Methane Oxidation and Microbial Community Dynamics in Activated Biochar-Amended Landfill Soil Cover
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 4
Abstract
In recent years, biochar-amended soil cover has shown promise for enhancing microbial methane () oxidation and mitigate fugitive emissions at municipal solid waste landfills. However, addition of biochar in landfill cover soil has an initial lag phase due to microbial acclimation and colonization, resulting in lower oxidation rates relative to landfill cover soil. Therefore, this study explored amendment of landfill cover soil with biochar infused with methane-oxidizing bacterial (MOB) consortium (termed activated biochar) to reduce acclimation time and enhance the oxidation activity. Experimental long-term incubation tests were performed on soil columns containing one of four different biocovers: soil control (CS), soil with 10% by weight of biochar (B10), soil with 5% MOB-activated biochar (AB5), and soil with 10% MOB-activated biochar (AB10), exposed to continuous flow of simulated landfill gas (LFG). The AB10 soil column had a reduced lag phase with notable oxidation efficiency (ranging from 13% to 50%) during the initial exposure phase compared with all other biocover columns (0.4%–36%). In addition, the activated biochar–amended soil biocovers had higher oxidation rates () than the nonactivated biochar–amended soil () and soil control (). The activated biochar–amended columns had higher relative abundances of Type II methanotrophs, mainly Methylocystis and Methylosinus (relative abundance ) than did nonactivated biochar–amended soil and control columns (relative abundance 3.0%–3.6%). A positive correlation was observed between oxidation rate and the ratio of Type II/Type I abundance (, ), further suggesting an important role for the biochar activation in the biological mitigation process. Overall, biochar activation appears to be a promising mechanism to reduce microbial lag phase and enhance oxidation rates in biochar-amended landfill cover soils.
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Data Availability Statement
All data generated during the study appear in this article.
Acknowledgments
This research is a part of comprehensive project Innovative Biochar-Slag-Soil Cover System for Zero Emissions at Landfills funded by the National Science Foundation (CMMI# 1724773), which is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are grateful to the Genomic Research Core in the Research Resources Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago for microbial analysis.
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Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 4 • April 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jun 7, 2021
Accepted: Nov 30, 2021
Published online: Feb 9, 2022
Published in print: Apr 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jul 9, 2022
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