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Sustainable disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) requires assurance that contaminant release will be minimized or prevented within a reasonable time frame before the landfill is abandoned so that the risk of contamination release is not passed to future generations. This could be accomplished through waste acceptance criteria such as those established by the European Union (EU) that prohibit land disposal of untreated organic matter. In the EU, mechanical, biological and/or thermal pretreatment of MSW is therefore necessary prior to landfilling which is complicated and costly. In other parts of the world, treatment within highly engineered landfills is under development, known as bioreactor landfills. However, the completed bioreactor landfill still contains material, largely nonbiodegradable carbon and ammonia that may be released to the environment over the long-term. This paper provides a conceptual analysis of an approach to ensure landfill sustainability by the rapid removal of these remaining materials, leachate treatment and recirculation combined with aeration. The analysis in this paper includes a preliminary experimental evaluation using real mature leachate and waste samples, a modeling effort using a simplified mass balance approach and input parameters from real typical bioreactor cases, and a cost estimate for the suggested treatment method.

Aqueous slurries or suspensions containing reactive iron nanoparticles are increasingly suggested as a potential means for remediating chlorinated solvent nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) source zones. Aqueous-based treatment approaches, however, may be limited by contaminant dissolution from the NAPL and the subsequent contaminant transport to the reactive nanoparticles. Reactions occurring within (or at the interface) of the NAPL may alleviate these potential limitations, but this approach has received scant attention due to concerns associated with the reactivity of iron within nonaqueous phases. Results presented herein suggest that iron nanoparticles are reactive with TCE–NAPL and exhibit dechlorination rates proportional to the concentration of (soluble) water present within the NAPL. Reactivity was assessed over a 12-day period for five water contents ranging from 0.31M to 4.3M, with n-butanol used to enhance water solubility in the NAPL. Rates of dechlorination were generally slower than those reported for aqueous-phase dechlorination, but were not observed to slow over the course of the 12-day period. The lack of observed deactivation may indicate the potential that highly efficient (with respect to utilization of available electrons) dechlorination reactions can be engineered to occur within nonaqueous liquids. These results suggest a need for subsequent investigations which focus on understanding the mechanisms of the reactions occurring within NAPL, as well as those assessing the utility of controlling both the iron and water content within a NAPL source zone.

Summary This chapter contains sections titled: Technical Operation Environmental Procedures Landfill Monitoring References

Because effective operation of bioreactor landfills involves careful operation and construction of infrastructure beyond that necessary in traditional landfills, upfront capital and operating costs are greater than those associated with traditional landfills. Prior to investing in bioreactor landfills, landfill owners must be convinced that larger short-term expenses (e.g., liquid and/or air injection infrastructure) will be balanced by future economic benefits (e.g., extension of landfill life, reduced leachate treatment costs, etc.). The purpose of this paper is to describe an economic model developed to evaluate the impact of various operational (anaerobic, aerobic, or hybrid) and construction (retrofit and as-built) bioreactor landfill strategies on project economics. Model results indicate retrofit bioreactor landfills are more expensive than traditional landfills, while both the as-built and aerobic bioreactor landfills are less costly. Simulation results indicate the parameters that influence bioreactor economics most significantly are airspace recovery, gas recovery and subsequent use to generate electricity, and savings resulting from reduced leachate treatment costs.

The application of reactive slurries or suspensions (usually of reactive zero valent iron particles) is being considered for treatment of dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zones. Effective treatment of NAPL source zones with reactive particles requires delivery of particles within the vicinity of the NAPL. To date, iron-mediated remediation technologies rely on the use of aqueous-based particle suspensions. When utilizing these aqueous-based suspensions of reactive iron particles, contaminant transformation is dependent on dissolution of contaminants from the DNAPL prior to reaction. The reliance upon dissolution kinetics may introduce a rate limitation during treatment of DNAPL source zones with aqueous-based reactive slurries. Incorporation of the reactive particles into the NAPL (i.e., reduction occurring within the NAPL) may alleviate any dissolution limitation associated with aqueous-based reactive slurries. This exploratory research evaluated the feasibility of creating iron-mediated TCE reduction within a NAPL. Emphasis was placed on elucidating the role of water in the reductive dechlorination process when it occurs within a NAPL. Batch experiments were conducted in 125 mL reactors containing iron particles and NAPLs of various composition under an argon atmosphere. For these proof-of-concept experiments, NAPL mixtures were designed to ensure initial TCE concentration was constant. Results suggest that iron-mediated reactions within chlorinated ethene DNAPLs are feasible, though the viability of controlling both the iron content and chemistry of DNAPL located within the subsurface remains unknown.

Reactive iron particles hold promise for use in the destruction of contaminants in the subsurface environment. Application of these nano- to submicron-scale particles, however, may be limited by poor subsurface transport and non-uniform distribution of the reactive material. Delivery issues are particularly important when evaluating the efficacy of iron-based technologies for treatment of dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zones. Current approaches for the delivery of reactive iron particles within DNAPL source zones are hindered by particle agglomeration, flow bypassing, and presence of non-target reactions. Encapsulation of the reactive particles within an oil-in-water emulsion is a novel approach that may overcome these limitations. For successful application, emulsion droplets must be sufficiently small to prevent pore clogging, the emulsion must remain stable (i.e., both the encapsulated iron within oil droplets and the oil droplets within the continuous aqueous- phase) during introduction to the contaminated porous media, and the emulsion must be designed so as to limit any unintended DNAPL mobilization. Kinetically-stable iron-containing oil-in-water emulsions with droplet sizes less than two micrometers were developed and column experiments conducted to assess the transport of these emulsions through sandy media of differing mean pore diameters. Results from column experiments indicate little evidence of retention of emulsion droplets. Effluent recoveries suggest that both the oil and iron components of the oil-in-water emulsion can be transported through sandy porous media without long-term permeability reduction. Emulsion transport was modeled using a modified filtration model that includes a Langmuir adsorption term to simulate monolayer adsorption. The model simulations capture the rise, plateau and tailing of the emulsion breakthrough curves. Predicted mobility distances indicate encapsulation of particles within an oil- in-water emulsion can promote iron transport within porous media.

Waste acclimation and batch microcosm studies containing digested municipal solid waste were conducted at different temperatures (22, 35, and 45 C) and gas-phase oxygen concentrations (0.7–100%, by volume) to provide guidance for field-scale implementation of in situ nitrogen removal processes. Results demonstrate that in situ ammonia–nitrogen is feasible in decomposed aerated solid waste environments at the gas-phase oxygen concentrations and temperatures evaluated and the potential for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in field-scale bioreactor landfills is significant due to the presence of both aerobic and anoxic areas. Small amounts of oxygen were found sufficient for nitrification/ammonia removal to proceed, although removal rates increase with oxygen concentration. Laboratory results suggest field-scale implementation of in situ nitrogen removal occur in small dedicated treatment zones containing previously degraded waste (later in the life of a bioreactor landfill). Model simulations indicate removal of ammonia–nitrogen to low levels can occur with relatively short aeration depths (depth estimates ranged from 1.6 to 7.2 m below the point of leachate injection). Field-scale verification of these depth estimates is required prior to routine acceptance.