description is a false description of dissolved oxygen (DO) which is one of
the most critical parameter on water quality: its solubility in water decreases with (a) the increase of pH,
(b) increase of altitude, (c) increase of temperature, or (d) increase of salinity.
19. A reverse osmosis plant treats daily 5000 tons of feedwater containing 1500 mg/L of salt, and yields
3000 tons of product water with 75 mg/L of salt. What is the salt concentration in the rejected brine: (a)
3600 mg/L, (b) 2600 mg/L, (c) 1600 mg/L or (d) 600 mg/L?
20. A typical coal burned in power plant has an energy content of about 24 kJ/g and an average carbon
content of about 62%. The emission standards limit sulfur emission to 260g of S0 2 per million kJ of heat
input to the plant (130g of S per10 6 kJ), and restrict particulate emissions to 13 g/10 6kJ. Suppose the
average plant bums fuel with 3% S and I 0% ash. About 80% of the ash is released to the air and 20%
settles as bottom ash. Assuming an energy conversion efficiency of 33.3%, how efficient must the sulfur
emission control system be to meet the S emission limitations: (a) 93%, (b) 90%, (c) 87%, or (d) 85%?
21. For the above question, how efficient must the particulate control system be to meet the particulate
emission limit: (a) 99.6%, (b) 99.5%, (c) 99.4% or (d) 99.3%?
22. For the above question, what is the carbon emission for each kW-h of electricity produced: (a) 450 g-e,
(b) 280 g-e, (c) 120 g-e, or (d) 76.4 g-e?
23. The concentration of a pollutant was reduced from 250 mg/1 to 125 mg/1 in 23 days at 25e under I atm.
To your best estimation, the degradation coefficient of this pollutant is about (a) 0.03 day 1, (b) 0.05 day
1 1
, (c) 0.07 day' , or (d) 0.10 day']

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24. Which of the following statement is false: (a) Henry's Law constant for gases is independent of
temperature; (h) when dissolved in water, nitrogen remains un-dissociated; (c) at pH 10, C0 2 is mainly
in the form of CO/"; or (d) an effective way to remove ammonium in water is by raising the pH to above
9.5.
25. An industrial wastewater (BOD 5 = 1,000 mg!L, total nitrogen= 10 mg!L, flow rate= 1 Lis) is discharged
into a public sewer and mixed with domestic sewage (BOD5 = 200 mg!L, total nitrogen = 40 mg!L, flow rate
= 1,000 m3/d). What is the ratio ofBOD 5 to total nitrogen of the mixture: (a) 5:1, (b) 6:1, (c) 7:1, or (d) 8:1.
26. Which of the following statement is false? Disinfection by-products are (a) resulting from chlorination,
(b) carcinogenic, (c) due to the presence of residual organic matter in water, or (d) not removable by
reverse osmosis.
27. Which of the following statement is false? Groundwater (a) is often hard, (b) may contain magnesium,
(c) is often slightly acidic, or (d) often requires aeration as the first step of treatment before being
distributed to households.
28 Carbon dioxide is the fourth most abundant gas in the atmosphere (on dry basis). What is its present
percentage in the atmosphere: (a) 0.039%, (b) 0.029%, (c) 0.0039% or (d) 0.0029%.
29. Which of the following air pollutants does not contribute to the formation of photochemical smog: (a)
VOC, (b) NOx, (c) CO, or (d) S02 .
30 Three pollutants (CO, NOx, PM25 ) are measured at a monitoring site. Their calculated air pollution index
(API) values are: 40, 70, and 100, respectively. The fmal reported API value for the location is: (a) 110,
(b) 210, (c) 100, or (d) 70.

Section B (Fluid Mechanics)

Answer TWO out of the following three questions.

Each question carries 25 marks.

Density of water = 1000 kg/m3

Kinematic viscosity of water= l.Ox10-6 m2/s
2
Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.81 m/s
jl-2
Head loss equation for pipe flow: h1 = _!!__
d 2g

1. Give short/numerical answers to the followings:

(a) Name one instrument for each of the following measurements:

(i) wind speed in the field;
(ii) fluctuating flow velocity inside a wind tunnel;
(iii) discharge of water in an open charmel. (5 marks)

(b) Water flows from a I 0-cm diameter pipe to a 6-cm diameter pipe through a transition
section (see figure). Estimate the discharge (in m3/s) through the pipe when the water
level difference in the two piezometers is 15 cm. The piezometric height in the 6-cm pipe
is 50 cm. (5 marks)

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 t 15 cm
50 cm
Q=?

(c) Estimate the force which the flow exerts on the transition section in (b). (5 marks)

(d) A 1:350 tall building model is tested inside a wind tunnel at a wind speed of 11.5 rn!s.
The lateral force acting on the building model is measured by a force balance and the
mean force is 16.5 N. Estimate the wind force on the prototype tall building under a wind
speed of 48.0 rn!s. (5 marks)

(e) Water is pumped through a 12-km long horizontal pipe at a discharge of 0.07 m3/s. The
diameter of the pipe is 0.6 m and the friction factor is 0.024. What is the required
pumping power? (5 marks)

2. (a) Explain the meaning and significance of the Reynolds number and the Froude number.
(5 marks)

(b) Explain why distorted scale models are usually used to study river flows. (5 marks)

(c) A distorted scale river model is used to study a flood discharge scheme. The average width
and depth of the river are I 0 m and 3 m, respectively. A horizontal scale of 1: 100 and a
vertical scale of 1:25 are used in the model. If the maximum discharge carried by the model
river is measured to be 2.35x10-3 m3/s, estimate the corresponding discharge capacity of the
prototype river. (5 marks)

(d) Estimate the mean flow velocity in the model river in (c). Name some laboratory
instruments which can measure this velocity. Compare the Reynolds numbers in the
prototype and in the model. Comment on the mismatch of Reynolds numbers in achieving
dynamic similarity between the model and the prototype. (5 marks)

(e) In the river model testing in (c), the river is found to discharge a model flood in 8.5 minutes.
What will the corresponding prototype flood discharge time? (5 marks)

3. (a) There are two pipes A and B. When water is pumped through pipe A at a flowrate of2.0
m3/s, there is a head loss of 30 m. When water is pumped through pipe B at a rate of 1.4
m3Is, the head loss is 25 m. Assume that the friction factors of the pipes do not vary with
the discharges through them.

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 (i) Now pipes A and B are connected in series and water is pumped through them
jointly at a total flowrate of 1.5 m 3/s. Estimate the resulting head loss. (7 marks)

(ii) Estimate the resulting head loss if pipes A and B are connected in parallel and water
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of the same flowrate at 1.5 m /s is pumped through them. What will be the discharge
through pipe A in this case? (8 marks)

(b) Three pipes from three reservoirs meet at a common junction J. The pipe and reservoir
data are given in the following table. If it is observed that there is no flow in pipe b
between Junction and Reservoir B, calculate the elevation of Reservoir C which has the
lowest elevation. (10 marks)

Reservoir level Pipe Diameter Length Friction factor

(m above datum) (mm) (m)
A: 250 a 150 600 0.020
B: 150 b 100 500 0.032
C: unknown c 200 1200 0.024

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