Pilot-Scale Simulation of Landfill Bioreactor and Controlled Dumping of Fresh and Partially Stabilized Municipal Solid Waste in a Tropical Developing Country
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 15, Issue 4
Abstract
Four pilot-scale lysimeters were used to study the benefits of landfill operation with and without leachate recirculation in tropical weather conditions. Young and old landfills were simulated by filling lysimeters with a segregated fraction of fresh municipal solid waste (MSW) and MSW mined from an open dump site, respectively, and periodically monitoring leachate quantity and quality and biogas quality. For each substrate, one lysimeter was operated as a bioreactor with leachate recirculation and another lysimeter was operated as a controlled dump, for a period of 10 months. Densities between 652 and could be achieved with fresh and mined MSW. Despite such compaction during waste placement, bioreactor technology helps in leachate management, especially in the case of the young landfill lysimeter operated in tropical weather. The benefits of leachate recirculation in the young landfill lysimeter were evident from the significant decrease in chemical oxygen demand (COD) (86%), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (82%), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (85%), and volatile solids (75%) in leachates. However, ammonia nitrogen (amm-N) and chlorides in the leachates accumulated in bioreactor landfills. Operating an old landfill lysimeter as a bioreactor seemed to have no exceptional advantage in the context of leachate management, although leachate recirculation enhanced the methane potential of both fresh and mined MSW.
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Acknowledgments
The writers acknowledge financial support provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). Cooperation and help extended by the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and the Corporation of Chennai are gratefully acknowledged.
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Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 15 • Issue 4 • October 2011
Pages: 321 - 330
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 16, 2009
Accepted: Oct 8, 2010
Published online: Oct 12, 2010
Published in print: Oct 1, 2011
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