Biocover Performance of Landfill Methane Oxidation: Experimental Results
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 8
Abstract
An experimental passive methane oxidation biocover (PMOB) was constructed within the existing final cover of the St-Nicéphore landfill. Its substrate consisted of a 0.80-m-thick mixture of sand and compost. The goal of this experiment was to evaluate the performance of the PMOB in reducing emissions when submitted to an increasing methane load. The load applied started with . When the site had to be closed for the winter, the input was . Throughout the study, practically all the input was oxidized; absolute removal rates were linearly correlated to methane loading; and the oxidation zone was established between 0.6–0.8 m. These results seem to indicate that the upper limit potential of this PMOB to oxidize was not necessarily reached during the study period. Surface concentration scans showed no signs of leaks. The substrate offered excellent conditions for the growth of methanotrophs, whose count averaged soil.
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Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the numerous students involved in the project, namely, C. Roncato, M. Capanema, F. Lenzi, and M. Létourneau. The invaluable help of Jean-Guy Lemelin, technician, must also be particularly acknowledged. This work was supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), BIOCAP Foundation Canada, the Biotechnology Research Institute (NRC), and Waste Management Canada under Strategic Grant No. UNSPECIFIEDGHG 322418-0. When finalizing this paper, the first writer was working as Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil with a grant from CAPES/Brazil.NSERC
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 8 • August 2010
Pages: 785 - 793
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 17, 2008
Published online: Oct 24, 2009
Accepted: Mar 15, 2010
Published in print: Aug 2010
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