Permeability of municipal solid waste in bioreactor landfill with degradation

Bioreactor landfills are operated for rapid stabilization of waste, increased landfill gas generation for cost-effective energy recovery, gain in landfill space, enhanced leachate treatment, and reduced post closure maintenance period. The fundamental process of waste stabilization in bioreactor landfill is recirculation of generated leachate back into the landfills. This creates a favorable environment for rapid microbial decomposition of the biodegradable solid waste. In order to better estimate the generated leachate and design of leachate recirculation system, clear understanding of the permeability of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) with degradation and the factors influencing the permeability is necessary. The objective of the paper is to determine the changes in hydraulic properties of MSW in bioreactor landfill with time and decomposition. Four small-scale bioreactor landfills were built in laboratory and samples were prepared to represent each phase of decomposition. Then, the changes in hydraulic properties of MSW in bioreactor landfill with time and decomposition were determined. A series of constant head permeability tests were performed on the samples generated in laboratory scale bioreactor landfills to determine variation of permeability of MSW with degradation. The test results indicated that the permeability of MSW in bioreactor landfills decreases with decomposition. Based on the test results, the permeability of MSW at the first phase of degradation was estimated as 0.0088 cm/s at density 700 kg/m3. However, with degradation, permeability decreased to 0.0013 cm/s at the same density, for MSW at Phase IV. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008.