Materials taken from :

• Dr. Craig C. Freudenrich (Duke University USA & Howstuffworks Inc.)

• Prof. Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang (UTM)
Outline
 Introduction
 How is waste disposed?
 What is a Landfill?
 Parts of a Landfill
 Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas
 Related technology
Introduction
 In the US, per year:
 210 million tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
generated
 Only 27% is recycled or composted
 Remaining 73% discarded
 The amount of MSW increases per year
 Where does the trash go?
 Typical composition of MSW in Malaysia
4.00%
4.06%

 Malaysian produces
on average 1.2 kg 4.85% Textiles

/person/day 5.43% Glass and Ceramics

 Approx. 23,000 Wood

9.43%
tonnes/day 48.52%
Metal

in 2008 Plastics and Rubber

Paper

23.72%
Organic Waste

Source: JPSPN
 How is waste disposed?

 Waste options pyramid

 Malaysia Waste Disposal Sites
Sanitary Inert
State Operational Closed TOTAL
Landfill Landfill
Johor 14 23 37 2 -
Kedah 8 7 15
Kelantan 13 6 19
Melaka 2 5 7
Negeri Sembilan 7 11 18

Pahang 16 16 32
Perak 17 12 29
Perlis 1 1 2
Pulau Pinang 2 1 3 1
Sabah 12 2 21
Sarawak 49 14 63 3
Selangor 8 14 22 3 2
Terengganu 8 12 20
WP Kuala Lumpur 0 7 7
WP Labuan 1 0 1
Jumlah 165 131 296 8 3
What is a Landfill?
There are two ways to bury waste:

 Dump - an open hole in the ground where trash is

buried and that has various animals (rats, mice,
birds) swarming around. (This is most people's idea
of a landfill!)

 Landfills
What is a Landfill?
 A carefully designed
structure built into or on
top of the ground in which
trash is isolated from the
surrounding environment
(groundwater, air, rain).
 Isolation accomplished
using:
 Bottom liner
 Daily covering of soil on
top
What is a Landfill?
 Two types of landfills:
 Sanitary landfill - landfill that uses a clay liner to
isolate the trash from the environment
 Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill - uses a
synthetic (plastic) liner to isolate the trash from the
environment
 The purpose of a landfill is to bury the trash in such a
way that it will be isolated from groundwater, will be
kept dry and will not be in contact with air.
 Under these conditions, trash will not decompose
much.
Parts of a Landfill
 A = ground water
 B = compacted clay
 C = plastic liner
 D = leachate
collection pipe
 E = geotextile mat
 F = gravel
 G = drainage layer
 H = soil layer
 I = old cells
 J = new cells
 K = leachate pond
Basic parts of a landfill
 Bottom liner system
 separates trash and subsequent leachate from groundwater
 Cells (old and new)
 where the trash is stored within the landfill
 Storm water drainage system
 collects rain water that falls on the landfill
 Leachate collection system
 collects water that has percolated through the landfill itself
and contains contaminating substances (leachate)
 Methane collection system
 collects methane gas that is formed during the breakdown of
trash
 Covering or cap
 seals off the top of the landfill
Parts of a Landfill –
Bottom Liner System
 Prevents the trash and leachate from coming in contact
with the outside soil, particularly the groundwater
 Made of durable, puncture-resistant synthetic plastic
(eg. polyethylene, high-density polyethylene,
polyvinylchloride)
 Plastic liner thickness between 30-100 milimeters
 Can be combined with compacted clay soils as additional
liner
 Plastic liner may also be surrounded on either side by a
fabric mat (geotextile mat)
 prevents plastic liner from tearing or puncturing from the
nearby rock and gravel layers
Parts of a Landfill –
Cells (Old and New)
 Cells are compacted areas of trash
 Purpose of having cells is to maximise space usage
 capacity and usable life of the landfill directly related to
amount of space
 Example: in North Wake County Landfill,US
 a cell  15.25m length x 15.25m width x 4.26m height
 amount of trash within the cell = 2,500 tonnes
 Cells are then compressed by heavy equipment (tractors,
bulldozers, rollers and graders)
 Cell is covered with six inches of soil and compacted
further
 Cells are arranged in rows and layers of adjoining cells
Parts of a Landfill –
Storm Water Drainage
 Important to keep the landfill as dry as possible
 If water percolates through the trash, it picks up
contaminants (organic and inorganic chemicals,
metals, biological waste products of decomposition)
just as water picks up coffee in the coffee maker. This
water with the dissolved contaminants is called
leachate and is typically acidic.
 Leachate seepage is one of the most concerned issues
in landfills
Parts of a Landfill –
Storm Water Drainage
 Methods to keep landfill trash dry:
 Before entering landfill - samples of the waste passed
through standard paint filters. If no liquid comes
through the sample after 10 minutes, then the trash is
accepted
 Storm drainage system – keeps rainwater out of the
landfill. Plastic drainage pipes and storm liners collect
water from areas of the landfill and channel it to
drainage ditches surrounding the landfill's base
Parts of a Landfill –
Storm Water Drainage
Parts of a Landfill –
Storm Water Drainage
Storm water Collection Pond
 The ditches are either concrete or gravel-lined and
carry water to collection ponds to the side of the
landfill.
 In the collection ponds, suspended soil particles are
allowed to settle and the water is tested for leachate
chemicals. Once settling has occurred and the water
has passed tests, it is then pumped or allowed to flow
off-site.
Leachate Collection System
 To collect leachate, perforated pipes run throughout the
landfill .
 These pipes then drain into a leachate pipe, which
carries leachate to a leachate collection pond.
Leachate can be pumped to the collection pond or flow
to it by gravity.
 The leachate in the pond is tested for acceptable levels
of various chemicals (biological and organic chemicals,
pH, calcium, chloride) and allowed to settle.
 After testing, the leachate must be treated like any other
sewage/wastewater; the treatment may occur on-site or
off-site.
Leachate collection pond
Methane Collection System
 Bacteria in the landfill break down the trash in the absence
of oxygen (anaerobic) because the landfill is airtight.
 A byproduct of this
anaerobic breakdown is
landfill gas (LFG)
 Components of LFG:
 45 - 50 % methane
 45 – 50 % carbon dioxide
 < 5 % nitrogen and oxygen
 Methane can explode and/or
burn. So, the landfill gas
must be removed.
Methane Collection System
 LFG extraction system comprises one or more
wellheads
 Pipes are embedded within the landfill to collect
the gas
 Wellheads are connected by the piping and
coupled to a vacuum source that moves LFG from
wellheads to a storage container
 Need to optimize vacuum so that methane content
is within a reasonable range
Methane collection
Methane Collection System
• 1. Extracting Pipe
Network
• 2. Control Valve
• 3. LFG Collection well
• 4. Liner of Landfill
• 5. Low Permeability Cap
Layer
• 6. LFG Treatment
Vertical Extraction System
System
Covering or cap
 As mentioned above, each cell is covered daily with six
inches of compacted soil. This covering seals the
compacted trash from the air and prevents pests
(birds, rats, mice, flying insects, etc.) from getting into
the trash. This soil takes up quite a bit of space.
 As space is a precious commodity, many landfills are
experimenting with tarps or spray coverings of
paper or cement/paper emulsions. These emulsions
can effectively cover the trash, but take up only a
quarter of an inch instead of 6 inches!
Covering
Covering
 When a section of the landfill is finished, it is covered
permanently with a polyethylene cap (40 mil). The cap
is then covered with a 2-foot layer of compacted soil.
 The soil is then planted with vegetation to prevent
erosion of the soil by rainfall and wind. The vegetation
consists of mainly grass and smaller plants
 No trees, shrubs or plants with deep penetrating roots
are used so that the plant roots do not contact the
underlying trash and allow leachate out of the landfill.
Permanent cover & Vegetation
What happens to the buried trash?
 Trash put in a landfill will stay there for a very long
time.
 Inside a landfill, there is little oxygen and little
moisture. Under these conditions, trash does not
break down very rapidly.
 When a landfill closes, the site, especially the
groundwater, must be monitored and maintained for
up to 30 years! This involves:
 Groundwater monitoring
 Gas migration monitoring
 Leechate seepage
Groundwater monitoring
 These are pipes that are sunk into the groundwater so
water can be sampled and tested for the presence of
leachate chemicals.
 The temperature of the groundwater is measured.
Because the temperature rises when solid waste
decomposes, an increase in groundwater temperature
could indicate that leachate is seeping into the
groundwater.
 Also, if the pH of the groundwater becomes acidic,
that could indicate seeping leachate.
Groundwater Monitoring

Source: Modern Landfills: A Far Cry From the Past, NSWMA 2006
Groundwater Monitoring
Leachate seepage
 Occasionally, leachate may seep through weak point in
the covering and come out on to the surface. It appears
black and bubbly. Later, it will stain the ground red.
 Leachate seepages are promptly repaired by excavating
the area around the seepage and filling it with well-
compacted soil to divert the flow of leachate back into
the landfill.
Seepage of Leachate
Typical
infrastructure
of a landfill
Building a landfill: Considerations
 the area of land necessary for the landfill
 the composition of the underlying soil and bedrock
 the flow of water over the site
 the impact of the proposed landfill on the local
environment and wildlife
 the historical or archaeological value of the proposed
site
Landfill Gas - Disadvantages
 If released into atmosphere, contributes to
GHG emissions
 One tonne of methane = GHG effect of 23 tonnes of
carbon dioxide
 Gives off a disagreeable odor
 May result in health consequences from toxic
and carcinogenic substance traces
 Increase risk of explosion at landfill if buildup
occurs
 Captured LFG…Now What?
 Use a Methane flare
for burning the gas
 Converts methane
into carbon dioxide
under controlled
conditions
 Or, use it as an energy
source
Landfill gas as energy Source
 Two common uses:
 Electricity generation
 Running engines or turbines
 Combustion as an alternative fuel
 Cheaper than using natural gas
 Requires gas treatment before use!
LFG Treatment
 Pretreatment
 Used for de-watering
and particulate
removal
 Also aimed at
removing percentages
of volatile compounds
in the gas
 After pretreatment, the
gas is ready for use
Electricity Generation
• LFG is burned in boilers, reciprocating engines, and
combustion turbines to produce energy
• Advantages:
– Directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions
– Reduces air pollution by offsetting use of non-renewable
resources
– Improves air quality
– Destroys non-methane organic compounds
– Benefits local economy - EPA estimated cost of
generating power from LFG between 4 and 7 cents/kWh
Electricity Generation
Electricity Generation

LFG
Treatment
Landfill Gas Electricity Generation in Malaysia
– Air Hitam Sanitary Landfill, Puchong
 First facility in Malaysia that uses
Landfill Gas (LFG) for power
generation.
 Initially owned by Jana Landfill Sdn
Bhd (JLSB) which is a JV between
Tenaga Nasional Berhad Energy
Services (TNBES) and Worldwide
Landfills Sdn Bhd. Now, fully owned
by Worldwide Landfills Sdn Bhd.
 Total generation capacity of 2 MW
consisting of 2 internal combustion
engines (each producing 1 MW)
Landfill Gas Electricity Generation in Malaysia
– Air Hitam Sanitary Landfill, Puchong
 It was commissioned on April 2004.
 Since commission, production of 2MW
available only for few months.
 The plant faces many problems due to the
system incompatibility with the Malaysian
climate and waste feedstock.
 Corrosion of LFG collection pipes
 Leachate seepage into gas pipes
 Corrosion of ICE components (eg. spark plugs)
 Resumed operations under FiT in 2012.
Landfill Gas Electricity Generation in Malaysia
– Others
 KUB-Berjaya Enviro Sdn Bhd
 Bukit Tagar Sanitary Landfill – 3.2 MW

 Cypark Resources Sdn Bhd

 Integrated RE park – LFG + solar PV