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Evaluation Of Landfill Gas Decay Constant For Municipal Solid Waste Landfills Operated As Bioreactors
Citation:
TOLAYMAT, T. M., R. Green, G. Hater, M. Barlaz, P. Black, D. Bronson, AND J. Powell. Evaluation Of Landfill Gas Decay Constant For Municipal Solid Waste Landfills Operated As Bioreactors. JOURNAL OF AIR AND WASTE MANAGEMENT. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 60(1):91-97, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
To optimize energy recovery and to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from bioreactor landfills at the Outer Loop Landfill in Louisville, KY.
Description:
Prediction of the rate of gas production from bioreactor landfills is important to optimize energy recovery and to estimate greenhouse gas emissions. Landfill gas (LFG) composition and flow rate were monitored for four years for a conventional and two bioreactor landfill landfills cells at the Outer Loop Landfill in Louisville, KY. The ultimate yield (Lo) was estimated from the biochemical methane (CH4) potential of freshly buried refuse and the decay rate constant (k) was estimated from CH4 production rate data using a quasi-Newton method. The estimated decay rate in the conventional cell (0.043 yr-1) was comparable to the AP-42 default value of 0.04 yr-1, while the estimates for the bioreactor cells were substantially higher (~0.11 yr-1). The more rapid decomposition in the bioreactor cells suggests the importance of having a LFG collection system operational once the waste receives enough moisture to affect the decay rate, this will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy recovery.
