Citation:

Sims, M., P. Quigley, C. Makselon, E. Thoma, M. MacDonald, W. Champion, M. Krause, AND S. Thorneloe-Howard. Understanding and Reducing Fugitive Landfill Emissions Using Combined Well Performance and Methane Air Monitoring. Submitted to Air & Waste Management Association¿s Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology Conference, Durham, NC, November 14 - 16, 2023.

Impact/Purpose:

This is an abstract and associated presentation titled “Understanding and Reducing Fugitive Landfill Emissions Using Combined Well Performance and Methane Air Monitoring” submitted to the Air & Waste Management Association’s Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology conference to be held November 14–16, 2023 on Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. This presentation will review recent progress in a collaboration with LoCI Controls on next generation emission measurement (NGEM) development for improved understanding and control of landfill fugitive emission measurements. The project aims to understand the utility of combined landfill gas well and methane air monitoring in high density sensor network deployments on landfill surfaces.

Description:

Improved understanding and control of methane and other air emissions from municipal solid waste landfills is an emerging priority in the U.S. and internationally. However, quantification of emissions from landfills represents one of the most difficult source emission measurement challenges. Landfills are physically large, topographically complex, and possess variable surface conditions that change on a daily basis. Landfill emissions occur from both point-like sources and dispersed areas through the soil cover, with emission rates determined in part by atmospheric conditions, such as barometric pressure and wind speed. Site operations including working face management, temporary cover, and gas capture system design and maintenance states are key factors affecting emissions. These factors also frequently change. Field measurement of methane emissions using standard or drone-based Method 21 surface emissions monitoring and emerging next generation emission measurement (NGEM) approaches such as airborne and satellite imaging and ground-based mobile assessments provide valuable snap-shot measures of emissions but lack both diurnal and longer-term informative power. NGEM measurements with on-surface and boundary point (or open-path) sensors yield enhanced temporal coverage and may offer advantages in measurement sensitivity and interpretive power, especially when coupled with site operational metadata. LoCI Controls specializes in instrumented well field monitoring and analytics for enhanced (tuned) gas capture performance. Using the installed well field monitoring infrastructure, open air network methane sensing at each LoCI instrumented well location provides the opportunity for higher spatial density sensor networks that can fully leverage the real-time well performance data gathered by the primary LoCI systems. In this presentation, we explore early collaborative efforts to combine high density methane observations with the well field performance data to provide an enhanced picture of both fugitive methane emission levels and the factors contributing to these emissions.

Record Details: