Dr Alma Schellart
MSc, PhD
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Senior Lecturer in Water Engineering
a.schellart@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 5765
+44 114 222 5765
Room F126, Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Full contact details
Dr Alma Schellart
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Room F126
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Room F126
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
-
By aiming to understand water flow and quality throughout the whole catchment, and how uncertainty is introduced into numerical modelling, I can advise the water industry on how to better manage our existing sewer infrastructure, and make it more cost-effective and sustainable.
Dr Alma Schellart
Alma studied her MSc degree in Civil Engineering specialising in Water Management at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
After completing her PhD on uncertainty in sewer sediment transport with us, she worked as a researcher here on uncertainty in integrated water quality modelling and the use of rainfall radar data.
From 2011 to 2013 Alma lectured at the University of Bradford where she expanded her research on urban rainfall and started research on energy balance in the urban water cycle and heat recovery from urban drainage systems. She rejoined the Department in 2013.
- Research interests
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Alma’s research focuses on improving our existing sewer systems and finding better ways to manage them as the global population grows.
By using computer modelling, fieldwork and laboratory measurements she seeks to improve the numerical models used to manage sewer systems.
She looks at water quality and quantity as both are vital for managing and monitoring for our existing systems.
Alma’s work in water quality explores uncertainty and involves predicting the amount of run-off and sediments that may enter our water systems.
The pattern and amount of water which enters our sewer systems is expected to change significantly because of climate change and population growth. Alma aims to find solutions to make better use of our existing sewer infrastructure, which are more sustainable and cost-effective.
Alma has coordinated a large European project, looking into quantifying uncertainty in integrated catchment studies.
This involved seven other universities and several commercial partners in their exploration of uncertainty in different models and data collection methods, in order to gain a bigger picture of simulating water flow and quality throughout the whole catchment.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Costs and benefits of combined sewer overflow management strategies at the European scale. Journal of Environmental Management, 318, 115629-115629.
- Future Inspection and Deterioration Prediction Capabilities for Buried Distributed Water Infrastructure. Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 13(3).
- Spatial and temporal considerations of implementing local renewable energy sources and decentralised heat recovery for domestic heat. Journal of Cleaner Production, 358. View this article in WRRO
- A hydrological model to estimate pollution from combined sewer overflows at the regional scale: application to Europe. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 41.
- The potential for heat recovery and thermal energy storage in the UK using buried infrastructure. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Smart Infrastructure and Construction. View this article in WRRO
- Integrating existing water and wastewater assets to reduce domestic heating emissions. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Energy.
- Comparing methods to place adaptive local RTC actuators for spill volume reduction from multiple CSOs. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 24(1), 78-92. View this article in WRRO
- Thermal energy transfer around buried pipe infrastructure. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment. View this article in WRRO
- Implications of model uncertainty for investment decisions to manage intermittent sewer overflows. Water Research, 194.
- Using long term simulations to understand heat transfer processes during steady flow conditions in combined sewers. Water, 13(4). View this article in WRRO
- Hydraulic optimisation of multiple flow control locations for the design of local real time control systems. Urban Water Journal, 18(2), 91-100. View this article in WRRO
- Reducing carbon emissions by integrating urban water systems and renewable energy sources at a community scale. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 123. View this article in WRRO
- Potential influence of sewer heat recovery on in-sewer processes. Water Science and Technology, 80(12), 2344-2351.
- Optimisation of a fuzzy logic-based local real-time control system for mitigation of sewer flooding using genetic algorithms. Journal of Hydroinformatics. View this article in WRRO
- Evaluation of a coupled hydrodynamic-closed ecological cycle approach for modelling dissolved oxygen in surface waters. Environmental Modelling & Software. View this article in WRRO
- Quantifying the impact of uncertainty within the longitudinal dispersion coefficient on concentration dynamics and regulatory compliance in rivers. Water Resources Research, 55(5), 4393-4409. View this article in WRRO
- Recent insights on uncertainties present in integrated catchment water quality modelling. Water Research, 150, 368-379. View this article in WRRO
- Modelling the potential for multi-location in-sewer heat recovery at a city scale under different seasonal scenarios. Water Research, 145, 618-630. View this article in WRRO
- Accounting for variation in rainfall intensity and surface slope in wash-off model calibration and prediction within the Bayesian framework. Water Research, 143, 561-569. View this article in WRRO
- Quantifying Uncertainty in Simulation of Sewer Overflow Volume. Journal of Environmental Engineering (United States), 144(7). View this article in WRRO
- A comparative study of manhole hydraulics using stereoscopic PIV and different RANS models.. Water Sci Technol, 2017(1), 87-98. View this article in WRRO
- Improving understanding of the underlying physical process of sediment wash-off from urban road surfaces. Journal of Hydrology, 557, 426-433. View this article in WRRO
- Prediction of Organic Combined Sewer Sediment Release and Transport. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 144(3). View this article in WRRO
- Geostatistical upscaling of rain gauge data to support uncertainty analysis of lumped urban hydrological models. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(2), 1077-1091. View this article in WRRO
- Analysis of ground-source heat pumps in north-of-England homes. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Energy.
- Quantifying radar-rainfall uncertainties in urban drainage flow modelling. Journal of Hydrology, 528, 17-28.
- Predicting wastewater temperatures in sewer pipes using abductive network models. Water Science and Technology, 71(1), 89-96.
- Effects of coolant flow rate, groundwater table fluctuations and infiltration of rainwater on the efficiency of heat recovery from near surface soil layers. Geothermics, 53, 171-182.
- Comparing quantitative precipitation forecast methods for prediction of sewer flows in a small urban area. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59(7).
- Modelling the viability of heat recovery from combined sewers. Water Science and Technology, 70(2), 297-306.
- Influence of small scale rainfall variability on standard comparison tools between radar and rain gauge data. Atmospheric Research, 138, 125-138.
- Erosion resistance and behaviour of highly organic in-sewer sediment. Water Science and Technology, 69(3), 672-679.
- Influence of rainfall estimation error and spatial variability on sewer flow prediction at a small urban scale. Advances in Water Resources, 45, 65-75.
- Uncertainty in sewer sediment deposit modelling: Detailed vs simplified modelling approaches. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 42-44, 11-20.
- Using probabilistic radar rainfall nowcasts and NWP forecasts for flow prediction in urban catchments. Rainfall in the Urban Context: Forecasting, Risk and Climate Change, 103, 80-95.
- Using probabilistic radar rainfall nowcasts and NWP forecasts for flow prediction in urban catchments. Atmospheric Research, 103, 80-95.
- Estimation of uncertainty in long-term sewer sediment predictions using a response database. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 136(7), 403-411.
- Towards quantification of uncertainty in predicting water quality failures in integrated catchment model studies. Water Research, 44(13), 3893-3904.
- Estimation of uncertainty in long term combined sewer sediment behaviour predictions, a UK case study. Water Science and Technology, 57(9), 1405-1411.
- Development of a Guideline for Sewer Operation and Maintenance in Austria. Water Practice and Technology, 2(1).
- Detailed observation and measurement of sewer sediment erosion under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Water Science and Technology, 52(3), 137-146.
- The acoustic attenuation and hydraulic roughness in a large section sewer pipe with periodical obstacles.. Water Sci Technol, 50(11), 97-104.
- Flow rate influence on sediment depth estimation in sewers using temperature sensors. Water Science & Technology.
- Optimal Positioning of RTC Actuators and SuDS for Sewer Overflow Mitigation in Urban Drainage Systems. Water, 14(23), 3839-3839.
Chapters
- Rainfall estimation and prediction for urban drainage, ICE Handbook of Urban Drainage Practice (pp. 145-160). Emerald Publishing Limited
- Data collection in urban drainage and stormwater management systems – case studies, Metrology in Urban Drainage and Stormwater Management: Plug and Pray (pp. 415-469).
Conference proceedings papers
- Optimizing mobile sensor movement and trajectory to improve water distribution network calibration. HIC 2024: 15th International Conference on Hydroinformatics: From Nature to Digital Water: Challenges and Opportunities (pp 149-150). Beijing, China, 27 May 2024 - 27 May 2024. View this article in WRRO
- Moving sensor deployment for network-wide pipe roughness calibration. 11th IWA Symposium on Modelling and Integrated Assessment, 24 September 2023 - 27 September 2023.
- A Vision for Pervasive Autonomous Inspection of Buried Pipe Infrastructure. 38th International Conference on Trenchless Technologies, No-Dig 2022, 3 October 2022 - 5 October 2022.
- Developing and testing a Fuzzy Logic algorithm to alleviate the risk of flooding by controlling a flow control device in a laboratory setting. Proceedings of 14th IWA / IAHR International Conference on Urban Drainage (ICUD2017). Prague, CZ, 10 September 2017 - 15 September 2017. View this article in WRRO
- High resolution rainfall measurement and analysis in a small urban catchment. 9th International Workshop on Precipitation in Urban Areas: Urban Challenges in Rainfall Analysis, UrbanRain 2012 (pp 115-120)
- Definition and implementation of innovative comparison tools between radar and rain gauge rainfall measurement. 9th International Workshop on Precipitation in Urban Areas: Urban Challenges in Rainfall Analysis, UrbanRain 2012 (pp 38-43)
- Optimising a Fuzzy logic real-time control system for sewer flooding reduction using a genetic algorithm. CCWI 2017 - 15th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry
- Evaluation of radar-rain gauge merging methods for urban hydrological applications: Relative performance and impact of gauge density. Rainfall in Urban and Natural Systems - Proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on Precipitation in Urban Areas, UrbanRain 2015
- Effect of biodegradability on erosion of highly organic sewer sediment.. 13th International Conference on Urban Drainage, Sarawak. Sarawak, Malaysia, 7 September 2014 - 12 September 2014.
- Thermal and Hydraulic Properties of Sandy Soils during Drying and Wetting Cycles. New Frontiers in Geotechnical Engineering
- Viability of Heat Recovery from Combined Sewers. 7th Int. Conf. Sewer Processes and Networks. Sheffield, UK
- Improving rainfall nowcasting and urban runoff forecasting through dynamic radar-raingauge rainfall adjustment (2013).. 7th Int. Conf. Sewer Processes and Networks. Sheffield, UK
- Analysis of different quantitative precipitation forecast methods for runoff and flow prediction in a small urban area. Weather Radar and Hydrology, Vol. 351 (pp 614-619)
- Comparison of rainfall radar and rain gauge data and application to sewer hydraulic modelling. Integrating Water Systems - Proceedings of the 10th International on Computing and Control for the Water Industry, CCWI 2009 (pp 763-766)
- Advancing Water Distribution Network Calibration: A Framework for Comparing Static and Mobile Sensing Approaches. The 3rd International Joint Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis & Computing and Control for the Water Industry (WDSA/CCWI 2024), Vol. 162 (pp 73-73)
- CCWI2017: F88 'Optimising a Fuzzy Logic Real-Time Control System for Sewer Flooding Reduction using a Genetic Algorithm'
Preprints
- Costs and benefits of combined sewer overflow management strategies at the European scale. Journal of Environmental Management, 318, 115629-115629.
- Research group
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SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems) and Urban Drainage
Environmental Fluid Mechanics
- Grants
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Past Grants
The EPSRC-funded Grand Challenge Centre for Water, comprising 6 UK universities and 100+ industrial partners working in collaboration to develop the sustainable water solutions of the future and to accelerate innovation uptake across the water sector.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Coordinator of Marie-Curie Initial Training Network on Quantifying Uncertainty in Integrated Catchment Studies – 2014 to 2018
- Co -Investigator on CENTAUR H2020 project: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/centaur - 2015 - 2018
- Co-Investigator on TWENTY65 - https://twenty65.ac.uk/ - 2016 - 2021
- Member of IWA Working Group in Data and Models, and IWA working group Sewer Processes and Networks
- Potential PhD offerings
Unfortunately I am not seeking any PhD Students at this time, however please contact me if you are interested in doing a project in my research area.