At the end of the course, students will be expected to: - Knowing and understanding the nature of the physical, physico-chemical and chemical mechanisms that determine the fate of a pollutant after it has been emitted from a source, and along its movement in some environmental systems (atmosphere, surface water bodies, soils and aquifer) . - Knowing and understanding the foundations, potentials, and limitations of the main engineering methodologies and models applied to describe and predict the fate of pollutants. - Analyzing and interpreting the results of engineering methodologies and models for the correct evaluation of their appropriateness and correlating the modeling results with the relevant environmental phenomena. Furthermore, with the aim of fostering the autonomy, scientific soundness, and creativity needed in their future professional life, students are expected to: - Evaluating and applying the conceptual and numerical tools to quantify the transport and concentrations of pollutants introduced into some environmental systems, finding a balance between the complexity of the description and the simplicity of manipulation (balance between information and meaning). - Applying the acquired knowledge to select, compare, dismiss, and verify the engineering methodologies and models for forecasting the distribution of pollutants. - Applying the acquired knowledge to solve practical problems related to the behavior of pollutants introduced into realistic environmental systems.

The course is intended for students in the first year of the Master program in Environment Engineering. As a consequence, students are expected to have knowledge in: - organic and inorganic chemistry: basic knowledge - kinetics of transformation: strong knowledge - geology and geomechanics: basic knowledge - mass transport phenomena in the fluid phase: strong knowledge - interphase transport and partition between phases: strong knowledge - mass balances and modeling of environmental compartments: strong knowledge - numerical calculation and mathematical analysis: good knowledge Students are also expected to be experienced users of the Microsoft Office package (in particular, Word, Excel) or alternative text editing and spreadsheet software. Basic knowledge in Matlab programming is also very useful.

The course is divided into 4 modules: - Module 1 (about 15 hours, including 1 exercise): Flow in ideal and non-ideal reactors used for modeling environmental systems. Reaction and transformation kinetics of substances in ideal and non-ideal reactors. Use of ideal reactors for modeling non-ideal reactors and environmental systems. Approximation of environmental systems with ideal and non-ideal reactors. - Module 2 (about 15-20 hours, including 2 exercises): Basic notions of aquifer engineering: types of aquifer, storage and transport capacity of an aquifer, Darcy's law. Solutions of the differential flow equation: confined, semi-confined and unconfined aquifers. Interpretation of slug tests and well tests. Preliminary notions of mechanisms of propagation of pollutants in groundwater: advection, hydrodynamic dispersion, adsorption, radioactive decay, biodegradation, other processes. - Module 3 (about 15 hours, including 1 exercise): Dynamics of pollutants introduced into surface water bodies: physical, hydraulic, chemical and biological phenomena. Dissolved oxygen and Streeter-Phelps model in rivers. Dynamics of mixing in lakes and eutrophication. - Module 4 (about 30-35 hours, including 2 exercises): Elements of atmospheric mechanics and hydraulics at the local scale, dynamics of the earth's boundary layer, plume shape. Diffusion and transport of pollutants in the atmosphere, modeling and representation at different spatial and temporal scales. Atmospheric acidity, aerosol formation, dry and wet fallout phenomena. Examples of chemical phenomena of transformation in the troposphere and stratosphere.

The teacher will carry out the theoretical lessons using the board (if available) or digital support (if online) and showing some slides: the contents discussed during the theoretical lessons will be examined at the end of the course. There are no handouts or other teaching materials. In order to understand the teaching material, it is very useful to be present in class, to view any recordings, and/or to study lecture notes from other students. IMPORTANT: the slides shown during the theoretical lessons and shared on the portal will not be sufficient for the study but are only intended as a support for the lessons and as a support for the students for the annotation of notes.

The teaching includes lessons and problem-solving activities related to the topics covered in the lessons. During these problem-solving activities, numerical examples of application of the calculation models previously developed from a theoretical point of view by the teacher will be presented and solved: these problems will be solved using Excel and Matlab software. The problems and their results must be discussed in a technical report to be carried out in groups of two/three students and to be submitted by each student individually by the day on which the exam is held. The teaching is structured in: - 50 hours of theoretical lessons aimed at developing knowledge relating to the phenomena that determine the fate of pollutants released into different environmental systems and to the engineering methodologies and models that allow the prediction and quantification of their concentrations. - 30 hours of problem-solving activities, aimed at stimulating the ability to apply the acquired knowledge in solving practical and realistic problems. It will be necessary or useful to use personal computers.

The notions and calculation methodologies covered in class, as well as their application examples, are also discussed in many texts that can be used as a support and complement to the lessons. The use of these texts is not compulsory. Among these texts: - Chemical fate and transport in the environment, 2nd Edition, by Hemond H.F. and Fechner-Levy E.J., Academic Press - Environmental modeling (Fate and transport of pollutants in water, air, and soil), 1996, by Schnoor J.L., Wiley Transportation and processing in reactors: - Water quality engineering: physical/chemical treatment processes, (2013), by Benjamin M.:, Lawler, D., Wiley - Chemical reaction engineering, 3rd Edition (1999), Levenspiel O., Wiley Transport in the atmosphere: - Atmospheric chemistry and physics, 2nd Edition (2006), by Seinfeld J.H. and Pandis S.N., Wiley - Applied contaminant transport modeling, 2nd Edition (2002), by Zheng C. and Bennett G.D., Wiley Underground transport: - R.Sethi, A. Di Molfetta. Groundwater Engineering, Springer 2019 (https://tinyurl.com/yyvw67h7) - PA Dominic, F.W. Schwartz, Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, Second Edition, 1998. - V. Bathu, Aquifer Hydraulics, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York 1998. - Modeling groundwater flow and contaminant transport, (2010), by Bear J. and Cheng A.H.-D., Springer - Contaminant geochemistry: interactions and transport in the subsurface environment, 2nd Edition (2014), by Berkowitz B., Dror I. and Yaron B., Springer

Lecture slides; Exercises; Multimedia materials;

You can take this exam before attending the course

Exam: Written test; Individual essay;

The final exam is conducted through a written examination lasting 110 minutes, which aims to verify the skills related to all the topics of the lessons and problem-solving activities (see Expected learning outcomes). The exam includes both simple calculation exercises that require the need to choose and apply the most appropriate methods and modeling tools for their resolution, and theoretical questions, which require the student's ability to process and use the theoretical results discussed during class. The exam also covers the theoretical foundations underlying the resolution of the problem sets that students have submitted in the technical report. The exam consists of a written test of 5 open-ended questions, each with a value of 6/30 for a total of 30/30. Each of the 5 questions is divided into several theoretical questions or questions involving the resolution of quantitative problems. For the calculation of the final grade, a further 2 points will be taken into account, deriving from the evaluation of the technical report that summarizes the results of the problem sets performed during the semester as well as their discussion. To be admitted to the exam, each student must upload this report through the teaching portal by the day of the exam. The exam is passed if the final grade obtained by combining the written exam and the technical report relating to the problem sets is at least 18/30. If the evaluation exceeds 30/30, honors (laude) will be obtained. Please note the following: no coats, hats, bags, backpacks, pencil cases, calculators, or smartphones can be kept nearby during the exam. All these items must be stored and placed along the walls of the room, with no access during the test. During the exam, the following is also not allowed: keeping or consulting notebooks, books, exercise sheets, forms, calculators or other electronic instruments. It will not be possible to consult didactic material. Students are only allowed 3 items: a pen, a ruler, and a water bottle. The outcome of the exam will be communicated to students via a file uploaded on the portal, typically within three/five days of taking the written test. Students will be notified about the availability of this results file through the teaching portal in the notification tab. Students will be able to view the exam and its evaluation during a general meeting. The date of the meeting will be communicated to the students via the same notification on the teaching portal.

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.