Critical Review

Journal Title: “Laboratory test investigations on soil water characteristic curve and air

permeability of municipal solid waste” by Shi et al. 2018

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Background

The rate at which people move from rural homes to cities has become an alarming

concern to municipal authorities as this movement pattern has affected the solid waste

management in urban centers. With the advancement on the living standards and the revived

campaign for environmental sustainability, humans start to consider the sanity and pay attention

to their surroundings, thus proper solid waste management is a worthwhile topic of exploration

(et al. 2020). Shi et al (2018) decided to make a priceless contribution in proper sanitation of the

environment by conducting a laboratory test analysis on the soil water characteristics that affects

the air permeability of municipal solid wastes. These scholars present a detailed and elaborate

research investigation on the air permeability in of the landfill by applying continuous drying

methodology to construct the soil water characteristic curve of solid wastes. For the purpose of

accuracy and credibility of the experimental outcomes, the test utilized tension meter among

other newly designed apparatus.

The distribution of air in the solid waste and landfill is influenced by the air permeability

condition of the municipal solid waste, therefore it is of essence to design a feasible gas

collection system to enhance on the gas collection from disposed landfill from municipal solid

wastes. The study on air permeability in municipal landfill is a bit complicated because

municipal solid waste is a combination of different types of soils among other solid waste that

have different permeability coefficient as well as different water characteristic curve. For

instance, the water characteristic curve for air permeability in sand is completely different from

that of the clay soil. Shi et al (2018) express the justification for the research topic as it was

important to investigate on the soil air permeability and soil water characteristic curve on the

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municipal solid waste to identify the impact of water content on landfill air permeability such as

field capacity, water content at the affection point.

Generally, this publication by She et al (2018) is insightful because its articulate facts as

they are, there is sufficient of use of statistical data, and references that serves as a proof to the

findings of their analysis. The journal portrays a high standard of scientific publication where

ideas and concepts and explicitly explained with sufficient reasoning backed with science

knowledge. However, there is e general feeling that some critical aspects of pertaining municipal

waste management practices that are not covered in the article, for instance, what become of the

plastic components of municipal solid waste and how they influence air permeability and soil

water characteristic curve.

Research Findings

The experimental findings are broadly based and reflect the general condition of the

landfills in China, because the study provides a table illustrating the air permeability test results

from landfills and municipal solid wastes samples gathered from different parts of China. The

residual water content and saturated water content on the municipal solid waste was obtained by

examining the correlation between the individual characteristics of the soil as well as the size of

soil particles. When comparing the aeration properties between clay and sand, it is obvious that

sand has better aeration hence implies that landfills with more of sand as its base content has

better air permeability compared to landfills with clay soil as its base content. Shi et al. (2018)

confirmed this by the illustration that when the void ration is the same in MSW landfills, the

field capacity and the residual water content slightly decreases with the increase in the soil

organic content with the saturation water content remain unchanged. The test observed that the

landfill void ration increases with increase in the saturated water content.

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 The research also established that the air permeability coefficient of MSW landfill

samples varies with the change in saturation degree from a dry mater state to a level close to the

saturation state. From this observation, the saturation degree versus the air permeability

coefficient can be classified into three stages, entry point when water content is almost zero, the

air permeability decreases with increase in saturation, this observation is supported by the

findings from Wei et al. (2007). In the second stage, air permeability coefficients are constant,

comparable to the studies dine by Shi and Zhao (2015). A further saturation increase in the last

stage leads to a sharp fall in the air permeability coefficient of the solid wastes.

Discussion

The article gives a comprehensive understanding on the correlation between waster

saturation content and the air permeability coefficient on the landfill samples collected from all

China by highlighting figures, dates as well as references on statistical data thus giving a

convincing perspective of his findings and analysis. For instance, the study mentioned that the

saturation degree is proportional to the air permeability coefficient of the solid landfill solid

wastes samples used in the experiment. The presentation of the background of the topic of

investigation on this article is exemplary and more elaborate therefore it gives a reader a quick

synopsis of the purpose of the experiment, objective and findings of the study (Wu et al. 2021).

There are several figures showing the experimental setup and graphs explaining the research

findings in bits thus easy understanding in following up the investigation process, not forgetting

the use of intext citation to add weight and validate the research findings and conclusion.

However, there are few limitations or flaws identified in the Shi et al (2018) scientific

journal. First, the scope of research or experiment explained in the introduction is not fully

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tackled in the body. For instance, the introduction mentioned that landfill samples were collected

all over China, if this was the case then the content should have been more than what is

presented. Though the topic of the journal is self-explanatory, it would serve readers best if the

object of analysis would have been categorially highlighted in the body of the report.

Conclusion

The journal by Shi et al. (2018) presents an experimental analysis on the test

investigation to establish the air permeability coefficient and the water characteristic curve on

China’s municipal solid wastes. Form their experiments, it was observed that air permeability

coefficient and water saturation degree on solid waste portrays three distinct stages. The research

also established that water saturation that corresponded to threshold points of the curve stages on

water inflection point and residual water content respectively. The air permeability coefficient of

MSW is inversely proportional with the water content. When the water content of municipal

solid waste surpassed the water content at the modulation point, the air permeability coefficient

abruptly decreased with the increase of water content.

The objective of the research that was to investigate and conduct the test investigation to

establish the air permeability coefficient and the water characteristic curve on China’s municipal

solid wastes, an aim that is satisfactorily meet throughout the study where findings are supported

by statistical data and references on the referred content.

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 References

Dang, M., Chai, J., Xu, Z., Qin, Y., Cao, J. and Liu, F., 2020. Soil water characteristic curve test

and saturated-unsaturated seepage analysis in Jiangcungou municipal solid waste landfill,

China. Engineering Geology, 264, p.105374.

Shi, J., Wu, X., Ai, Y. and Zhang, Z., 2018. Laboratory test investigations on soil water

characteristic curve and air permeability of municipal solid waste. Waste Management &

Research, 36(5), pp.463-470.

Wu, H., Wang, H., Zhao, Y., Chen, T. and Lu, W., 2021. Evolution of unsaturated hydraulic

properties of municipal solid waste with landfill depth and age. Waste Management, 32(3),

pp.463-470.