LANDFILL OPERATION FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND MAXIMUM METHANE EMISSION CONTROL
Controlled landfilling is an approach to manage solid waste landfills, so as to rapidly complete methane generation, while maximizing gas capture and minimizing the usual emissions of methane to the atmosphere. With controlled landfilling, methane generation is accelerated to more rapid and earlier completion to full potential by improving conditions (principally moisture, but also temperature) to optimize biological processes occurring within the landfill. Gas is contained through use of surface membrane cover. Gas is captured via porous layers, under the cover, operated at slight vacuum. A field demonstration project has been ongoing under NETL sponsorship for the past several years near Davis, CA. Results have been extremely encouraging. Two major benefits of the technology are reduction of landfill methane emissions to minuscule levels, and the recovery of greater amounts of landfill methane energy in much shorter times, more predictably, than with conventional landfill practice. With the large amount of US landfill methane generated, and greenhouse potency of methane, better landfill methane control can play a substantial role both in reduction of US greenhouse gas emissions and in US renewable energy. The work described in this report, to demonstrate and advance this technology, has used two demonstration-scale cells of size (8000 metric tons [tonnes]), sufficient to replicate many heat and compaction characteristics of larger ''full-scale'' landfills. An enhanced demonstration cell has received moisture supplementation to field capacity. This is the maximum moisture waste can hold while still limiting liquid drainage rate to minimal and safely manageable levels. The enhanced landfill module was compared to a parallel control landfill module receiving no moisture additions. Gas recovery has continued for a period of over 4 years. It is quite encouraging that the enhanced cell methane recovery has been close to 10-fold that experienced with conventional landfills. This is the highest methane recovery rate per unit waste, and thus progress toward stabilization, documented anywhere for such a large waste mass. This high recovery rate is attributed to moisture, and elevated temperature attained inexpensively during startup. Economic analyses performed under Phase I of this NETL contract indicate ''greenhouse cost effectiveness'' to be excellent. Other benefits include substantial waste volume loss (over 30%) which translates to extended landfill life. Other environmental benefits include rapidly improved quality and stabilization (lowered pollutant levels) in liquid leachate which drains from the waste.
- Research Organization:
- National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC26-98FT40422
- OSTI ID:
- 795745
- Report Number(s):
- AC26-98FT40422-04; TRN: US200213%%43
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 26 Feb 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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