Performance Assessment of Bioreactor Landfill and Investigation of Use of Biochar Amended Soil Cover System

Abstract

The exponential population growth in developing countries like India has increased the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation rate from 0.3kg/day to 0.6 kg/day. The unorganized MSW dumping practices have long been a major environmental challenge, with concerns over releasing leachate and fugitive gases into the environment. The leachate generated by the anaerobic decomposition of MSW causes soil surface and subsurface water contamination. The fugitive gas emissions from landfills contribute to 25% of global warming. Hence, adopting engineered landfills with the techniques to minimize leachate biochemical parameters and fugitive gas emissions for MSW disposal is the need of the hour. Although bioreactor landfill is the modest MSW disposal technique, limited research and implementation of the same are reported in India. The present study analyses the effect of leachate recirculation on fresh municipal solid waste transformation and leachate biochemical properties in a small-scale bioreactor simulator. The leachate recirculation method was adopted to assess the improvement in leachate and methane generation characteristics in biogas under anaerobic conditions. Fresh municipal solid waste collected from the Sangamner dumpsite was filled in small-scale bioreactor simulators. The anaerobic conditions were maintained, keeping the simulators airtight. Leachate recirculation was once a week. Biochemical characteristics of leachate and methane produced were analyzed once a week. The duration of the study was 104 days. The total quantity of gas generated was 11.17 litres and was validated through the Gompertz equation. Methane percentage varied in the range of 10% to 25%. A reduction in organic content indicated active microbial digestion. The favorable temperature range of 250C to 320C, and pH range of 5 to 7.2 was obtained for the anaerobic decomposition of MSW. Elemental analysis indicated a 22.83% reduction in carbon at the end. The biochemical properties of leachate were reduced throughout experimentation. The biochemi