Performance evaluation of an aerobic bioreactor landfill

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Sustainable Aerobic Landfill Technologies (SALT) Inc. is forging a research partnership with Western University to evaluate the performance of an aerobic bioreactor landfill under controlled laboratory conditions. The envisaged landfill will be a laboratory scale model of the company's full scale landfill located in Fort McMurray, in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta. SALT Inc's motivation for the partnership is to obtain performance data and analysis to validate its aerobic bioreactor landfill technology and to confirm the predicted environmental and economic benefits of the technology, namely, odor elimination, increased greenhouse gas credits, reduced landfill footprint and extended landfill life, leachate containment and elimination prior to seepage, and minimal groundwater impact. To generate the required data, two aerobic bioreactor landfill models each measuring 1.22 m wide x 0.61 m long x 1.83 m deep will be installed and monitored in the laboratory at a temperature of 25± 2 oC. The bioreactors will be filled with waste sampled from the Wood Buffalo landfill. Vertical and horizontal perforated PVC pipes will be installed in each box for compressed air and moisture injection. Effluent from the boxes will be sampled at prescribed intervals and analyzed for dissolved organic carbon locations, metals, sulphate, pH and alkalinity. Water balance measurements and analysis will also be carried out on each bioreactor. The data will be used to develop a computer model for aerobic bioreactor landfill and compared to the field performance of the full-scale landfill in Fort McMurray. The project is of great importance to SALT Inc. because, by having real performance data on the aerobic bioreactor landfill, the company will be able to assess actual reductions in methane emissions and hence accelerate its drive to become carbon neutral. The project will train one doctoral student and one undergraduate research assistant in modern landfilling and greenhouse gas mitigation methods, areas of expertise that would appeal to Canadian engineering consulting firms and municipal and provincial governments.