Characterizing the Effects of Biologically Active Covers on Landfill Methane Emission Flux and Bio-Oxidation
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 9
Abstract
A significant amount of methane has been fugitively released into the atmosphere from landfill operating surfaces. Biologically active covers have been listed as crucial technologies and practices to mitigate fugitive emissions from landfills. The objectives of this work were to evaluate the performance of two biologically active covers, aged refuse (AR) and biochar-amended soil (BAS), on mitigating landfill methane emission and methane bio-oxidation and to identify the major factors influencing the bio-oxidation process. Soil cover was chosen as contrast. On the basis of a field experiment over 3 months, BAS or AR cover showed much better adaptability to methane influx and environmental factors than soil cover. Furthermore, the isotope results showed that the mean value of methane oxidation fraction () was 61.5 or 56.1% in BAS or AR cover, respectively. The peak was observed at the depth of 10 cm and decreased with increasing depth for both AR and BAS cover. Through the polymerase chain reaction—denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) analysis of methanotrophic diversity, Type I methanotrophs dominated in the BAS cell, while Type II methanotrophs predominated in AR cell. Both AR and BAS can be applied as temporary covers in the operating surface of landfills for enhancing the oxidation and mitigating emission from landfill operating surfaces.
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Acknowledgments
This project is supported by Special Fund of Environmental Protection Research for Public Welfare of China (No. 201509055).
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 9 • September 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 8, 2016
Accepted: Feb 27, 2017
Published online: Jun 1, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Nov 1, 2017
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