681461

research-article2016
WMR0010.1177/0734242X16681461Waste Management & ResearchLakshmikanthan and Babu

Original Article

Waste Management & Research

Performance evaluation of the bioreactor

2017, Vol. 35(3) 285­–293
© The Author(s) 2016
Reprints and permissions:
landfill in treatment and stabilisation sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X16681461
https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X16681461

of mechanically biologically treated journals.sagepub.com/home/wmr

municipal solid waste

P Lakshmikanthan1 and GL Sivakumar Babu2

Abstract
The potential of bioreactor landfills to treat mechanically biologically treated municipal solid waste is analysed in this study.
Developing countries like India and China have begun to investigate bioreactor landfills for municipal solid waste management. This
article describes the impacts of leachate recirculation on waste stabilisation, landfill gas generation, leachate characteristics and long-
term waste settlement. A small-scale and large-scale anaerobic cell were filled with mechanically biologically treated municipal solid
waste collected from a landfill site at the outskirts of Bangalore, India. Leachate collected from the same landfill site was recirculated
at the rate of 2–5 times a month on a regular basis for 370 days. The total quantity of gas generated was around 416 L in the large-
scale reactor and 21 L in the small-scale reactor, respectively. Differential settlements ranging from 20%–26% were observed at two
different locations in the large reactor, whereas 30% of settlement was observed in the small reactor. The biological oxygen demand/
chemical oxygen demand (COD) ratio indicated that the waste in the large reactor was stabilised at the end of 1 year. The performance
of the bioreactor with respect to the reactor size, temperature, landfill gas and leachate quality was analysed and it was found that the
bioreactor landfill is efficient in the treatment and stabilising of mechanically biologically treated municipal solid waste.

Keywords
Municipal solid waste, bioreactor landfill, landfill gas, leachate

Introduction
The bioreactor landfill method is new to the Asian region, par-
ticularly in India where the principal mode of waste disposal is
by open dumping. Modern technology and research have paved
way to engineered and bioreactor landfills. Several studies have
been carried out on the different leachate recirculation methods
on fresh waste and their effects on settlement, landfill gas pro-
duction and leachate characteristics. Bioreactor landfill can be
defined as a sanitary landfill operated for the purpose of trans-
forming and stabilising the readily and moderately decomposable
organic waste constituents within 5–10 years following closure
by purposeful control to enhance microbiological processes
(Pacey et al., 1999). This process is in contrast to a traditional
landfill (dry tomb) that simply preserves layers of compacted
garbage in a dry condition to minimise the leachate. Some of the
reasons for the adaptation of the bioreactor technology are: (a) to
increase potential for waste to energy conversion; (b) to store and
treat leachate; (c) to recover air space; and (d) to ensure sustain-
ability. The application of leachate storage and recirculation tech-
nique to water management in landfill has shown its beneficial
effect on waste biodegradation in landfill (Chiemchaisri et al.,
2002). Leachate recirculation has been the most widely used
technique with reasonably good results. The enhancement of the
microbial process is often obtained by leachate recirculation.
Ensuring sustainability has the greatest potential for economic
benefit owing to reduced costs associated with long-term moni-
toring and maintenance and delayed siting of a new landfill
(Reinhart et al., 2002). In sustainable landfills, space and pro-
cesses are better managed and there are minimal negative effects
on the environment. This can be accomplished after the stabilisa-
tion of waste within a landfill and the stabilised waste is mined to
release the space for refilling. Attaining stabilisation depends to a
large extent upon parameters that control the chemical and bio-
logical processes (e.g. external stress, moisture content, tempera-
ture and micro-organisms) occurring in the landfill waste. The
Indian laws and rules do state that the waste should be pretreated
1Centrefor Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, India
2Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, India
Corresponding author:
P Lakshmikanthan, Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian
Institute of Science, CST, malleswaram, Bangalore, Karnataka
560012, India.
Email: lakshmikanthancp@gmail.com
286 Waste Management & Research 35(3)

(usually composting) and only the rejects are to be landfilled

(Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering
Organisation, 2000). Babu and Lakshmikanthan (2015) reported
considerable landfill gas production and settlements greater than
50% for the mechanically biologically treated municipal solid
waste (MBT-MSW). Therefore the performance of the bioreactor
in treating the compost rejects that are to be landfilled is
investigated.

Objective
The objective of this study is to investigate the performance of
the bioreactor in a large-scale setup for treating the MBT-MSW/
compost reject and measuring the thermal, mechanical and
hydrologic properties. The specific objectives were to: (1) study
the variations in temperature; (2) monitor the quality and quan-
tity of landfill gas production; (3) monitor the settlement; (4)
monitor the leachate quality and quantity; and (5) study the
decomposition and stabilisation of waste.

Materials and methods

Waste characteristics
The MSW used in this study is the MBT-MSW/compost reject
collected from the Mavallipura Landfill site, Bangalore, India,
and is referred to as MSW in this article. The site is spread over
30 acres and is around 15 m in height. Composting has been
adopted as a potential pre-treatment method. Hand sorting of
recoverable waste was followed by aerobic windrow composting
for a period of 2 months. The compost reject had particle sizes
varying from 4 to 70 mm. The MSW contained 6.34% clothes,
28% plastics, 1.28% glass, 0.8% leather, 5.56% coconut, 1.96%
stones, 0.88% rubber, 0.16% wood and 54.2% organic matter.
The moisture content of the waste was calculated as the ratio of
the weight loss of the weight that remained after heating at a tem-
perature of 60 °C until the specimen has dried to a constant mass.
The natural water content of the sample was found to be 20%.
The test for total volatile solids was performed according to the
American Public Health Association (1965) standard methods.
The organic content of the compost reject was calculated as the
ratio of the weight loss of the initial specimen weight after heat-
ing to a temperature of 550 °C in a muffle furnace. The initial
decomposable organic content of the waste was found to be 55%
and the inerts constituted 45%.
Bio-methane potential (BMP) tests
The BMP test can be used as an indicator of the degradation
potential as it gives the maximum quantity of methane produced
per gram of dry volatile solids (VS). In this test, the BMP is
measured by measuring the bio-methane or biogas produced by a
known quantity of waste in anaerobic conditions by mixing an
organic substrate with an anaerobic inoculum in controlled con-
ditions. Figure 1 shows the experimental setup of the BMP test.
Figure 1. Experimental setup for BMP tests.
The gas evolved during the process is quantified by the water
displacement method. Substrate is a surface on which an organ-
ism grows or is attached and inoculum is the solution that con-
tains the bacteria. Angelidaki et al. (2009) described a common
protocol for BMP testing. The particle size of the substrate sig-
nificantly affects the degradation process (Barlaz et al., 1990), as
the particle size defines the surface area available for degrada-
tion. The micro-organisms degrade the substances present on the
surface of the organic solids. The substrate/inoculum (S/I) ratio
affects the performance of BMP tests. According to Neves et al.
(2004), an S/I ratio ranging between 0.5 and 2.3 gVS gVS-1 can
prevent acidification. Instability in the anaerobic process, such as
high chemical oxygen demand (COD) content in the effluent and
volatile fatty acids (VFAs) accumulation, occurs with S/I ratio
lower than 0.5 (Raposo et al., 2009). In the present case, the
S/I ratio of 1:1 was used in the experimentation. Three MSW
samples, along with a control, were used in the BMP tests. The
volume of gas was measured once in 10–15 days. Generally the
tests are monitored until the gas production stopped. In this study
the tests were conducted for a period of 80 days.
The dataset is fitted using the Gompertz equation. The
Gompertz model is represented by:
( − k ( x − xc ))
y = ae− e (1)
The lag phase was obtained as 14 days from the graph. The mini-
mum and maximum rate of gas production calculated from the
Lakshmikanthan and Babu
equation is in the range of 14–16 L kg-1 of dry volatile solids. The
methane production rate in literature has been reported between
34.4 L kg-1 and 63.3 L kg-1 of dry waste for different combinations
of bioreactor operational parameters and duration (Agdag and
Sponza, 2005; Chiemchaisri et al., 2002). The lesser rate of gas
production in this case can be attributed to the type and composi-
tion of waste (MBT-MSW/compost reject). The waste used in
this study is pretreated using composting methods, during which
the immediately degradable waste is degraded leaving behind the
partially degraded waste producing gas. The maximum cumula-
tive gas production is in the range of 12–16 L kg-1 for the con-
sidered waste samples (Figure 2). The methane content was
measured using a portable gas chromatograph and it varied in the
range of 35%–44% and carbon-dioxide constituted of around
Figure 2. Cumulative bio-methane production; experimental
data (points), Gompertz fit (lines).
MSW: municipal solid waste; VS: volatile solids.
Figure 3. Experimental sketch of the small anaerobic cell.
MSW: municipal solid waste.
287
45%. Traces of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and nitrogen were
found.
Small-scale anaerobic reactor
Specially designed cells of size 10 cm diameter and 30 cm
height were fabricated (Figure 3) in order to monitor the MSW.
The MSW setups were monitored for 1 year. MSW was placed
in the setup with a water content of 44% and bulk density of
10.3 kN m-3. Landfill gas and settlement were monitored but
owing to operational procedures leachate quality and quantity
were not monitored. Gas chromatograph and dial gauges were
used in the measurement of landfill gas composition and settle-
ment. Leachate was not recirculated for the initial 80 days in
order to measure the immediate settlement. Figure 3 shows the
experimental setup of the small reactor. The particle size of the
waste was less than 35 mm.
Large-scale anaerobic cell
A large-scale anaerobic cell was fabricated for further under-
standing of the factors affecting the waste degradation, settle-
ment, gas production and leachate production characteristics.
The bioreactor landfill simulator was made from a 1.8 cm thick
acrylic sheet with 600 mm in length, 420 mm in width and
900 mm in height. A schematic view and photographs of the sim-
ulator can be seen in Figure 4. The particle size of waste was less
than 70 mm.
Sample preparation and placement. The reactor was filled
with 45 kg of waste in 10 layers at a dry unit weight of 5.4 kN m-3.
The waste was uniformly compacted after each layer. The natural
288
Figure 4. Large-scale experimental setup of the anaerobic
reactor cell.
MSW: municipal solid waste.
water content of the waste was in the range of 17%–20%. The
total thickness of the MSW layer (45 kg) was 32 cm. Gravel
(60 kg) was filled to a height of 90 mm below the waste for facili-
tating drainage and around 360 mm above the waste, which acted
as surcharge and also helped in drainage.
Gas monitoring and settlement measurement. The reactor
was equipped with a gas outlet at the top to measure the volume
of gas using the water displacement method. The quality of gas
was measured using a portable gas chromatograph system, with
manual sampling by manual injection and data acquisition sys-
tem (Model BGA). Thermal conductivity detectors and flame
ionisation detector for non-methane organic compounds were
present. Hydrogen gas was used as the carrier gas. Calibration
using the standard provided was done before each test.
Two dial gauges were fixed on the top in order to the measure
the waste settlements. The connecting rods of the dial gauges
were resting on the porous plate placed on the waste. Settlement
monitoring was conducted weekly and the readings were
recorded. The least count of the dial gauges were 0.01 cm. The
dial gauges were reset after reaching the maximum value.
Temperature monitoring. Three 2k-type sensors of 100 mm ×
10 mm diameter with 2.5 m braded cable were placed at 475 mm,
500 mm and 525 mm from the top of the reactor in order to moni-
tor the temperature at various stages of decomposition. The tem-
perature was monitored weekly and the data was recorded using
a data logger.
Leachate quantification, recirculation and analysis. A water
inlet for recirculation purposes was provided at the top of the
reactor. A water distribution system made of porous plate was
placed in order to ensure equal distribution of leachate. At the
bottom, an outlet was installed to allow the produced leachate
flow into a reservoir for further recirculation. The leachate was
brought from the Mavallipura landfill site and stored in the air
tight containers in a refrigerator. Leachate was introduced into
the system after 80 days (80 days accounted for the initial primary
Waste Management & Research 35(3)
settlement). The volume of leachate recycled in the reactor was
approximately 8–13.3% (v/v) of the MSW in the bioreactor at a
rate of 3–4 times per month till the end of experiment. Sandip
et al. (2012) reported that the maximum stabilisation occurs
when the leachate recirculation rates are maintained in the range
of 10%–13.5%. The rate of recirculation was increased to 5–6
times during the summer because of the evaporation effects. The
rate of the evaporation was found to be 3%. The quantity of
leachate recirculated was in the range of 4–6 L. The quality of the
leachate was analysed monthly according to the relevant methods
described in the Standard Methods of American Public Health
Association (1965). The leachate samples were analysed to
determine pH, alkalinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), conduc-
tivity, chloride (Cl−), COD, biological oxygen demand (BOD),
electric conductivity and sulphates (SO 2−4 ).
The monitoring was conducted for 1 year and the leachate
samples were collected for the 9 months considering the initial
80 days for primary settlement. Leachate was manually recircu-
lated in the cell. The initial characteristics of the leachate were
measured before recirculation and the samples were collected
monthly for analysis.
Results and discussion
Small-scale anaerobic reactor
The total gas production was 21 L and the methane content varied
in the range of 8%–43% over the period of 370 days. Figure 5(a)
and (b) shows the gas production and settlement in the small
anaerobic reactor. An external load of 50 kPa was applied and the
observed settlement was found to be 30%. The initial decompos-
able volatile solids of the waste were found to be 55% and the
inerts constituted 45%. The total volatile solids (TVS) of MSW
decreased from 54% to 35% after 1 year.
Large-scale anaerobic reactor
Temperature monitoring and analysis. Temperature monitoring
was carried out using the thermocouples, which were corrosion
resistant and placed at three different locations inside the waste.
The probes of the thermocouple were connected to the data logger
through wires. The initial temperature recorded was 24 °C. The
temperature dropped during the months November–February and
the minimum temperature recorded during this period was 22 °C.
The maximum temperature recorded in the simulator was 31 °C.
Strous et al. (1997) reported 30 ±4 °C as the temperature range
most congenial for microbial activity. The variation of tempera-
ture throughout the monitoring period is shown in Figure 6.
Leachate recirculation and analysis. Leachate was introduced
in the system after 80 days of initial settlement. There was no
leachate generated during the initial 80-day period. The leachate
quality was not recorded for the initial 80 days. The effect of
exposure of MSW to light and rainfall are also negligible as the
reactor was setup in the laboratory. The rate of the evaporation
Lakshmikanthan and Babu 289

Figure 6. Variation of temperature in the anaerobic reactor

during waste decomposition.

Figure 5a. (a) Gas production in the small anaerobic reactor

cell. (b) Settlement in the small anaerobic reactor cell.

was as high as 3%. The leachate was brought from the Mavalli-
pura landfill site.

pH and alkanility. The pH curve (Figure 7) shows that the Figure 7. Variation of pH in the anaerobic reactor during
pH value is high in the range of 9–9.75 during the initial 50 days. waste decomposition.
After day 50, pH values began to decrease and reached a value of
8 and remained almost constant throughout the 370 days. These
values indicate that the reactor reaches the optimum pH range for
anaerobic degradation after 50 days. pH values less than 6 inhibit
the bacterial activity. These results are in accordance with the
data reported by Ishigaki et al. (2003) and Nakasaki et al. (1993).
Figure 8 shows the variation of alkalinity during decomposi-
tion. The alkalinity is maximum in the initial phases, with a value
of 13,200 mg L-1 and decreases rapidly after 180 days and reaches
a value of 5900 mg L-1. The alkalinity further decreases to
3800 mg L-1 at the end of the experiment. Rovers (1973) sug-
gested that a waste would require an alkalinity of at least
2000 mg L-1 in order to maintain an ideal methanogenesis pro-
cess. It is evident from the present study that there is adequate
alkalinity present in the reactor throughout the monitoring period
of 1 year for an ideal methanogenesis activity. The high alkalinity Figure 8. Variation of alkalinity in the anaerobic reactor
during waste decomposition.
neutralises the pH thus promoting methanogenesis.

COD and BOD/COD. COD indicates the oxygen demand of an of the presence of organic matter. A high concentration of COD
organic substrate. The COD measurement serves as an indication indicates high organic content. Figure 9 shows the variation of
290 Waste Management & Research 35(3)

Figure 9. Variation of COD in the anaerobic reactor during Figure 10. Variation of BOD/COD in the anaerobic reactor
waste decomposition. during waste decomposition.
COD: chemical oxygen demand. BOD/COD: biological oxygen demand / chemical oxygen demand.

COD in leachate from the reactor. The initial COD concentration

was around 21,000 mg L-1 initially, which increased to 23,500 mg L-1
during the next 40 days and after 150 days it started decreasing
gradually. The COD concentration increases initially owing to
the deficiency of oxygen and the anaerobic environment. An even
steeper decrease in the COD concentration is observed at the later
stages of the monitoring, and at the end of 1 ear the COD was found
to be around 3000 mg L-1.
Cossu and Rossetti (2003) conducted a column study and
reported that the COD values of leachate from an anaerobic reac-
tor were approximately 20,000 mg L-1 after 120 days of operation.
The results of the present study are similar to those of Cossu and
Rossetti (2003), and clearly show that leachate recirculation has
a positive effect on the rate of solid waste degradation in land-
Figure 11. Variation of TDS in the anaerobic reactor during
fills. COD removal at the end of 370-day period was found to be waste decomposition.
around 80%.
The BOD/COD ratio is commonly used to describe the degree
of biodegradable organic carbon present in the system (Agdag
and Sponza, 2005; Ledakowicz and Kaczorek, 2004). The maxi-
mum BOD/COD ratio was 0.33 observed after 300 days, after
which the value decreased sharply to 0.26, as shown in Figure 10.
A BOD/COD ration <0.1 indicated stabilisation of the waste in
the system (Reinhart and Townsend, 1998).

TDS and conductivity. The TDS concentration decreased

over a period of 370 days in the present study (Figure 11). Initially
the TDS concentration was high at around 55,000 mg L-1 and
after 50 days decreased constantly and measured 12,000 mg L-1
at the end of 370 days. Based on a statistical evaluation, Kylefors
and Lagerkvist (1997) reported that total solids concentration is
expected to decrease as the leachate moves from acidogenic to Figure 12. Variation of conductivity in the anaerobic reactor
methanogenic. during waste decomposition.
Figure 12 shows the variation of conductivity that serves as
another indicator of salts concentration. The trend in conductivity Determination of the settlements and gas measurement.
is the same as TDS. A high value of conductivity initially is Figure 13 shows the variation of settlement measured by the dial
attributed to the constant dissolution of salts into the leachate. gauges placed at the two ends of the reactor. The maximum set-
The conductivity decreases at the later stages owing to degassing tlement at one end was observed as 6.9 cm and 6 cm at the other
and precipitation within the reactor. end. Differential settlement was observed within the reactor. The
Lakshmikanthan and Babu
settlements ranged from 20%–26% at two different locations.
There can be several factors, such as moisture content, tempera-
ture, biodegradation, compaction effort and preferential flow
paths, that affect the settlements. The settlement that occurred in
the first 80 days can be attributed only to waste density, particle
size and the overburden pressure that is present in the form of
gravel in the large-scale setup. In the further large-scale setups,
similar trends in settlements could be expected owing to the self-
weight and the weight of the overlying waste layers in the initial
period when there is no recirculation of leachate. In the present
study, the preferential flow path of moisture could be the reason
for the differential settlement. The preferential flow paths were
visible through the acrylic setup in the initial stages of leachate
circulation, which has been assumed to be the reason for the dif-
ferential settlement. The total quantity of gas generated was
around 416 L. The degradation of MSW continued even when the
BOD/COD ratio decreased to 0.26 until it is less than 0.1. The
maximum biogas (methane and carbon dioxide) production
occurred on the 182nd day, that is on the 100th day after the
leachate recirculation. The methane content varied in the range of
32%–45%. The total gas production was 15 L kg-1 of dry waste.
The carbon dioxide present in the gas was around 45%. The
methane content of the gas was 32% at the end of 120 days, and
it increased to 45% in the next 20–40 days and the same was
observed till the end of 330 days. Traces of nitrogen and hydro-
gen sulphide were also found in the landfill gas. Since the main
Figure 13. Measurement of settlements in the anaerobic
reactor cell.
Table 1. Initial and final characteristics of waste.
Parameter Waste
weight (kg)
Large scale anaerobic reactor
Initial waste 45
Final waste 39
Small scale anaerobic reactor
Initial waste 3 1.65
Final waste 2.1
291
emphasis was on the methane and carbon dioxide production, the
other gases were not measured. Even though the total gas produc-
tion was 15 L kg-1 of dry waste, this could be sufficient for a Land
Fill Gas (LFG)-to-energy conversion project from MBT/MSW
waste on a larger scale, particularly when the other available
options, such as incineration, gasification and refused-derived
fuel, have failed owing to various reasons like presence of a high
amount of moisture, failure in the controlling and handling the
leachate produced and the inefficiency in gas collection.
Carbon, Hydrogen and Nitrogen (CHN) analysis and carbon
recovery. CHN elemental analysis showed a 50% reduction in
carbon content and hydrogen content in both the bioreactors.
Table 1 shows the results of the CHN analysis. It can be observed
that there is a reduction in the efficiency in the carbon removal in
the large reactor compared with the small one. There are a number
of factors that are responsible for effective carbon removal, like
the particle size, conducive environment for the bacteria, adequate
moisture content and optimal temperature. In the present case, the
waste particles size of <70 mm and relatively less moisture con-
tent have led to the lesser carbon removal in the large-scale setup.
This is possible in the larger scales also, as the particle size will be
larger and, therefore, the available surface area for the microbial
activity becomes lesser, thereby reducing the carbon removal.
Carbon and nitrogen are essential nutrients required by the
bacteria for the metabolic activities. The stoichiometric com-
plete conversion of biodegradable solids to its constituents CH4,
CO2, NH3 and H2S was calculated for the large reactor based on
the equation proposed by Boyle (1977) and the composition of
the initial waste (Table 1). Then these were converted to the
respective number of moles and the formula of the waste was
derived. The oxygen content and sulphur content was obtained
from the average content found in the literature (Barlaz et al.,
1989; Tchobanoglous et al., 1993). The CHN was measured
initially and at the end of the tests. The values reported in this
study are the average of five readings. Boyle’s formula used
in the conversion of waste into methane and carbon dioxide.
These theoretical values were then compared with the experi-
mentally obtained values. The carbon mass balance can be
represented by:
C1.6 H 2.55O1.187 N 0.117S0.003 + 0.279 H 2 →
(2)
0 0.777 CH 4 + 0.822 C02 + 0.117 NH3 + 0.003H 2S
VS weight C H N
(kg) (%) (%) (%)
24.39 19.28 2.59 1.64
13.3 9.86 1.26 0.72
19.28 2.59 1.64
0.9 7.45 1.28 0.12
292
According to equation 2, 24.39 kg of waste should lead
to 11.7 kg of CH4 and 12.43 kg of CO2. The quantity of gas
collected during 1 year of degradation is less owing to the nature
of waste. The presence of partially degraded waste and fibrous
content in the waste could have led to a reduced amount of gas
production. The results showed that there was a carbon reduc-
tion of 52% after 370 days of operation. The hydrogen and
nitrogen also reduced by 51% and 56%, respectively, after
1 year of operation. The measured carbon at the end of the
experiment indicated around 50% of residual carbon, 19%
methane, 20% carbon dioxide and 2%–3% in leachate. The
unaccounted carbon fraction (8%) could have deposited as car-
bonates in the drainage layer (Rittmann et al., 2003; VanGulck
and Rowe, 2004). Additionally, carbon could be lost as CH4 and
CO2 escaping from the liquid phase during sampling and while
manual recycling of the leachate into the reactor. The carbon
balance revealed that most of the biodegradable carbon (±50%)
was converted into biogas, whereas the leachate still contained
some organic matter.
Scope of modelling
There are several models and numerical softwares, such as
Comsol, the University of Southampton landfill degradation and
transport (LDAT) model, the hydro-biomechanical model that
can predict the behaviour of landfills. But very few models, such
as the LDAT, can model the settlements, gas production, tem-
perature and leachate simultaneously. LDAT 2009 is a finite
difference method involving a two-dimensional finite difference
grid of constant volume elements containing solid waste, lea-
chate and gas. The different processes occurring in the landfill,
such as waste degradation, gas solubility, liquid and gas flow,
settlement, heat generation and transfer, can be incorporated as
different sub-models in LDAT. There are different degradation
pathways, reaction rates, pH, heat transfer, seepage and boundary
conditions present in the LDAT model. The experimentally
obtained properties, such as pH, reaction rate, permeability and
seepage and other boundary conditions can be incorporated into
the LDAT model to predict the settlement, leachate and gas.
Further details regarding the model are provided by White et al.
(2003) and White and Beaven (2013). The LDAT 2009 version
does not accommodate leachate recirculation in its module, but
its comprehensiveness and referring to the previous studies in
literature, it can be applied to pilot scale laboratory setups.
Conclusions
In this study, a small-scale and a large bioreactor were analysed
for the treatment of mechanically biologically treated waste over
a period of 370 days. Only CHN, gas and settlement were moni-
tored in the small reactor, whereas leachate and temperature were
also monitored in the large reactor. Irrespective of the size, both
the reactors were able to effectively treat waste and reduce 50%
carbon content. The percentage of carbon reduction was found to
Waste Management & Research 35(3)
be 52% and 61% in the large reactor and small reactor, respec-
tively. This indicated a reduction in the carbon removal efficiency
with the increase in the reactor size and particle size. The other
important parameters affecting the methanogenic process in a
landfill were found to be moisture content, temperature, pH,
alkalinity, conductivity, COD and TDS. In the large reactor, 80%
of it was recovered in the form of methane and carbon dioxide.
Based on the results, the following conclusions can be drawn
from this study.
1. The bioreactor is effective in treating mechanically biologi-
cally treated waste. The percentage reduction in carbon con-
tent was 52% and 61% in large and small reactors respectively,
after 1 year.
2. It was observed that 80% of carbon can be recovered in terms
of the gas and leachate in a bioreactor.
3. Leachate addition rates greater than 8%–10% (v/v of MSW)
were found to be most efficient in terms of gas production,
settlement and stabilisation of waste.
4. The settlements in both the cases were greater than 25%. The
effect of external load on the settlement was evident, as the
observed settlement in the small reactor was 30% (for an
external load of 50 kPa) and in the large reactor was in the
range of 20%–26% (for an external load equal to 10 kPa).
Also differential settlements were observed in the large
reactor.
5. The optimum particle size of the waste for faster stabilisation
was found to be in the range of 35–40 mm. The waste was
treated in both small-scale and large-scale reactors. Therefore,
the performance of the bioreactor is affected by the particle
size of the waste and not the size and shape of the bioreactor.
6. The other important parameters affecting the performance of
the bioreactor were found to be moisture content, tempera-
ture, pH, alkalinity, conductivity and COD.
It can be concluded that the bioreactor technology can be effec-
tively used in the treatment of MBT waste as more than 80%
carbon can be recovered. The performance analysis of the biore-
actors showed that the particle size of the waste is more impor-
tant than other physical parameters. The influencing parameters
like pH, COD, moisture content and temperature need to be mon-
itored at regular intervals as they play a key role in the degrada-
tion process and ensure the proper functioning of the bioreactor.
Additional full-scale studies also need to be conducted to develop
a better understanding and performance of these types of bioreac-
tor landfills.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Anthony Raj A for helping in conducting the
experiments.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Lakshmikanthan and Babu
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The work
presented in this article is a part of the research in the project IST/
MCV/GLS/0038 ‘Evaluation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
characteristics of a typical landfill in Bangalore’ funded by the
Center for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban
Planning (CiSTUP), which is greatly acknowledged.
References
Agdag ON and Sponza DT (2005) Impact of leachate recirculation and recir-
culation volume on stabilization of municipal solid wastes in simulated
anaerobic bioreactors. Process Biochemistry 39: 2157–2165.
American Public Health Association (1965) Water Pollution Control Federation,
& Water Environment Federation. Standard methods for the examination
of water and wastewater, Vol. 11. American Public Health Association.
Angelidaki M, Alves D, Bolzonella L, et al. (2009) Defining the biomethane
potential (BMP) of solid organic wastes and energy crops: A proposed
protocol for batch assays. Water Science and Technology 59: 927–934.
Babu GS and Lakshmikanthan P (2015) Estimation of the components of
municipal solid waste settlement. Waste Management & Research 33:
30–38.
Barlaz MA, Schaefer DM and Ham RK (1989) Bacterial population develop-
ment and chemical characteristics of refuse decomposition in a simulated
sanitary landfill. Applied Environmental Microbiology 55: 55–65.
Barlaz MA, Ham RK and Schaefer DM (1990) Methane production from
municipal refuse: A review of enhancement techniques and microbial
dynamics. CRC Critical Reviews in Environmental Control 19: 557–584.
Boyle WC (1977) Energy recovery from sanitary landfills. In: Schlegel HG
and Barnea J (eds) Microbial Energy Conversion, pp. 119–138.
Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (India)
(2000) Manual on municipal solid waste management. Central Public
Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation, Ministry of Urban
Development, Government of India.
Chiemchaisri C, Chiemchaisri W, Nonthapund U, et al. (2002) Acceleration
of solid waste biodegradation in tropical landfill using bioreactor landfill
concept. In: 5th Asian symposium on academic activities for waste man-
agement, pp.9–12.
Cossu R and Rossetti D (2003) Pilot scale experiences with sustainable land-
filling based on the PAF conceptual model. In: Proceedings of the 9th
international waste management and landfill symposium, Cagliari, Italy,
6–10 October.
Ishigaki T, Sugano W, Nakanishi A, et al. (2003) Application of bio-
venting to waste landfill for improving waste settlement and leachate
293
quality—a lab-scale model study. Journal of Solid Waste Technology
and Management 29: 230–238.
Kylefors K and Lagerkvist A (1997) Changes of leachate quality with degra-
dation phases and time. In: Proceedings of the 6th international landfill
symposium, Cagliari, Italy.
Ledakowicz S and Kaczorek K (2004) Laboratory simulation of anaerobic
digestion of municipal solid waste. Journal of Environmental Science and
Health A 39: 859–871.
Nakasaki K, Yaguchi H, Sasaki Y, et al. (1993) Effects of pH control on
composting garbage. Waste Management & Research 11: 117–125.
Neves R, Oliveira and Alves M M (2004) Influence of inoculum activity on
the bio-methanization of a kitchen waste under different waste/inoculum
ratios. Process Biochemistry 39: 2019–2024.
Pacey J, Augenstein D, Morck R, et al. (1999) Bioreactive landfill. MSW
Management Sept/Oct: 53–60.
Reinhart DR and Townsend TG (1998) Landfill Bioreactor Design and
Operation. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers.
Reinhart DR, McCreanor PT and Townsend T (2002) The bioreactor
landfill: Its status and future. Waste Management & Research 20:
172–188.
Rittmann BE, Banaszak JE, Cooke A, et al. (2003) Biogeochemical evalu-
ation of mechanisms controlling CaCO3(s) precipitation in landfill lea-
chate-collection systems. Journal of Environmental Engineering- ASCE
129: 723–730.
Raposo F, De la, Rubia MA, Borja R, et al. (2009) An inter laboratory study
as a useful tool for proficiency testing of chemical oxygen demand meas-
urements using solid substrates and liquid samples with high suspended
solid content. Talanta 80: 329–337.
Rovers FA and Farquhar GJ (1973) Infiltration and landfill behavior.
Sandip TM, Kanchan CK and Ashok HB (2012) Enhancement of methane
production and bio-stabilisation of municipal solid waste in anaerobic
bioreactor landfill. Bioresource Technology 110: 10–17.
Strous M, van Gerven E, Zheng P, et al. (1997) Ammonium removal form
concentrated waste streams with the anaerobic ammonium oxidation
(anammox) process in different reactor configurations. Water Resource
31: 1955–1962.
Tchobanoglous G, Theisen H and Vigil S (1993) Integrated Solid Waste
Management. McGraw-Hill, Inc.
VanGulck JF and Rowe RK (2004) Influence of landfill leachate suspended
solids on clog (biorock) formation. Waste Management 24: 723–738.
White JK and Beaven RP (2013) Developments to a landfill processes model
following its application to two landfill modelling challenges. Waste
Management 33: 1969–1981.
White JK, Ren Q and Robinson JP (2003) A framework to contain a spatially
distributed model of the degradation of solid waste in landfills. Waste
Management & Research 21: 330–345.