Leachate Recirculation in Bioreactor Landfills Using Geocomposite Drainage Material
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 2
Abstract
The key purpose of this study was to test the use of a permeable blanket made up of a geocomposite drainage layer (GDL) for leachate recirculation in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills and to predict the observed leachate travel in the blanket using a numerical model. A long by wide permeable blanket made up of GDL was constructed at an active MSW landfill located in Michigan. Leachate was injected in the GDL using a perforated pipe placed centrally above the GDL along its length. Moisture content sensors, pressure transducers, thermistors, thermocouple sensors, and a vertical load sensor were embedded immediately below the GDL blanket to monitor the flow of injected leachate. After the blanket was covered with waste, leachate was injected into the blanket at rates ranging from 0.9 to per meter length of the blanket. Data collected from the embedded sensors indicated that the injected leachate traveled at rates ranging from 5 to through the blanket depending upon the leachate injection rate. Only pressure transducers and thermistors were consistently able to detect migration of injected leachate once the blanket got saturated. Moisture content sensors could not register any change in readings once the blanket became saturated. Leachate injection pressure monitored over a period of about 12 months indicated no signs of clogging of the blanket. The leachate pressures measured immediately below the blanket were less than the net leachate injection pressure indicting that there was a head loss in the GDL blanket. Numerical modeling of liquid flow in the blanket indicated that predicted leachate travel in the blanket was consistent with the field data for assumed values of the waste hydraulic conductivity. In the absence of measured representative hydraulic properties of the waste, absolute verification of the field data was not possible.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This project was jointly funded by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. CMS-0510091), Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF), and Waste Management Inc. We sincerely appreciate the financial support from the sponsors. Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc. (GSE) donated the geocomposite drainage material for this project. However, the results and opinions presented in this manuscript are those of the writers. The writers would also like to express sincere appreciation to Mr. Paul Mazanec, Mr. Ron Feldkamp, Dr. Xianda Zhao, and Mr. Chester Stanley for their help during the construction of the blanket and the coordination of numerous field leachate recirculation trials at the landfill site.
References
Bleiker, D. E., McBean, E., and Farquhar, G. (1993). “Refuse sampling and permeability testing at the Brock West and Keele Valley landfills.” Proc., 16th Int. Madison Waste Conf., 548–567.
Eith, A., and Koerner, R. (1992). “Field-evaluation of geonet flow-rate (transmissivity) under increasing load.” Geotext. Geomembr., 11(4–6), 489–501.
Fungaroli, A., and Steiner, R. (1979). “Investigation of sanitary landfill behavior.” Vol. 1, Final Rep., U.S. EPA 600/2–79–053a.
Gawande, N., Reinhart, D., Thomas, P., McCreanor, P., and Townsend, T. (2003). “Municipal solid waste in-situ moisture content measurement using an electrical resistance sensor.” Waste Manage., 23, 667–674.
Giroud, J., Zhao, A., and Richardson, G. (2000). “Effect of thickness reduction on geosynthetic hydraulic transmissivity.” Geosynthet. Int., 7(4–6), 433–452.
Haydar, M. M. (2005). “Leachate recirculation in bioreactor landfills: Field-scale testing and modeling.” Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State Univ., E. Lansing, Mich.
Haydar, M. M., and Khire, M. V. (2005). “Leachate recirculation using horizontal trenches in bioreactor landfills.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 131(7), 837–847.
Haydar, M. M., and Khire, M. V. (2006a). “Geotechnical sensor system to monitor injected liquids in landfills.” Geotech. Test. J., 29(1), 1–8.
Haydar, M. M., and Khire, M. V. (2006b). “Leachate recirculation using permeable blankets in engineered landfills.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., in press.
Hughes, G., Landon, R., and Farrolden, R. (1971). “Hydrogeology of waste disposal sites in Northeastern Illinois.” EPA solid waste management series, SW-12d.
Koerner, G., Koerner, R., and Martin, J. (1994). “Geotextile filters used for leachate collection systems: Testing, design of field behavior.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 120(10), 1792–1803.
Koerner, R. (1999). Designing with geosynthetics, Prentice-Hall, N.J.
Koerner, R. (2000). “Leachate recycling loading to bioreactor landfills for the rapid degradation of municipal solid waste.” Proc., ESD Solid Waste Management Conf., Mich., 39.
Korfiatis, G., Demetracopoulos, A., Bourodimos, E., and Nawy, E. (1984). “Moisture transport in a solid waste column.” J. Environ. Eng., 110(4), 789–796.
McCreanor, P. (1998). “Landfill leachate recirculation systems: Mathematical modeling and validation.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla.
Moody, L. (1944). “Friction factor for pipe flow.” Trans. ASME, 66, 671.
Oweis, I., Smith, D., Ellwood, R., and Greene, D. (1990). “Hydraulic characteristics of municipal refuse.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 116(4), 539–553.
Pohland, F., and Kim, J. (1999). “In situ aerobic treatment of leachate in landfill bioreactors.” Water Sci. Technol., 40, 203–210.
Qian, X., Koerner, R., and Gray, D. (2002). Geotechnical aspects of landfill design and construction, Prentice-Hall, N.J.
Reinhart, D., and Al-Yousfi, B. (1996). “The impact of leachate recirculation on municipal solid waste landfill operating characteristics.” Waste Manage. Res., 14, 337–346.
Scanlon, B., Christman, M., Reedy, R., Porro, I., Simunek, J., and Flerchinger, G. (2002). “Intercode comparisons for simulating water balance of surficial sediments in semiarid regions.” Water Resour. Res., 38(12), 5901–5915.
Simunek, J., Sejna, M., and Van Genuchten, M. (1999). The HYDRUS-2D software package; user’s manual for simulating the 2D movement of water, heat, and multiple solutes in variably saturated media, version 2.0, U.S. Salinity Laboratory, Agriculture Research Service, USDA, Riverside, Calif.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 12, 2004
Accepted: Sep 28, 2006
Published online: Feb 1, 2007
Published in print: Feb 2007
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.