Short-term landfill methane emissions dependency on wind.

Short-term (2-10h) variations of whole-landfill methane emissions have been observed in recent field studies using the tracer dilution method for emissions measurement. To investigate the cause of these variations, the tracer dilution method is applied using 1-min emissions measurements at Sandtown Landfill (Delaware, USA) for a 2-h measurement period. An atmospheric dispersion model is developed for this field test site, which is the first application of such modeling to evaluate atmospheric effects on gas plume transport from landfills. The model is used to examine three possible causes of observed temporal emissions variability: temporal variability of surface wind speed affecting whole landfill emissions, spatial variability of emissions due to local wind speed variations, and misaligned tracer gas release and methane emissions locations. At this site, atmospheric modeling indicates that variation in tracer dilution method emissions measurements may be caused by whole-landfill emissions variation with wind speed. Field data collected over the time period of the atmospheric model simulations corroborate this result: methane emissions are correlated with wind speed on the landfill surface with R(2)=0.51 for data 2.5m above ground, or R(2)=0.55 using data 85m above ground, with emissions increasing by up to a factor of 2 for an approximately 30% increase in wind speed. Although the atmospheric modeling and field test are conducted at a single landfill, the results suggest that wind-induced emissions may affect tracer dilution method emissions measurements at other landfills.

Quantifying capture efficiency of gas collection wells with gas tracers.

A new in situ method for directly measuring the gas collection efficiency in the region around a gas extraction well was developed. Thirteen tests were conducted by injecting a small volume of gas tracer sequentially at different locations in the landfill cell, and the gas tracer mass collected from each test was used to assess the collection efficiency at each injection point. For 11 tests the gas collection was excellent, always exceeding 70% with seven tests showing a collection efficiency exceeding 90%. For one test the gas collection efficiency was 8±6%. Here, the poor efficiency was associated with a water-laden refuse or remnant daily cover soil located between the point of tracer injection and the extraction well. The utility of in situ gas tracer tests for quantifying landfill gas capture at particular locations within a landfill cell was demonstrated. While there are certainly limitations to this technology, this method may be a valuable tool to help answer questions related to landfill gas collection efficiency and gas flow within landfills. Quantitative data from tracer tests may help assess the utility and cost-effectiveness of alternative cover systems, well designs and landfill gas collection management practices.

Performance of green waste biocovers for enhancing methane oxidation.

Green waste aged 2 and 24months, labeled "fresh" and "aged" green waste, respectively, were placed in biocover test cells and evaluated for their ability to oxidize methane (CH4) under high landfill gas loading over a 15-month testing period. These materials are less costly to produce than green waste compost, yet satisfied recommended respiration requirements for landfill compost covers. In field tests employing a novel gas tracer to correct for leakage, both green wastes oxidized CH4 at high rates during the first few months of operation - 140 and 200g/m(2)/day for aged and fresh green waste, respectively. Biocover performance degraded during the winter and spring, with significant CH4 generated from anaerobic regions in the 60-80cm thick biocovers. Concurrently, CH4 oxidation rates decreased. Two previously developed empirical models for moisture and temperature dependency of CH4 oxidation in soils were used to test their applicability to green waste. Models accounted for 68% and 79% of the observed seasonal variations in CH4 oxidation rates for aged green waste. Neither model could describe similar seasonal changes for the less stable fresh green waste. This is the first field application and evaluation of these empirical models using media with high organic matter. Given the difficulty of preventing undesired CH4 generation, green waste may not be a viable biocover material for many climates and landfill conditions.

Photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy for conducting gas tracer tests and measuring water saturations in landfills.

Gas tracer tests can be used to determine gas flow patterns within landfills, quantify volatile contaminant residence time, and measure water within refuse. While gas chromatography (GC) has been traditionally used to analyze gas tracers in refuse, photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) might allow real-time measurements with reduced personnel costs and greater mobility and ease of use. Laboratory and field experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of PAS for conducting gas tracer tests in landfills. Two tracer gases, difluoromethane (DFM) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF(6)), were measured with a commercial PAS instrument. Relative measurement errors were invariant with tracer concentration but influenced by background gas: errors were 1-3% in landfill gas but 4-5% in air. Two partitioning gas tracer tests were conducted in an aerobic landfill, and limits of detection (LODs) were 3-4 times larger for DFM with PAS versus GC due to temporal changes in background signals. While higher LODs can be compensated by injecting larger tracer mass, changes in background signals increased the uncertainty in measured water saturations by up to 25% over comparable GC methods. PAS has distinct advantages over GC with respect to personnel costs and ease of use, although for field applications GC analyses of select samples are recommended to quantify instrument interferences.

Measuring fluid flow properties of waste and assessing alternative conceptual models of pore structure.

Laboratory procedures were developed to obtain constitutive relations for fluid flow in refuse. Five different types of experiments were conducted for the same waste sample: a drainage experiment, multi step outflow experiment, total porosity measurement, saturated hydraulic conductivity test, and gas permeability tests. To investigate fundamental processes affecting water movement and moisture retention, samples consisted entirely of newspaper. Samples were prepared in two particle sizes and two compaction pressures and packed in compression cells to replicate stress conditions in landfills. Data were modeled using HYDRUS-1D, which allowed alternative conceptual models of the pore space to be assessed. A dual-permeability model performed significantly better than a single-porosity model for water movement, suggesting that a dual domain description is required to describe water flow in landfills with significant amounts of paper and paperboard. However, a single-porosity model was adequate for describing gas transport. Results indicated that properties of the fracture domain, the large openings between refuse particles, are significantly affected by the size of waste materials and compaction, and may be best studied with field-scale measurements. On the other hand properties of the matrix domain, the smaller pore openings within and between refuse particles, are likely amenable to laboratory study because representative samples sizes should be much smaller.

Quantifying factors limiting aerobic degradation during aerobic bioreactor landfilling.

A bioreactor landfill cell at Yolo County, California was operated aerobically for six months to quantify the extent of aerobic degradation and mechanisms limiting aerobic activity during air injection and liquid addition. The portion of the solid waste degraded anaerobically was estimated and tracked through time. From an analysis of in situ aerobic respiration and gas tracer data, it was found that a large fraction of the gas-filled pore space was in immobile zones where it was difficult to maintain aerobic conditions, even at relatively moderate landfill cell-average moisture contents of 33-36%. Even with the intentional injection of air, anaerobic activity was never less than 13%, and sometimes exceeded 65%. Analyses of gas tracer and respiration data were used to quantify rates of respiration and rates of mass transfer to immobile gas zones. The similarity of these rates indicated that waste degradation was influenced significantly by rates of oxygen transfer to immobile gas zones, which comprised 32-92% of the gas-filled pore space. Gas tracer tests might be useful for estimating the size of the mobile/immobile gas zones, rates of mass transfer between these regions, and the difficulty of degrading waste aerobically in particular waste bodies.

Review of state of the art methods for measuring water in landfills.

In recent years several types of sensors and measurement techniques have been developed for measuring the moisture content, water saturation, or the volumetric water content of landfilled wastes. In this work, we review several of the most promising techniques. The basic principles behind each technique are discussed and field applications of the techniques are presented, including cost estimates. For several sensors, previously unpublished data are given. Neutron probes, electrical resistivity (impedance) sensors, time domain reflectometry (TDR) sensors, and the partitioning gas tracer technique (PGTT) were field tested with results compared to gravimetric measurements or estimates of the volumetric water content or moisture content. Neutron probes were not able to accurately measure the volumetric water content, but could track changes in moisture conditions. Electrical resistivity and TDR sensors tended to provide biased estimates, with instrument-determined moisture contents larger than independent estimates. While the PGTT resulted in relatively accurate measurements, electrical resistivity and TDR sensors provide more rapid results and are better suited for tracking infiltration fronts. Fiber optic sensors and electrical resistivity tomography hold promise for measuring water distributions in situ, particularly during infiltration events, but have not been tested with independent measurements to quantify their accuracy. Additional work is recommended to advance the development of some of these instruments and to acquire an improved understanding of liquid movement in landfills by application of the most promising techniques in the field.

Measuring seasonal variations of moisture in a landfill with the partitioning gas tracer test.

Seven pilot-scale partitioning gas tracer tests (PGTTs) were conducted to assess the accuracy and reproducibility of this method for measuring water in municipal solid waste landfills. Tests were conducted in the same location over a 12-month period, and measured moisture conditions ranged from possible dry waste to refuse with a moisture content of 24.7%. The final moisture content of 24.7% was in reasonable agreement with gravimetric measurements of excavated refuse, where the moisture content was 26.5+/-6.0 CI%. Laboratory tests were used to assess the utility of the PGTT for measuring water in small pores, water sorbed to solid surfaces, and the influence of dry waste on PGTTs. These experiments indicated that when refuse surfaces are not completely solvated with water, PGTTs may produce misleading results (negative estimates) of water saturation and moisture content.