ICOEST LFG 2017

LANDFILL GAS PRODUCTION IN LANDFILL
BIOREACTORS CONTAINING MUNICIPAL

SOLID WASTE AND SEWAGE SLUDGE
CEVAT YAMAN*, BURCU PALA, GÜLŞAH DELİCE, YUSUF KÜÇÜKAĞA,
ABDURRAHMAN AKYOL AND SERDAR KARA.
* Environmental Engineering Department, Gebze Technical University, TURKEY
E-mail: cevatyaman@yahoo.com / yaman@gtu.edu.tr
Tel: +90 262 605 31 24 / +90 530 526 07 79
The authors acknowledge; The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK Project No: 115Y299)
and Gebze Technical University for supporting this study.
LANDFILL GAS PRODUCTION IN LANDFILL BIOREACTORS
CONTAINING MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE AND SEWAGE SLUDGE
Presenter: Cevat YAMAN ( cevatyaman@yahoo.com )
INTRODUCTION - Landfill Bioreactor (LBR) Technology

• Landfilling is a common, economical and environmentally acceptable solid
waste management method.
• However, conventional perspective to landfills has to be changed in a direction
to more sustainable, environmental friendly, and economically profitable.
• Conventional landfill which is designed for storing solid wastes, can be
considered as a ‘bioreactor’ by optimizing the stabilization process and creating
the desired environment for microorganisms.
• Considering landfills as bioreactor is a new and promising strategy. LBRs aim to
accelerate the decomposition of solid wastes and many different techniques
were used for this purpose such as leachate recirculation, supplemental water
addition, waste compaction, alkalinity addition, and co-disposal of sewage
sludge.
INTRODUCTION - Landfill Bioreactor (LBR) Technology
• Operating a landfill as a bioreactor offers several potential benefits over a

conventional landfill.
• The primary advantage of operating a bioreactor landfill is fast waste stabilization,
making bioreactor operation a more sustainable waste management option.
• Using leachate recirculation for moisture addition may offer considerable costs
savings on leachate treatment.
• In bioreactor landfills, gas generation rates are much higher than conventional
landfills, therefore landfill gas can potentially be recovered and used economically.
INTRODUCTION - Geotextile Material

•Geotextiles are used in many types of infrastructure projects for filtration,
separation, drainage, etc. in civil, geotechnical, and environmental
engineering.
•Geotextile is a porous material which mainly use for protection of
impermeable drainage layer (geomembrane) in landfill areas.
•Biomass formation in geotextiles has been noticed in the 90s. After that some
applications were executed with nonwoven geotextile filters in attached
growth biologic wastewater treatment systems.
•In this study geotextile material was used as a biofilm media for improving
leachate quality and increase system efficiency.
METHODOLOGY - Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Reactors
•Five pilot scale stainless steel reactors

were constructed at 3.5 m height and
80 cm internal diameter to simulate
anaerobic landfill bioreactors.
•The reactors were specifically

designed and equipped for; uniform
distribution of leachate and collection
of produced biogas.

• Two of the reactors (LBR-1 and LBR-2)
contained sewage sludge and municipal
solid waste, while the other three (LBR-3,
LBR-4, and LB-R5) did not contain any
sewage sludge. LBR-2, LBR-3 and LBR-4
also contained a geotextile filter in their
drainage layers.
• This study investigates these two

operational parameters, the effect of sewage
sludge co-disposal, and influence of
geotextile types and specifications on waste
decomposition and leachate quality.

• The leachate produced from the waste body in the reactors was collected after
passing through a specifically designed drainage layer.
• R2, R3 and R4 also contained a geotextile filter in their drainage layers.

METHODOLOGY - Characterization
• Reactors were filled with 900 kg of MSW.
• To investigate the effect of sewage sludge co-disposal, 50 kg of dewatered sewage
sludge were mixed with feed MSW in two reactors (R-1 and R-2).
• All reactors were inoculated with 30 L of anaerobic sludge after loading of municipal
solid wastes and 8 L of tap water was injected to simulate rainfall.
• Reactors were filled and compacted to a density of 750 kg/m3 with municipal solid
wastes.
Table 1. Physical properties of MSW Table 2. Composition of MSW
Parameters Units Value Components Value

Water content % Food 67 %
50
Paper 18 %
TS % 50
VS % Plastic 6%
80
FS % Other all 9%
20
METHODOLOGY - Characterization
Table 4. Physical properties of the Table 5. Properties of the sewage sludge

seed sludge
Parameters Units Value Parameters Units Value
TS mg/L 10790 Water Content % 76

VS mg/L 4500
TS % 24
FS mg/L 6290
VS % 69
TSS mg/L 1867 FS % 31
METHODOLOGY – Operational Procedure

• Temperature was maintained at 37ºC by electronically controlled automated heating
system, to sustain mesophilic conditions inside the reactors.
• All reactors were inoculated with with anaerobic sludge and 8 L of tap water was injected to
simulate rainfall. Then, all produced leachates were recirculated daily to the reactors except
in control reactor which simulates conventional landfilling.
Parameters Units R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4 R-C

MSW Quantity kg 900 900 900 900 900
MSW Volume m3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2
MSW Density kg/m3 750 750 750 750 750
Sewage Sludge Yes Yes No No No

Addition
Seed Sludge Volume L 30 30 30 30 30
Seed Sludge Ratio (V:V) % 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.65
Rain Water Addition L/week - - - - 8
Leachate Recirculation - Yes Yes Yes Yes No

METHODOLOGY – Operational Procedure

• For the collection of the landfill gas, a perforated PVC pipe was vertically placed
in each reactor. The perforated PVC pipe was 5 cm in diameter, 300 cm tall.
• The collected landfill gas (LFG) were analyzed for quantity and composition.
RESULTS&DISCUSSION - Total Biogas (LFG) Production
•In anaerobic biodegradation processes, 25000

Cumulative LFG Production (L)
methanogenic bacteria consume LBR-1

organics and produce mainly methane 20000 LBR-2
and carbon dioxide gasses. LBR-3
•Cumulative LFG volumes were; 15000

LBR-4
LBR-5
•Cumulative LFG: 7454 L (R1) 10000
•Cumulative LFG: 21398 L (R2)

5000
•Cumulative LFG: 902 L (R3)
•Cumulative LFG : 1412 L (R4) 0
•Cumulative LFG : 9067 (R5)

0 60 120 180 240 300 360 420
Day
 Rapid decomposition of MSW has ben achieved in LBR-2, thus providing high
LFG production.
 It was concluded that the addition of sewage sludge into the municipal solid
waste and inserting a geotextile filter in the drainage layer effectively increased
the cumulative LFG volume in R1 and R2.
RESULTS&DISCUSSION - Total Biogas (LFG) Production
100
•CH4 and CO2 are the main gases LBR-1
produced in consequence of the LBR-2
anaerobic waste degradation. 75

LBR-3
Methane Percentage (%)

LBR-4
•After the initialization of methanogenic LBR-5
conditions in a landfill site, CH4 and 50
CO2 are typically present around 45
65% and 35-55%, respectively.
25
• Maximum Methane content LBR-1: 57.74%

• Reached maximal value at 273rd day.
• Maximum Methane content in LBR-2: 60.3% 0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 420
• Reached maximal value at 164th day. Day
• Maximum Methane content in LBR-3: 58.4% LBR-2 reached the methane value of 60.3% on
• Reached maximal value at 255th day. the 164th day, which means that the initiation of
• Maximum Methane content in LBR-4: 56.9% the methanogenic phase started in the reactor
• Reached maximal value at 375th day. with sewage sludge and geotextile layer (LBR-2)
• Maximum Methane content in LBR-5: 57.2% much earlier than the other reactors.
• Reached maximal value at 213rdday.
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
1. Chen S., Zhang J., Wang X., (2015), “Effects of alkalinity sources on the stability of anaerobic digestion
from food waste”, Waste Manag Res, 33 (11), 1033-1040.Mussati M., Thompson C., Fuentes M., Aguirre P.,
Scenna N., (2005), “Characteristics of a methanogenic biofilm on sand particles in a fluidized bed
reactor”, Latin American applied research, 35 (4), 265-272.
2. Pazinato J. M., Paulo E. N., Mendes L. W., Vazoller R. F., Tsai S. M., (2010), “Molecular Characterization
of the Archaeal Community in an Amazonian Wetland Soil and Culture-Dependent Isolation of
Methanogenic Archaea”, Diversity, 2 (7), 1026-1047.
3. Bilgili M. S., Demir A., Ozkaya B., (2007), “Influence of leachate recirculation on aerobic and anaerobic
decomposition of solid wastes”, J Hazard Mater, 143 (1-2), 177-183.Sponza D. T., Ağdağ O. N., (2004),
“Impact of leachate recirculation and recirculation volume on stabilization of municipal solid wastes in
simulated anaerobic bioreactors”, Process Biochemistry, 39 (12), 2157-2165.
4. Sanphoti N., Towprayoon S., Chaiprasert P., Nopharatana A., (2006), “The effects of leachate
recirculation with supplemental water addition on methane production and waste decomposition in a
simulated tropical landfill”, J Environ Manage, 81 (1), 27-35.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cevat YAMAN
Environmental Eng. Dep.
cevatyaman@yahoo.com

ICOEST LFG 2017

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LANDFILL GAS PRODUCTION IN LANDFILL

BIOREACTORS CONTAINING MUNICIPAL

INTRODUCTION - Landfill Bioreactor (LBR) Technology

INTRODUCTION - Landfill Bioreactor (LBR) Technology

• Operating a landfill as a bioreactor offers several potential benefits over a

INTRODUCTION - Geotextile Material

METHODOLOGY - Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Reactors

•Five pilot scale stainless steel reactors

•The reactors were specifically

METHODOLOGY - Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Reactors

• This study investigates these two

METHODOLOGY - Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Reactors

• R2, R3 and R4 also contained a geotextile filter in their drainage layers.

Parameters Units Value Components Value

Table 4. Physical properties of the Table 5. Properties of the sewage sludge

Parameters Units Value Parameters Units Value

TS mg/L 10790 Water Content % 76

METHODOLOGY – Operational Procedure

Parameters Units R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4 R-C

MSW Volume m3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2

MSW Density kg/m3 750 750 750 750 750

Sewage Sludge Yes Yes No No No

Seed Sludge Volume L 30 30 30 30 30

Seed Sludge Ratio (V:V) % 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.65

Rain Water Addition L/week - - - - 8

Leachate Recirculation - Yes Yes Yes Yes No

METHODOLOGY – Operational Procedure

RESULTS&DISCUSSION - Total Biogas (LFG) Production

•In anaerobic biodegradation processes, 25000

methanogenic bacteria consume LBR-1

•Cumulative LFG volumes were; 15000

•Cumulative LFG: 7454 L (R1) 10000

•Cumulative LFG: 21398 L (R2)

•Cumulative LFG : 9067 (R5)

RESULTS&DISCUSSION - Total Biogas (LFG) Production

anaerobic waste degradation. 75

Methane Percentage (%)

• Maximum Methane content LBR-1: 57.74%

• Reached maximal value at 164th day. Day

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