Classification Methodology forLandfill Leachates.

Article HistorySubmitted: 18 April 2012Accepted: 10

April

2013Published:

DataISSN

12

April

(print):0733-9372ISSN

7870Publisher:American
EngineersDavid

J.

Society

2013Publication
(online):
of

1943Civil

Tonjes,Aff.M.ASCE11Assistant

Professor, Dept. of Technology and Society,Stony Brook

Univ.,

Stony

Brook,

NY

11794-3760.

E-

mail:david.tonjes@stonybrook.edu.
A characterization scheme based onlandfillleachate
chemical signatures could support studies of leachate
evolution over time and liner performance,and help
confirm or disprove potential leachate contamination of
groundwater. Wide variations in single constituents
across time, sites, and site practices, and inconsistencies
related to common bivariate measures suggest a robust,
multivariate analysis could be useful. A subjective
analytical comparison of soluble salts has been
developed and supports graphical depictions of multiple

samples. The hypothesis is that leachateswith similar

chemistry form clusters, and this was tested using a data
set of 652 samples from 26 distinct liner systems
collected from a Long Islandlandfillover more than 20
years. Most (75%) of diagrams were classified into three
general leachate groupings that associated with the kinds
of wastes received in the particularlandfillmodule (90%
if early leachate results are not considered).

Sallfors, G.andPeirce, J.(1984). "ReverseFlow Landfill

Design for Waste Chemicals."J. Environ. Eng., 10.1061/
(ASCE)0733-9372(1984)110:2(495),

495-

497.TECHNICAL NOTESReverseFlowLandfillDesign

for Waste ChemicalsArticle HistoryPublished: 01 April

1984Publication

DataISSN

(print):0733-9372ISSN

(online): 1943-7870Publisher:American Society of Civil

EngineersGoran Sallfors1andJ. Jeffrey Peirce21Prof.,
Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Chalmers Univ., Goteborg, Sweden;
presently Prof., Dept. of Civ. and Environmental Engrg.,
Duke Univ., Durham, N.C.2Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Civ.
and Environmental Engrg., Duke Univ., Durham, N.C.,
(9196978357).

To reduce the risk of liner failures, to control costs, and

to makelandfillsacceptable to the public, a design is
suggested in which chemical leachate migration is
prevented by artificially creating a reversed flow of
water. In this design, thelandfillis placed above the
ground water table and consists of a leachate collection
system, a compacted clay liner with low hydraulic
conductivity, sand and gravel to distribute the supply
water in the reverse flow operation, and a liner
constructed either of compacted clayor synthetic
material, or both, to act as a back-up barrier to the waste

and to confine the water supplied for reverse flow to the

sand and gravel layer.

Birchler, D.,Milke, M.,Marks, A., andLuthy, R.(1994).

"Landfill

Leachate

Environ.

Treatment

by

Evaporation."J.

Eng.,

10.1061/(ASCE)0733-

9372(1994)120:5(1109),

1109-1131.TECHNICAL

PAPERSLandfillLeachate

Treatment

EvaporationArticle HistorySubmitted: 9
1992Published:

01

September

by
November

1994Publication

DataISSN

(print):0733-9372ISSN

(online):

1943-

7870Publisher:American Society of Civil Engineers .

Deborah R. Birchler1;Mark W. Milke2;A. Leigh Marks3;

andRichard G. Luthy,Member, ASCE41Envir. Engr.,
Science Applications International Corp., 11251 Roger
Bacon Dr., Reston, VA 22090Formerly, Res. Asst., Dept.
of Civ. and Envir. and Engrg., Carnegie Mellon Univ.,
Pittsburgh, PA 152132Lect., Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Univ.
of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New
Zealand3Proj. Engr., Eli Lilly and Co., Indianapolis, IN
46285Formerly, Res. Asst., Dept. of Civ. and Envir.
Engrg., Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA4Prof. and
Head, Dept. of Civ. and Envir. Engrg., Carnegie Mellon
Univ., Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

This paper reviews and extends understanding of

evaporation/distillation as treatment forlandfillleachate.
Evaporation may produce condensate that is high quality

and easier to dispose of than effluent from conventional

leachatetreatment processes with the volume of the
concentrated residuals being a small fraction of the
original leachate volume. Laboratoryscale, one and
twostep distillation experiments with pH adjustment
were performed with ammonium acetate test solution and
three leachate samples from olderlandfills. A single step,
acidic distillation of the strongest leachate samples
removed more than 95% of ionic impurities, except for
volatile organic acids, which were removed at 85%. Two
step acidbase evaporation, or ammonia stripping
coupled with evaporation, may effectively remove
ammonia and volatile organic acids if present together in
relatively high concentrations. A Monte Carlo analysis
ofthe

feasibility

evaporation

for energy selfsufficient leachate

vialandfillmethane

combustion

shows,

theoretically, that there will be sufficient methane gas to

vaporize

leachate

in

majority

of

modernlandfillsituations based on the limited published

data and assuming uncorrelated input parameters.
Balancinglandfillleachate

production

to

methane

production may be tenuous for somelandfillsettings.

Although the data developed here are limited, this

investigation suggests that byproduct leachate and gas
fromlandfilloperations may be used beneficially in a
novel, energyselfsufficient treatment process.

Peyton, R.andSchroeder, P.(1988). "Field Verification of

HELP Model for Landfills."J. Environ. Eng., 10.1061/
(ASCE)0733-9372(1988)114:2(247),

247-

269.TECHNICAL PAPERSField Verification of HELP

Model forLandfillsArticle HistoryPublished: 01 April
1988Publication

DataISSN

(print):0733-9372ISSN

(online): 1943-7870Publisher:American Society of Civil

EngineersR.

Lee

Peyton1andPaul

R.

Schroeder,Members, ASCE21Asst. Prof., Dept. of Civ.

Engrg., Univ. of Missouri at Columbia, Columbia, MO
652112Envir. Engr., Water Resour. Engrg. Group,U.S.
Army Engr. Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg,
MS 39180.

Longterm simulations of 17landfillcells from six sites

are

performed

using

the

Hydrologic

Evaluation

ofLandfillPerformance (HELP) computer model. Results

are compared with field data froma variety oflandfillsto
verify the model and to identify shortcomings. The sites
are located in California, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.
Since site data are not available for some of the model
input parameters, default values are used in many
instances. It is found that model predictions are generally
bracketed by field measurements. Good agreement
between the predictions and measurements is obtained by
calibrating the hydraulic conductivity of the cover
materials while staying within the range ofhydraulic
conductivity values reported in the literature for these
materials. The results indicate that the HELP model can
be

very

useful

tool

for

designing

and

evaluatinglandfills. Additional data are required to

rigorously test many of the model assumptions and
mechanisms.

Abichou, T.,Powelson, D.,Chanton, J.,Escoriaza, S.,

andStern, J.(2006)."Characterization of Methane Flux
and Oxidation at a Solid Waste Landfill."J. Environ.
Eng., 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9372(2006)132:2(220), 220228.TECHNICAL PAPERSCharacterization of Methane
Flux and Oxidation at a Solid WasteLandfillArticle
HistorySubmitted: 13

July

2004Accepted: 27 June

2005Published: 01 February 2006Publication DataISSN

(print):0733-9372ISSN

(online):

1943-

7870Publisher:American

Society

EngineersTarek

Abichou,M.ASCE1;David

Powelson2;Jeffery
Dept.

Civil

Chanton3;Sharon

Escoriaza,M.ASCE4;
Professor,

of

andJennifer
of

Civil

and

Stern51Assistant
Environmental

Engineering,Florida A&M Univ.Florida State Univ.,

College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL 32310. E-

mail:abichou@eng.fsu.edu2Research Associate, Dept. of

Civil and Environmental Engineering,Florida A&M
Univ.Florida State Univ., College of Engineering,
Tallahassee,

FL

32310.3Professor,

Dept.

of

Oceanography,Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL

32306.4Graduate
Environmental

Student,

Dept.

Engineering,Florida

of

Civil

A&M

and

Univ.

Florida State Univ., College of Engineering, Tallahassee,

FL 32310.5PhD Candidate, Dept. of Geology,Florida
State Univ., Tallahassee, FL 32306.

Methane emissions were measured at several locations at

a typical solid waste facility using a static chamber
technique. At the entire facility, methane flux varied
from13.6to1,755gm2day1. The flux data had an
arithmetic

mean

value

of71.3gm2day1and

geometric mean value of18.6gm2day1. At this site,

methane emission was generally lower onthe side slopes

relative to the flat areas ofthelandfill. The spatial
variability of methane flux was characterized by point
kriging and inverse distance weighing (IDW) in an
intensive study of a6161-marea. The geospatial means
in this area obtained by both methods were almost
identical (20.9 versus20.8gm2day1).These geospatial
means for the area werealso similar to the arithmetic
mean(24.5gm2day1), but 3.4 times the geometric
mean(6.5gm2day1).

Methane

oxidation

was

evaluated at the surface of thelandfilland at several

depths within the cover soil using stable isotope
techniques.

TheC13ofCH4averaged55.4%in

the

anoxic zone. Methane collected in chambers and in

surficial soil probes exhibited moreC13enriched values,
ranging from55.4to34.5%, due to the preferential
uptake ofC12H4by methanotrophic bacteria. Methane
oxidation at thelandfillaveraged22% and occurred in the
upper70cmof thelandfillcover soil. Oxidation occurred in
all tested locations of thelandfilland for all ages of buried
waste .