Use of Alternative Cover Materials to Control Surface Emissions (H2S and VOCs) at an Engineered Landfill

Abstract

<jats:p xml:lang="en">Between 2010 and 2015, the Bellechasse Regional County Municipality (Bellechasse RCM) was affected by particularly noxious odors issuing from its Municipal Solid Waste Landfill (Bellechasse RCM MSWL) in Armagh, Canada. A study carried out in 2015-2016 by Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ) confirmed that it was still possible for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions to cause odor issues in and around the site. The experimental project carried out by CRIQ in cooperation with Bellechasse RCM, Englobe, Quebec City and the Regroupement des récupérateurs et des recycleurs de matériaux de construction et de démolition du Québec (represented by AIM Éco-centre) made it possible to test three (3) different industrial residue as an alternative cover materials on site and study how they controlled H2S emissions, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odors at the Bellechasse RCM’s landfill. The site was monitored from November 2016 to September 2017 to confirm the effectiveness of alternative biofiltration cover materials (soil + compost), domestic waste incineration bottom ash and 0 to 2.5-inch concrete residues and to compare the results with the sand cover currently used as the cover material. Effectiveness was determined by measuring the Area Source Emission Rate (ASER) with a 3 m x 3 m static flux chamber developed for the project. Methane measurements were concomitantly taken to confirm that the biogas could escape through the cover materials. The monitoring results made it possible to demonstrate that domestic waste incineration bottom ash as well as 0-2.5 in. concrete received the highest load of H2S and showed an H2S capture performance of greater than 83ϿFor volatile organic compounds, materials such as 0-2.5 in. concrete and the alternative biofiltration cover materials were most effective for capture (greater than 73Ͽfor the highest loads. The lowest content of CH4 after covering was measured for the alternative cover materials. The site where the incineration bottom ash was used managed to decrease odors by ±200 odor units. Overall, we have demonstrated in this project, the capacity of different alternative cover materials under real condition for the control of gas emissions from landfill.</jats:p>

Exploring the link between sulphur-containing compounds and noxious odours at waste management facilities: implications for odour monitoring and mitigation strategies

“…Our results are corroborated by Liu et al ( 16), who singled out methyl mercaptan as the only dominant odorous compound but did not study the contribution of hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S). Its contribution to noxious odours at landfill sites has been reported by other studies (17)(18)(19)(20)(21).…”

Archives of Environmental Protection

“…The operation of municipal waste landfills has negative impact on the environment through, among others, the emission of pollutants into the air. The available literature includes a number of studies on these issues (Capelli and Sironi 2018, Cheng et al 2020, Cheng et al 2019, Duan et al 2021, Fang et al 2012, Forastiere et al 2011, Giusti 2009, Heyer et al 2013, Jiang et al 2021, Ko et al 2015, Le Bihan et al 2020, Liu et al 2019, Long et al 2017, Lou et al 2015, Lucernoni et al 2016, Meišutovič-Akhtarieva and Marčiulaitienė 2017, Naddeo et al 2018, Sonibare et al 2019, Tagliaferri et al 2020, Yao et al 2019, Zhang et al 2021. The main cause of the emission of odor-generating substances from landfills is municipal waste deposited in a landfill, which undergoes three main processes: biodegradation of the organic substance contained in the deposited waste (biogenics), direct volatilization of compounds (xenobiotics), and biological or chemical reactions between waste contained in the deposit and reaction products (Duan et al 2021).…”