Application of environmental isotopes to characterize landfill gases and leachate

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6095575

Liu, C L; Hackley, K C ^[1]; Baker, J ^[2]

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1. Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, IL (United States)
2. Waste Management Inc., Geneva, IL (United States). Environmental Labs.

Environmental isotopes have been used to help characterize landfill gases and leachate for the purpose of identifying leachate and/or gas contamination in surrounding monitoring wells. Carbon isotopes (C-13/C-12 and C-14), hydrogen isotopes (H-3 and H-2/H-1) and oxygen isotopes (O-18/O-16) were used to characterize methane, carbon dioxide and leachate produced from two municipal landfills in northeastern Illinois. The isotopic results from the landfill-derived gases and leachate are compared to isotopic compositions of groundwater and gases from nearby monitoring wells. C-14 activity of landfill CH[sub 4] is high compared to CH[sub 4] normally found in subsurface sediments. For this study C-14 activities of the landfill methane range from 129--140 PMC. The C-14 of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of the leachate samples also have relatively high activities, ranging from 126--141 PMC. The [delta]C-13 and [delta]D values for CH[sub 4] from the landfills fall within a range of values representative of microbial methane produced by acetate-fermentation. The [delta]C-13 of the CO[sub 2] and the DIC are very positive, ranging from 8--14[per thousand] for CO[sub 2] and 13--22[per thousand] for DIC. The [delta]O-18 values of the leachates are similar to current meteoric water values, however, two of the leachate samples are significantly enriched in deuterium by approximately 65[per thousand]. Tritium values of the leachate water are generally higher than expected. For one landfill the tritium activity ranges from 227--338 TU, for the second landfill the tritium activity is approximately 1,300 TU. Compared to tritium levels in normal groundwater, these higher tritium values in the leachates indicate that this isotope has the potential to be an effective tracer for detecting leachate migration.

• OSTI ID: 6095575
• Report Number(s): CONF-921058--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 24:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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09 BIOMASS FUELS
095000* -- Biomass Fuels-- Environmental Aspects-- (1990-)
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BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
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CARBON 12
CARBON 13
CARBON 14
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
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HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ILLINOIS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPE RATIO
ISOTOPES
LAND POLLUTION
LEACHATES
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METHANE
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TRACER TECHNIQUES
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YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES