DEEPAK P S

M100199CE
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Introduction
 An MSW landfill
 uses enhanced biochemical processes to transform and stabilize
organic wastes
 Stabilization occurs in 5-10 yrs, compared to 30-100 yrs in a
conventional landfill.
 Min. moisture content of 40% is necessary

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Why bioreactor landfill?
 Potential for air space recovery

 Less leachate treatment costs

 Energy recovery

 Lower long-term risks

 Lower post closure costs

 Potential for resource recovery and recycling

 Potential for GHG emission reduction 3

Challenges
 Higher initial capital/operating costs

 Supplementary moisture sources

 Increased landfill gas and leachate generation

 Leachate seeps and slope stability issues

 Large settlements

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Phases of MSW decomposition

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Comparison of ideal gas generation rates

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Classification
 Aerobic
-Moisture- added through leachate recirculation
-air is injected to promote aerobic biodegradation & waste stabilization.

 Anaerobic
-leachate recirculation
-biodegradation takes place in absence of oxygen.
-methane is evolved.

 Hybrid
-uses both aerobic & anaerobic methods for waste stabilization.

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Anaerobic reactor
 Accelerates waste degradation by optimizing conditions for anaerobic
bacteria.

 Organic wastes are converted into organic acids with CH4 & CO2
evolution.

 OMC in wastes for anaerobic conditions is about35-45%

 Moisture-added through various delivery systems

 Additional sources of moisture like sewage sludge, storm water and

non-hazardous liquid wastes are added to augment moisture levels.
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 Anaerobic reactor
 As the moisture content of waste reaches an optimum, the rate of
waste degradation and landfill gas produced increases.

 Also observed is an increase in the density of the waste.

 The rate of gas production in an anaerobic bioreactor can be twice

that in a normal landfill

 But, the duration of gas production is significantly shorter.

 Thus, gas collection systems at bioreactor landfills must be

capable of handling a higher peak volume, for a shorter period of
time.
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Aerobic reactor
 Accelerates waste degradation by optimizing conditions for aerobic
bacteria-moisture & air injection

 Aerobes-require oxygen for cellular respiration

 Needs sufficient water to function-leachate recirculation

 Aerobic bacteria grow and perform degradation at a faster rate

compared to anaerobic ones

 No methane generation

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Facultative reactor
 Anaerobic degradation along with a mechanism to control high
ammonia concentrations generated when liquids are added

 A sequential aerobic-anaerobic treatment is employed to

enhance biodegradation

 Leachate containing high ammonia levels is treated using

nitrification-ammonia converted to nitrate

 Treated leachate-added to landfill

 In absence of O2,facultative bacteria use nitrate for respiration-

denitrification
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Bioreactor landfill-system design
 Liquid addition
-Creates favourable conditions for microbial growth

 Air addition
-promotes aerobic stabilization

 Other factors
--optimized temp -30-380 C(mesophilic)
-50-570 C (thermophilic)
--pH-6.8-7.4
--appropriate nutrient levels

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 BIOREACTOR
LANDFILL DESIGN

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Design elements
 Liner

 Drainage blanket

 Leachate collection pipe

 Liquid introduction system(LIS)

-Surface spraying
-Horizontal trenches & ponds
-Horizontal Injection
-Vertical Injection
-Liquid storage
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Liner
 Composite liners consisting of 1.5 mm Geosynthetic
liner(HDPE sheets), placed over clay layer, 1.2-1.5 m thick, is
commonly used

 Compared to liners built for conventional landfills , at the base,

liner area should be increased, to accommodate additional
waste mass, in case of a slope failure

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 www.geosyntheticsmagazine.com

www.yolocounty.com
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Drainage blanket
 Increased microbial activities-increased metal removal from
waste mass

 High chances of drainage blanket clogging

 Permeability of blanket should be higher than in conventional

fills

 A Geotextile should be placed over the drainage blanket

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Drainage blanket
 Drainage material should be gravel, not sand

 Monofilament geotextile, 0.5 mm opening size, 30% relative

area could also be used (treated with a biocide)

 Excess leachate head buildup is possible, due to higher leachate

volume generated

 Gravel drainage thickness should be greater than in

conventional fills

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Leachate collection pipes
 Density of waste mass is about 30% higher than in
conventional fills

 Pipes should be structurally strong and should be designed for

additional leachate flow & leachate clogging

 Higher pipe diameters

 Frequent cleaning is required

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 www.flickr.com

www.flickr.com 23
Liquid Introduction System(LIS)
 Should be capable of distributing the additional liquid evenly
over entire waste mass

 Vol of liquid to be added depends on initial moisture content of

waste mass

 Average moisture content of MSW=12-15%

 Additional volume of liquid to be added=25-28%

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Liquid Introduction System(LIS)
 Actual volume of liquid to be added
V=MpAT
V=vol of liquid, L3
Mp=additional % moisture
A=area of waste mass, L2
T=thickness of waste mass, L

 Any liquid added beyond field capacity of waste will form

leachate

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LIS-Surface spraying
 Using water tankers/fire hose

 Provides uniform increase of moisture content

 Labour intensive, cannot be used for closed landfills

 May lead to development of a solid hard pan due to

precipitation of leachate & odour problems

 Ineffective when surface is frozen during winter

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LIS-Horizontal trenches & ponds
 Isolated ponds, 1-2m deep, constructed at regular intervals
throughout landfill surface

 Should be moved at intervals, to maintain uniform wetting

 Horizontal trenches, 1-2m wide & deep may also be used

 Zone of influence depends on rate of liquid introduction &

hydraulic conductivity of waste

 Trench spacing=4-6m

 Filled with gravel/tyre chips 27

LIS-Horizontal injection
 Horizontal pipes embedded within the waste

 Perforated polythene pipes (1x 0.6m) are placed in gravel (1”

dia round) filled trenches

 Pipes are 6” dia, placed at 6-8m hor. & 2-3m vertical spacings

 Dendritic pattern

 Low construction cost , injection rate can be controlled with

valves
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Horizontal injection pipe
Dendritic pattern

Vertical spacing of horizontal injection pipe 29

 LIS-Vertical injection
 Wells are placed at pre-designated grid points

 Constructed with 4” dia perforated concrete manholes

 Bottom 2-3m filled with gravel/concrete

 Used to introduce large volumes of liquid

 Low cost, easy to install

 Can be operated even after landfill is closed

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LIS-Vertical injection

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LIS-Liquid storage
 Provision for on-site liquid storage

 Leachate generated is insufficient to provide liquid necessary to

raise moisture content of waste mass to optimum level

 If leachate generation is more than that required, excess qty

should be stored for future use

 Leachate & non contaminated liquid may be stored

separately/together

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Surface spraying Infiltration ponds

Vertical injection wells Horizontal trenches 33

 Gas trenches along side slopes

Air blower system

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SLOPE STABILITY

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Considerations
 Unit weight of waste mass increases by 30% on liquid addition

 If elevation of waste mass top is above ground, both internal &

external faces should be analyzed

 Else, internal stability analysis alone would be sufficient

 Possible leachate head within landfill should be estimated properly-

leachate mounding

 Daily cover-if not properly removed, can impede liquid movement-

causes leachate mounding

 Biosolid layer may develop, which may act as a sliding surface 36

CASE STUDY
Florida landfill demonstration project
Objectives
 Design and operate a bioreactor using innovative
techniques and concepts.
 Evaluate the use of aerobic bioreactor landfill
technology and compare the aerobic approach to the
use of anaerobic bioreactor technology
 Instrument the landfills to permit in-situ monitoring
of bioreactor activity and to measure previously
unmeasured information (e.g. leachate head on the
liner effectiveness).

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Cont..
 Develop standardized design and operation procedures.
 Further define and quantify the true costs and benefits of
landfill bioreactors.

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 MAJOR INPUT PARAMETERS
 Moisture addition (About 6.28 million gallons of liquid
added in the anaerobic area of the bioreactor).
 Air addition (About 51 million cubic feet of air was
injected in the aerobic area of the NRRL bioreactor)
Leachate production and quality.
 Landfill gas production and quality.
 Data from in-situ sensors (moisture levels, temperature,
head on liner, pore water pressure, and total earth
pressure).
 Settlement of the bioreactor.

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INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS USED
 Clustered vertical wells,(134 walls, clustered to 45
clusters)
 Integrated landfill gas collection system,
 segregated leachate collection manholes,
 Instrumentation with innovative technology installed for
monitoring the bioreactor processes
 The installation of pressure transducers, total earth
pressure cells, moisture sensors, thermocouple wires, and
piezometers

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SUMMARY OF MAJOR
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 Due to the difficult to add air in areas that were deep or
wet suggest that aerobic treatment of are likely to be
problematic.
 non-biodegradable and persistent leachate constituents
were accumulated over time while biodegradable
constituents decreased
 methane generation rate rapidly increased with moisture
addition
 The settlement of waste was greater near injection wells

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 Cont…

 waste was well degraded within the 6 years, research

period;
 the moisture content was substantially increased
 substantial settlement was observed because of leachate
addition.

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Aerial view of a bio reactor constructed with an exposed geomembrane cap

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INSTRUMENTS INSTALLATION

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 Conclusions
 Bioreactor landfill flushes out contaminants faster
through controlled microbial processes

 Includes a system for adding moisture-enhances biodegradation

 Increased gas generation rates

 Design elements-require detailed study, compared to conventional

landfills

 Slope stability measures should be adopted

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 www.epa.gov/garbage/landfill/bioreactors.htm

 http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms/aterms.html

 Bioreactor landfill waste stabilization, City of Columbia, Missouri

Public Works Department Technical/Regulatory Guidelines

 Characterization, Design, Construction and Monitoring of

Bioreactor,ITRC

 www.bioreactor.org

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