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ENC211-0323/2018
CIVIL 5.1 B
CAT 2
QUESTION
A new landfill is to be designed for Thika. The landfill will have an operation life of 20 years and
will serve a population base of 25,000 people. The municipal solid waste for the community is
considered to have properties that are typical of that of similar sized communities in Nairobi. The
average monthly precipitation and temperature for Thika X BC given in the following Table.
The stratigraphy for the proposed landfill site is 1.5 m of loam (60% silt, 20% sand, 2% organic
matter, fine granular soil structure and slow to moderate permeability) overlying 20 meters of
homogeneous till overlying a homogeneous limestone aquifer. The hydraulic conductivity for
the till is 4 x 10-7 cm/sec. The depth below ground surface to the water table in the till is 12
meters with an annual fluctuation of 0.5 meter. The landfill bottom is to be above the water
table.
The landfill design consists of 20 cells. The size of each landfill cell is determined using the
estimated volume of municipal solid waste to be placed in one year. The landfill operation begins
in January. Each completed cell is capped at the end of the year. The average depth of waste in
each cell is 15 meters at the time of placement.
(i) Estimate the mass of the municipal solid waste that will be placed in the landfill
in each year. Estimate the yearly volume of the waste and the area required for
each cell. Estimate the maximum density of the waste at the bottom of a cell.
State all assumptions.
Assumptions.
Pf = Po (1+r )n
Po = current population.
r= growth rate
n= year of projection.
=25000(1+003)1=25750 people.
Since water table is at 1 meter below bottom of landfill, and it fluctuates at ± 0.5 , height of
waste in the landfill is = 11.5
= 150*1.3= 190kg/m3
(ii) Calculate the percolation through the landfill cover of a completed cell for any 3
consecutive months. State all assumption.
Where; p= precipitation.
R= run-off coefficient.
e= evapotranspiration.
Assumptions.
Thornthwaite formula;
𝐸 = 1.6〖(10𝑇/𝐼)〗^𝛼
I = Annual heat index for a given area which is the sum of 12 monthly index values i
i= 〖(𝑻/𝟓)〗^(𝟏. 𝟓𝟏𝟒)
𝜶 = 𝟏. 𝟗𝟕𝟕𝟐
Computation of evapotranspiration.
Monthly Potential
Temp Index(i) i=〖 Evapotranspiration
Month
(°C) (𝑻/𝟓)〗 (mm)= 𝐸 = 1.6〖
^(𝟏. 𝟓𝟏𝟒) (10𝑇/𝐼)〗^𝛼
Jan 19.6 7.9111 73.9
Feb 20.5 8.4675 80.7
Mar 20.5 8.4675 80.7
Apr 19.4 7.7892 72.4
May 18.8 7.4274 68.0
June 18 6.9541 62.4
July 17.4 6.6062 58.4
Aug 17.8 6.8375 61.1
Sept 19.1 7.6075 70.2
Oct 19.5 7.8500 73.1
Nov 18.4 7.1894 65.2
Dec 18.6 7.3081 66.6
The three months with the highest precipitation are April, May and June.
Percolation ( C ) = P ( 1 – R )- S – E
Total precipitation = 246.7+243+139.9 = 629.6mm.
(iii) Estimate the initial mass of chloride in a landfill cell. Using the leaching model
described in section 5.6 of the notes (page 114) estimate the leachate chloride
concentration at 10 years for the first cell. Assume that the annual percolation
through the cells with a cap is 10 cm/year and that prior to capping the annual
percolation is 20 cm/year. List all assumptions in point form
For weakly compacted landfills with a specific gravity of 0.4 to 0.7 t/m3, the estimated
production of leachate is between 25 and 50% (K = 0.25 to 0.50) of the mean annual
precipitation for the landfill area. For strongly compacted landfills with a specific gravity
> 0.7 t/m3, the estimated production of leachate is between 15 and 25 % (K = 0.15 to 0.25)
of the mean annual precipitation for the landfill area. Observations made at several small
landfills have confirmed that leachate generation occurs chiefly during rainy periods and
for several days afterwards, and stops during dry periods. It would therefore be a good
idea to use an adaptation of the above method to calculate leachate generation from
precipitation during the rainy months and not during the whole year. This criterion is
important when estimating the leachate drainage or storage system for manual sanitary
landfills.
Therefore, it is suggested that in the equation the precipitation records used be those of
the month of maximum rainfall, expressed in mm/month. This method will give a good
approximation of the flow:
Qlm = Pm x A x K
where: Qlm = Mean leachate flow generated (m3/month)
P = Maximum monthly precipitation (mm/month)
A = Surface area of the landfill(m2)
K = Coefficient that depends on the degree of waste compaction 1 m = 103 mm
For more accurate view and since Leachate generation occurs during rainy seasons as per
Jorge Jaramillo: Guidelines for the design, construction and operation of manualsanitary
landfills page 115, April, the month with the most rain is considered.
Since we are considering the 10th year, it can safely be assumed the first cell is matured.
The choride content is therefore taken as 300mg/L.
Percolation =1000mm/year
Area=572m2
=9000(1-e-0.5)
=900(1-e-0.5x0.0518)
=2302mg/Kg
(v) Estimate the Landfill Gas Produced per year for the four years after the landfill
begins operation. Assume a lag time of 2 years before gas is produced.
The main gas produced is methane. Methane production from a landfill is estimated using this
equation; (ref page 842 solid waste technology).
Where; G = CH4 production rate from a single year’s refuse (m3 CH4/year)
Assumptions.
Assume all fractions in the waste have the same value for k and Lo and therefore emit
methane at the same rate.
Lo and k are estimated using table 10.10.1 (page 844 solid waste technology.)
Increase in CH4 increases k for the same value of Lo.
Computation.
k= 0.05
Lo= 340 m3 CH4 /t
T= 4years.
t = 2 years
(vi) Estimate the soil loss from the landfill after completion and the installation of a
cap.
A=9520x 0.016x17x0.35x0.7
𝑞 𝑘𝑡𝑎𝑛2 ∝ 𝑘𝑡𝑎𝑛2 ∝
𝑝 = 2𝑦𝑚𝑎𝑥 /( )( +1− (tan ∝ +𝑞/𝑘)
𝑘 𝑞 𝑞
0.00485 0.01(0.02) 0.01(0.02) 0.0024
= 2 ∗ 15/( )( +1− (0.02) + )
0.01 0.0485 0.0485 0.01
= 1428 𝑐𝑚