FE Environmental Part 1

Flashcards from the notes I've taken in preparation for the Environmental FE. This covers these topics: ethics, health hazards/risk assessment, energy/environment, thermodynamics, economics

1. public

2. law

3. profession

4. client

5. firm

6. other engineers

7. yourself

ethical priorities (highest to lowest)

safety, health, and welfare of the public

#1 ethical priority

clean water act

established surface water protection and NPDES permits

RCRA

established active waste management

resource conservation and recovery act

RCRA

CERCLA

established cleanup of existing contamination and superfunds

comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act

CERCLA

SDWA

established drinking water standards

safe drinking water act

SDWA

NEPA

established environmental decision-making process

national environmental policy act

NEPA

OSHA

established worker safety standards

compatible

components that do not react with each other

not compatible

components that react with each other

pyrophoric

substances that easily ignite when close to oxygen

noise abatement

noise reducing techniques

carcinogenic

inducing cancer

mutagenic

inducing mutations in genes

dermal

skin contact

water

exposure through ingestion, dermal, inhalation

sediment

exposure through ingestion, dermal

air

exposure through inhalation

food

exposure through ingestion

no observed adverse effect level

NOAEL

reference dose

RfD

acceptable daily intake

ADI

chronic daily intake

CDI

dose response evaluation

relates quantitative dose of a contaminant with the incidence of adverse health in an exposed population

exposure assessment

estimating the magnitude of exposure to chemicals of concern

risk characterization

when all toxicity and exposure data is reviewed to calculate total risk

geothermal energy

energy using heat from the Earth’s core

conventional energy

coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear

alternative energy

solar, wind, biogas, geothermal, tidal

potential energy

stored energy

chemical energy

energy stored in bonds of atoms and molecules

mechanical energy

energy stored in objects by tension

nuclear energy

energy that holds the nucleus together

gravitational energy

energy stored in an object’s height and weight

kinetic energy

energy in motion

thermal energy

energy in heat

electrical energy

energy in electrons moving through a wire

environment, economy, social

triple bottom line

carbon footprint

total greenhouse gas emissions associated with a process, product, or energy source

conduction

transfer of heat through a substance

convection

transfer of heat by the movement of heated liquids and gases

radiation

energy that moves from one place to another in waves or particles

1st law of thermodynamics

energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed

2nd law of thermodynamics

entropy in an isolated system increases over time, and heat flows from hotter to colder regions

entropy

measure of quality of energy

energy

ability to do work

heat

energy transfer driven by a temperature difference

salvage value

estimated worth of an asset at the end of its useful life

fixed cost

costs that do not change with production rate or operating level

variable cost

costs that change with production or activity level

incremental cost

additional cost incurred by producing one more unit

sunk cost

costs that have already occurred and cannot be recovered

accept project

B/C > 1

break even

B/C = 1

reject project

B/C < 1

break even analysis

total revenue = total cost

life cycle cost analysis

evaluates all costs over a project’s life

occupational health and safety act

OSHA