Landfill design

Define
 A landfill is an engineered method for land disposal of solid
or hazardous wastes in a manner that protects the
environment
What happens in a landfill
 Biological, chemical and physical processes occur due to
which degradation of waste occurs.
 Leachate is produced

Leachate
Polluted liquid obtained from the base of the landfill
 And gasses are produced
Landfill Types
1. The Trench method
• Used in level terrain.
• Trenches are dug by excavation
• Solid waste is filled in the trenches & dirt is replaced on top of the buried material
• Trench is then compacted

2. The Area method

• Most popular
• By locating a side of a hill or a sloped area
• Refused is dumped on the side of the slope and then covered with dirt
• It continues until the entire slope is leveled

3. The Valley or Ravine method

• Commonly used by large cities
• In an area with large depression or slope such as a valley or ravine
• Usually an area naturally developed
• Refuse is dumped in the depression and filled with dirt
• The area is then compacted and built up
 Site selection
 Must be adequate to last for 20 to 25 years
 Must be away from habitation clusters, forests, important religious interest by 0.5 km and
preferably within 5 km from city limits.
 EIA to be carried out in the case of municipalities having population above 5 lakhs.
 Locations with low ground water contamination potential and at locations where sub soil is
with high content.
EIA to be carried out addressing the following parameters
 Groundwater quality
 Surface water quality
 Air quality
 Land use alteration
 Soil erosion
 Drainage alteration
 Ecological impact
 Noise impact
 Aesthetic – visual, vermin and flies
 Traffic alteration
 Detailed geological , hydro geological, geotechnical and geophysical
investigations to be carried out and two best ranked sites should be
selected. After assessment of public perception of two sites, the final site
is selected.
 Geological and geo physical investigations – to obtain bed rock,
quality of surface rock, depth to sound rock, aquifers, detailed seismic
data in seismically active zones
 Topography – computation of earth work
 Hydrological – to estimate run off for designing drainage system
 Ground water / hydro geological investigations – depth to
ground water table, seasonal variations, ground water flow direction
and base line water quality
 Sub soil – bore hole upto 15 m depth below the base line of proposed
land fill , classification of soils, permeability, soil strength,
compressibility, possible cover materials from test pits.
Essential components of landfill are
 Base and side lining system
 A leachate collection and treatment system
 A gas collection and treatment facility
 Final cover system
 Surface water drainage system
 Environment monitoring system
 Design
 Calculation of waste generation, present generation, anticipated
increase in generation rate, quantity of propose recycling and
conversion
 Total area required for land fill + 30 5 additional area for infrastructure
facilities
 Height of landfill up to 20 m
 Less than 5 hectares for small land fill and more than 20 hectares for
large landfill is preferred
 Landfills could be developed
 above the ground level
 below the ground level
 on slope
 valley type
 combination of above
Planning for landfills
 Design period
 Landfill capacity
 Ancillary services- leachate treatment, landfill gas
management etc
How to determine landfill capacity
 Estimate the disposal requirements.
 Using population statistics per capita disposal rate can be
calculated.
 In US it is 7 pounds per person per day
 Density of solid waste is calculated.
 Volume is calculated.
 Calculation includes volume of cover material.
Fatal flaws while siting a landfill
 No landfill will be sited within one mile of a school.
 The site is too small
 The site is on a flood plane
 The site includes wetlands.
 A seismic zone is within 200ft of the site
 An endangered species habitat is on the site.
 The site is too close to an airport
 The site is an area with high population density.
Fatal flaws
 The site includes sacred lands.
 The site includes a ground water recharge area
 Unsuitable soil conditions exist on the site.
Siting
 Highlight the sites with fatal flaws.
 Develop a rank system based on fatal flaws and other factors
such as access to landfills etc.
 Involve public participation.
 The top ranked sites are then investigated in detail.
 Onsite analysis of habitat, groundwater and soil conditions,
physical surveys, and initial environmental assessments.
Siting
 An elected body then selects the site for preliminary
engineering design, permitting application and detailed
environmental impact report.
 Public is opposed to landfills- since the property value
decreases.
 Low land value areas are selected generally.
Permitting
Land fills should comply with standards SPECIFICATIONS
regarding,
 Location
 design requirements
 operating conditions
 ground water monitoring
 landfill closure and post closure
 financial assurance are addressed in law.
Permitting
In addition to the above
 land use conformance
 Air emissions
 Ground water and surface water discharge, operations
 Extraction for cover material
 Closure.
Landfill Processes
 Biological degradation
 Leachate production
 Gas production
Biological degradation
 Refuse contains 70 to 80 % organic matter.
 Composed of Proteins, carbohydrates and lignins.
 Biodegradable portion further divided into two
 1.Readily biodegradable- food and garden waste
 2. Moderately biodegradable- paper ,textiles, wool.
Biological degradation
 Landfill ecosystem is quite diverse
 Diversity of the system promotes stability.
 The system is influenced by environmental conditions like
temperature, pH value, presence of toxins, moisture content,
and oxidation- reduction potential.
 Stabilization of waste proceeds in five sequential phases.
 Degradable particulate organic material
(Proteins Carbohydrates and Lipids)

Hydrolysis
Inert Soluble

Amino Acids & Sugars Long chain fatty

acids

Fermentation of
Valerate, Butyrate,
Anaerobic
Amino acids & & Propionate Oxidation of
Sugars LCFA
Anaerobic
Oxidation of
Acids

Acetate Hydrogen

Acetotrophic Hydrogenotrophic
methanogenesis methanogenesis
Methane
Phases of stabilization
 Initial adjustment phase
 Transition phase
 Acid formation phase
 Methane fermentation phase
 Maturation phase.
1.Initial adjustment phase
 Initial waste placement
 Preliminary moisture accumulation
 Initial subsidence
 Closure of landfill area
2.Transition phase
 Field capacity exceeded
 Leachate formed
 Electron acceptor shifts from oxygen to nitrates to sulfates
 Trend toward reducing conditions
 Volatile acids appear
3.Acid formation phase
 Volatile fatty acids predominate in leachate
 pH declines
 Substrate conversion occurs
4.Methane fermentation phase
 Methane and carbon dioxide production
 pH at minimum
 Nutrient consumption
 Precipitation of metals
 Leachate BOD/COD declines
5.Maturation phase
 Final stage
 Biological dormancy
 Nutrients limiting
 Gas production ceases
 Oxygen slowly reappears
 Humic substances produced
State of a Landfill
 A) Aerobic state: 4-60 days

 B) Anaerobic: after 60 days

 – Produces methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide
gases as anaerobic decomposition products

 In a well-run landfill:
 Methane/carbon dioxide ratio is between 65% and 35%
 Hydrogen sulfide is <1%
Liners
 Used to prevent migration of leachate from landfills
 And to facilitate removal of leachate
 Consists of multiple layers of natural material and
geomembranes.
 Natural clay or clayey soils
 Geomembranes are made of synthetic resins.
 HDPE used in landfills
Liners
 Landfills may be designed with single , double or multiple
liners
 The bottom layer will be clay and above that geomembrane is
used.
 Liners are provided with Leachate collection systems
 Recently geosynthetic clay liners are used
 Quality control and assurance system is required for liner
construction.
 Geo textile – a permeable synthetic textile product in the form
of manufactured sheet, which may be woven, non woven or
knitted used in geo technical, environmental, hydraulic and
transportation engineering applications.
 Geo textile help in redistribution of concentrated stresses over
geo membranes and protect geo membrane from angular
aggregates of drainage blanket.
 At locations where availability of clay is limited , amended soil by
mixing bentonite or any other suitable clay to locally available
soil to achieve desired permeability.
 Liner system is required to prevent migration of leachate from
landfill and to facilitate removal of leachate. It generally consists
of multiple layers of natural material or geo membranes selected
for their low permeability
 In regions where rainfall is high, sub soil is highly permeable, water table
is within 2.0 to 6.0 m beneath the base of proposed land fill liner, the
liner shall be a double composite liner.
 Each liner is provided with a leachate collection system. The collection
system separating the two liners is a leak detection system. A series of
pipes placed between the liners to collect and monitor any leachate that
leaks through the top liner.
 The geo synthetic clay liner is easily placed in the field and uses up less
volume, allowing for more volume to be used for waste disposal.
 Geo membranes are impermeable thin sheets made from synthetic resins
such as PP, PVC or other polymers. HDPE tend to be used in MSW land
fill liners most commonly because it is resistant to most chemicals found
in leachate.
 Liner system may be designed with single , composite or double liners
depending on ground conditions, budget, the applicable local , state or
central regulations
Leachate collection & storage
 Liners are barriers for waste and ground water.
 Leachate collected in the cell must be removed as quickly as
possible
 Restrictions regarding head of leachate above liners.(30cms)
 Leachate is removed by two means
 1)Gravity flow 2) Pumping
Components
Components of leachate collection system are
Protective and drainage layers
Perforated collection
Pump station sump
Leachate pumps
Pump controls
Pump station appurtenances
Gravity sever line
Storage
 Leachate removed is temporarily stored .
 Storage of treatment is important.
 Stored in surface impoundments and tanks.
Leachate collection system design
equation
Leachate treatment and disposal
 Leachate treatment is expensive so important
 New technologies are developing so the solution changes
time to time.
 Final disposal of leachate
 Difficult in treatment – high organic strength, irregular
production, variation of biodegradability, composition .
Leachate treatment and disposal
A typical landfill facility consists of following
Polymer coagulation
Flocculation
Sedimentation followed by
Anaerobic biological treatment
Two stage aerobic biological treatment followed by Filtration.
Then discharge into a body of water.
Most economic alternative
 Is to transport waste water to a public owned offsite
treatment facility.
 This allows operators to focus on primary solid waste mgmt
charge .
 economics of scale for large treatment plants.
 Permissions ,testing , monitoring and reporting becomes
easier to landfill owner
Emerging technologies
 Reverse osmosis
 Direct osmosis concentration
 Evaporation
 Vapor compression distillation
 Mechanical vapor recompression
Reverse osmosis
 Forces a fluid through a semi permeable membrane.
 Thus separating soluble components on the basis of molecule
size and shape
 Capable of removing dissolved solids.
 Separates into water and brine under high pressure
 Recovery rates 75% to 90%
Direct osmosis concentration
 This is a cold temperature membrane process.
 Semi permeable membrane is placed between leachate and
osmotic agent(salt brine)
 The membrane allows only water to pass through membrane
rejecting contaminants.
Evaporation
 This can reduce the volume of leachate to as less as 5% of
original volume
 Better than conventional technologies as above since two
parts needs disposal
 Landfill gas fueled evaporation is effective in landfill gas and
leachate control.
 This system requires an air permit.
Vapor compression distillation
 This is different from evaporation
 Produces clean effluent.
 Leachate is introduced into VCD system.
 The system constantly pumps leachate and concentrate at a
high rate from stream disengagement vessel through a
primary head exchanger and back.
 This creates a cyclonic separation of stream from liquid
Mechanical vapor recompression
 It consists of polymeric evaporation surface.
 Water boils at 50 to 60 degrees C
 The water is pumped into heat transfer elements and
evaporated.
Leachate Recirculation
 Landfills can be used as a biological reactors for the
treatment of leachate.
 Landfills can be transformed into an engineered reactor
system.
 Traditional landfills collect the leachate and remove leachate
 In Dry landfills acid formation and methane fermentation
phases become longer
Leachate Recirculation
 So decomposition will be delayed and incomplete.
 Leachate recirculation can be used as an alternative.
 Leachate recirculation offers rapid development of active
anaerobic microbial population.
 It increases reaction rates.
Leachate Recirculation
 Time required for stabilization decreases from 20 years to 3 years.
 When microorganisms are exposed to constituents of leachate
necessary contact time ,nutrients and substrates for efficient
conversion and degradation will be available.
 Hence recirculation converts landfills into dynamic anaerobic
bioreactor which converts organic materials to intermediates and
end products
Leachate Recirculation techniques
 Wetting of waste as it is placed
 Spraying of leachate over the landfill surface
 Injection of leachate into vertical columns or horizontal
trenches
Leachate Recirculation
 To optimize bio reactor operations the waste moisture levels
are controlled by the rate of recirculation.
 The quantity of liquid supplied is a function of moisture
content and field capacity.
 Techniques to measure head- sump measurements,
piezometers, bubblers tubes, and pressure transducers.
Land fill gas collection and use
 Gas moves by pressure gradient .
 Uncontrolled gas migration leads to tragic consequences.
There are two systems for gas emission control
1)Passive collection
2)Active collection
Land fill gas collection and use
 Passive system collects gas using vent collectors and release
the gas to the atmosphere
 Spacing for a passive vent is on for 7000cubicmeters.
 Active extraction systems links collection wells with piping
and extract the gas under vacuum created by central blower.
Land fill gas collection and use
 Q= VA
 Q- landfill gas flow rate, cubicft/sec
 V-landfill gas velocity
 A- c/s interior area of the pipe , squareft.
Density of gas
 Density of gas=MT/RT
 M= molecular weight of the gas lb/mole
 p= pressure, lb/sqft
 R= universal gas constant
 T= absolute temperature.
Applications of landfill gas
 Can be directly used
 Electricity generation
 Conversion to chemicals or fuels
Direct use
 Boilers and other combustion applications are cheapest and
easiest options
 Direct use of landfill gas to replace
1. Coal
2. Oil
3. Propane
4. Natural gas
are successfully demonstrated.
Direct use
 Applications
1. Boiler firing
2. Space heating
3. Cement and brick kilns
4. Sludge drying
5. Leachate drying
6. incineration
Direct use
 Use of landfill gas asVehicle fuel.
 The gas should be upgraded to natural gas.
 Vehicles should be upgraded .
 700000 vehicles are fueled by natural gas.
 This improve air quality .
 Beneficial than power generation.
Conversion to chemicals or fuels
 Not economical
 Hydrocarbons can be produced
 Methanol synthesis can be done.
 Acetic acid can be synthesized.
Electrical power generation
 For internal combustion engines and gas turbines
 Easiest and most profitable alternative
 In US 85 PROJECTS generating 344MW of electricity from
landfill gas
 Out of which 61 projects are internal combustion engines.
 51% of power is being generated at landfill sites
Electrical power generation
 Landfill gas production less than one MW is unsuitable
economically
 Landfills capacity less than 3MW internal combustion
engines used.
 Three to five engines are employed
 Landfill capacity more than 3MW turbines are employed .
 Require one to two turbine units for generation.
Electrical power generation
 By Fuel cells
 Fuel cells are electrochemical batteries utilizing molten carbonate
or phosphoric acid , fueled by coal ,petroleum ,natural gas .
 Hydrogen from the converted fuel combines with oxygen to
produce electricity.
 High energy efficient, adopted to small landfills, minimal by
product emissions, minimum labor and maintenance, minimal
noise impact
Landfill cap
 Final cap is placed
1.To minimize infiltration
2. Dispersal of waste
3. Accommodate settling
4. Facilitate long term maintenance .
Slope stability 1:3 to 1:4
Evapotranspiration cover an alternative to conventional
Land fill equipment
 Tractors
 loaders
 compactors

Generally bulldozers are used in landfills.

Landfill design include
 Filling sequence
 Daily cover
 Monitoring
 Use of old landfills
Use of old landfills
 Golf courses
 Natural areas
 Recreation parks.
 Parking lots
 Building construction.
Landfill mining