Quantification of MSW Behavior at a Full-Scale Anaerobic Bioreactor Landfill

Past practice for the disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) has been to entomb it for as long a time as possible; a practice which can be called dry landfilling. A more recent liquids management strategy is to purposely add leachate and off-site liquids to the waste mass for rapid degradation of the organic components. This is called wet landfilling. There are at least three types of wet landfilling; leachate recirculation, anaerobic bioreactor, and aerobic bioreactor. The particular landfill which is the subject of this paper is of the anaerobic bioreactor type. The landfill cell being evaluated is 3 ha (5 acre) in size and is 60 m (200 ft) high. Wells have been installed to various depths such that the following properties of the degrading MSW can be quantified; temperature, moisture, liquid properties (COD, pH, TDS and TS), and gas properties (CH₄, CO₂, O₂ and N₂). This research-in-progress paper presents the data obtained over a 3-year period and provides some tentative remarks. The study will continue as long as degradation is occurring, perhaps for an additional 5 to 10-years.