A study on methane degradation layer extracted from landfill mining

Abstract

Due to the harmful effect on the environment, landfill gas has to be collected and processed. One possible solution would be covering the landfill with a bioactive layer, where methane gas is oxidized.

The aim of this research is to study the possibilities of extracting material for the methane degradation layer from the landfill itself by means of Landfill Mining (LFM). Chemical and biological properties as well as hydrophysical properties like hydraulic conductivity and saturated volumetric water content of the fine fraction were measured to verify whether the material meets the requirements.

As the result of the study it appeared that the fine fraction sieved out during Landfill Mining was suitable as a methane degradation layer when mixed with amendments. The best ratio of components was found 60 % fine fraction from LFM, 20 % soil, and 20 % matured sludge compost.

The installation of the methane degradation layer has been finished. The research continues to closely observe the result of methane degradation in full scale. While applying the knowledge obtained in this study to any other landfill it has to be kept in mind that the properties of the covering layer and the ratio of components directly depend on the properties of the fine fraction, amendments, and the parameters of the landfill.