Case study of landfill leachate recirculation using small-diameter vertical wells

Pradeep Jain; Jae Hac Ko; Dinesh Kumar; Jon Powell; Hwidong Kim; Lizmarie Maldonado; Timothy Townsend; Debra R Reinhart

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2014.07.005

Case study of landfill leachate recirculation using small-diameter vertical wells

Waste Manag. 2014 Nov;34(11):2312-20. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2014.07.005. Epub 2014 Aug 24.

Authors

Pradeep Jain¹, Jae Hac Ko², Dinesh Kumar³, Jon Powell⁴, Hwidong Kim⁵, Lizmarie Maldonado⁶, Timothy Townsend⁷, Debra R Reinhart⁸

Affiliations

¹ Innovative Waste Consulting Services, LLC, 6628 NW 9th Boulevard, Suite 3, Gainesville, FL 32605, USA; Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, P.O. BOX 116450, Gainesville, FL 32611-6450, USA. Electronic address: pjain@iwcs.biz.
² School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China; Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, P.O. BOX 116450, Gainesville, FL 32611-6450, USA. Electronic address: jaehacko@pkusz.edu.cn.
³ Engineering Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, 9th Floor, Dr. SPM Civic Centre, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, New Delhi 110 002, India; Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, P.O. BOX 116450, Gainesville, FL 32611-6450, USA. Electronic address: dkathpalia@yahoo.com.
⁴ Innovative Waste Consulting Services, LLC, 6628 NW 9th Boulevard, Suite 3, Gainesville, FL 32605, USA; Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, P.O. BOX 116450, Gainesville, FL 32611-6450, USA. Electronic address: jpowell@iwcs.biz.
⁵ Environmental Science and Engineering, Gannon University, 109 University Square, Erie, PA 16541-0001, USA; Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, P.O. BOX 116450, Gainesville, FL 32611-6450, USA. Electronic address: kim008@gannon.edu.
⁶ Innovative Waste Consulting Services, LLC, 6628 NW 9th Boulevard, Suite 3, Gainesville, FL 32605, USA. Electronic address: lmaldonado@iwcs.biz.
⁷ Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, P.O. BOX 116450, Gainesville, FL 32611-6450, USA. Electronic address: ttown@ufl.edu.
⁸ Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Central Florida, P.O. BOX 162450, Orlando, FL 32816, USA. Electronic address: reinhart@mail.ucf.edu.

PMID: 25164856
DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2014.07.005

Abstract

A case study of landfill liquids addition using small diameter (5 cm) vertical wells is reported. More than 25,000 m(3) of leachate was added via 134 vertical wells installed 3 m, 12 m, and 18 m deep over five years in a landfill in Florida, US. Liquids addition performance (flow rate per unit screen length per unit liquid head) ranged from 5.6×10(-8) to 3.6×10(-6) m(3) s(-1) per m screen length per m liquid head. The estimated radial hydraulic conductivity ranged from 3.5×10(-6) to 4.2×10(-4) m s(-1). The extent of lateral moisture movement ranged from 8 to 10 m based on the responses of moisture sensors installed around vertical well clusters, and surface seeps were found to limit the achievable liquids addition rates, despite the use of concrete collars under a pressurized liquids addition scenario. The average moisture content before (51 samples) and after (272 samples) the recirculation experiments were 23% (wet weight basis) and 45% (wet weight basis), respectively, and biochemical methane potential measurements of excavated waste indicated significant (p<0.025) decomposition.

Keywords: Bioreactor landfill; Injection pressure; Leachate recirculation; Municipal waste; Vertical wells; Well performance.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bioreactors*
Florida
Waste Disposal Facilities*
Waste Management / methods*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical