Emissions of VOC from a Landfill and its Plume Disperison Modelling

Abstract

The main purpose of this work is to evaluate the VOC emissions by a landfill, located at Niteroi city, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Twenty six samples were collected at 500 mL min-1 using a battery-operated air pump during 10 minutes, at four days in May and December, 2009. It was used a cylindrical 30 liters PVC flux chamber, which open bottom side was inserted 5 cm inside the landfill soil, and the samples were collected using a valve at the upper closed side. It were used double bed activated charcoal cartridges and the chemical analyses were done by gas chromatography with a mass spectrometry detector. The results indicated that the landfill contain several chemical compounds, mainly VOC, causing injures to vegetation and human health at the vicinities. The results indicated an elevated value of 1,980 kg km-2 h-1, when compared with metropolitan areas of São Paulo (38 kg km-2 h-1) and Rio de Janeiro (26 kg km-2 h-1). It was used a Gaussian dispersion model implemented at ISCSC3 mathematical model to calculate the pollutants diffusion and transport, in order to estimate the concentrations at the neighborhood, using the emissions, meteorological, and topographical data. Maximum values of 525 μg m-3 for VOC were found near 500 m from the landfill. As the landfill will be used for a long time it is necessary to evaluate the possibility to change the location of several schools, churches, residences, and hospitals to avoid the impacts.