Gas pressure and concentration gradients at the top of a landfill

Conference · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:6353714

Bogner, J; Vogt, M; Moore, C; Gartman, D

Vertical gas pressure and concentration gradients are being investigated at the Mallard North Landfill (DuPage County, Illinois) using nests of probes installed in the top of refuse and at two depths in the clay cover materials. Soil gas pressures and atmospheric pressure are monitored continuously using electronic pressure transducers linked to a microcomputer. Concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen in the soil gas are determined using a field gas chromatograph. Supporting meteorological, soil temperature, and soil moisture data also are obtained. Based on data from the fall of 1985 and the spring, summer, and fall of 1986, soil gas pressures at all depths responded to changes in barometric pressure; however, the type of response varied, depending on soil moisture and temperature. During warm, dry weather, for example, soil gas pressures in the cover and the top of the refuse equilibrate rapidly with barometric pressure, indicating that diffusion is the major mechanism for gas transport at that time (no pressure gradients). The rate of diffusional flow depends on the properties of the cover materials, as well as the concentration gradients. Increases in soil moisture, in particular, decrease the gas-filled porosity of the cover materials and retard gas movement. Our results suggest that design and maintenance of tighter landfill covers should be considered at sites where gas recovery is anticipated, to prevent loss of methane and influx of oxygen.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA); Geotechnics, Inc., Columbus, OH (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6353714
• Report Number(s): CONF-870297-1; ON: DE87011490
• Resource Relation: Conference: 10. international landfill gas symposium, West Palm Beach, FL, USA, 9 Feb 1987; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
SANITARY LANDFILLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
CARBON DIOXIDE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
GASEOUS WASTES
ILLINOIS
METEOROLOGY
METHANE
MOISTURE
NITROGEN
OXYGEN
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SOILS
TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS
ALKANES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
ELEMENTS
FEDERAL REGION V
HYDROCARBONS
MANAGEMENT
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
USA
VARIATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
510500* - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)