Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Tyner, Wade
URN	etd-04092007-171852
Title	Evaluation of Large Scale Biofilter as a Means of Mitigating Landfill Gas Emissions
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Tarek Abichou Committee Chair Jeff Chanton Committee Member Kamal Tawfiq Committee Member
Keywords	Oxidation Methane Gas Landfill Biofilter
Date of Defense	2007-04-06
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Methane emissions from solid waste landfills are a significant portion of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Present means of dealing with landfill gas emissions are too costly for many old and small landfills where gas generation is too low to justify the expense of active gas collection and/or energy conversion systems. As such, a low cost, low maintenance alternative is sought after to deal with these emissions. This study investigated the possibility of a completely passive gas collection system for redirecting gas flows to biofilters containing naturally occurring methanotrophic bacteria. The collection system consisted of horizontal trenches dug just below the soil cover of the landfill, which were filled with tire chips and perforated pipe in order to direct gas towards the biofilters. The biofilters were wire mesh containers filled with three different compost mixtures, which allowed for oxygen penetration on all sides except for the bottom. In this study, it was found that the hydraulic conductivity of the compacted waste was too low to allow for passive drainage of the trenches following precipitation. This resulted in total blockage of gas flow and a need for active intervention involving the use of bilge pumps to return flow to the biofilters. Overall oxidative performance of the filters was lower in this study than that found for clay covers on the same landfill in previous studies. An increase in oxidative performance was found with decreasing flux and may present the possibility that a similar design tested on older landfills with much lower gas flows would yield much higher oxidation rates.
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