Exopolysaccharide control of methane oxidation in landfill cover soil

The study objective was to examine whether a relationship exists between the accumulation of exopolymeric substances (EPS) in landfill cover soil and the gradual decline in biotic methane oxidation observed in laboratory soil columns sparged with synthetic landfill gas. A mathematical model that combined multicomponent gas diffusion along the vertical axis of the columns with biotic methane oxidation was used to predict vertical gas gradients in the columns. An initial trial assumed methane oxidizers were embedded in a thin base layer of biofilm coating the soil, and the model predictions fit experimental data from soil columns early in their operating period. A second trial modeled the same system with a thick EPS layer coating the base biofilm and limiting diffusion of gases into and out of the cells. Predictions from the latter trials fit experimental data from soil columns later in their operating period when lower methane consumption rates were observed. The model results suggest that EPS accumulation may regulate methane oxidation rates in landfill covers.