Performance of North American Bioreactor Landfills. I: Leachate Hydrology and Waste Settlement
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Volume 136, Issue 8
Abstract
An assessment of state-of-the-practice at five full-scale North American landfills operating as bioreactors is presented in this two-paper set. This paper focuses on effectiveness of liners and leachate collection systems, leachate generation rates, leachate recirculation practices and rates, effectiveness in moistening the waste, and settlement of the waste over time. Except in one case, the liner and leachate collection systems at the bioreactor landfills were similar to those used for landfills operated conventionally. Leachate generation rates increased approximately linearly with recirculation rate, but in all cases, the leachate generation rate was . Leachate depths generally were maintained within regulatory requirements, even with the highest recirculation rates. Leakage rates from liners at bioreactor landfills, including alternative liner designs employing geosynthetic clay liners, are comparable to leakage rates from conventional landfills. Thus, based on the information gathered in this study, additional requirements or features for liners or leachate collection systems are not warranted for bioreactor landfills. Diminishing capacity of horizontal recirculation trenches is common. Experience at one landfill suggests that small doses at high frequency under substantial injection pressure can deter loss of trench capacity. Only those landfills that were aggressive in recirculation had achieved water contents near the field capacity. Increasing the amount of liquid that is added may be required to achieve field capacity at some landfills, particularly if a final cover is placed soon after waste grades are reached. The rate of time-dependent waste settlement attributed to biodegradation is about 1.6 times larger in bioreactor landfills than in conventional landfills, and increases as the recirculation dosage increases.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support for this study was provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) through the Office of Research and Development’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory. Participation by the Chester County Solid Waste Authority (Pennsylvania), Delaware Solid Waste Agency, Veolia Environmental Services, and Waste Management was critical to the success of this project. Douglas Mandeville, formerly of Geosyntec Consultants, also provided a significant amount of support for the study. The authors are grateful for all of the input and support provided. The findings in this report are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of U.S. EPA or others who participated in the study.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 8 • August 2010
Pages: 824 - 838
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 9, 2009
Accepted: Dec 29, 2009
Published online: Jul 15, 2010
Published in print: Aug 2010
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