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Published on: October 15, 2015
Performance results from the Tucumán solid waste bioreactor
E A McBean1, S Syed-Ritchie, F A Rovers
1CRA Engineering Inc., Waterloo, Ont., Canada. emcbean@uoguelph.ca
Waste Management (New York, N.Y.)
|March 14, 2007
Summary
This study shows that a large anaerobic bioreactor at the Pacara Pintada Landfill accelerated biogas generation and collection. The bioreactor also demonstrated significant metal attenuation in leachate and controlled refuse subsidence.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Engineering
- Waste Management
- Bioreactor Technology
Background:
- Large-scale anaerobic bioreactors are crucial for sustainable waste management.
- Optimizing bioreactor performance enhances biogas production and leachate treatment.
- Understanding refuse subsidence is key to landfill stability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the performance of a 6200-ton demonstration-scale anaerobic bioreactor.
- To assess biogas generation, leachate metal concentrations, and refuse subsidence over 30 months.
- To demonstrate the bioreactor's operational stability in the mesophilic range.
Main Methods:
- Operating a demonstration-scale anaerobic bioreactor (6200 tons).
- Monitoring operational parameters for 30 months, including temperature maintenance.
- Measuring biogas generation rates, leachate metal concentrations, and refuse subsidence.
Main Results:
- Bioreactor maintained mesophilic conditions, achieving accelerated biogas generation (rate constant ~0.5 year(-1)).
- Significant attenuation of metal concentrations in leachate observed over time.
- Refuse subsidence averaged 11% over 28 months, ranging from 4% to 19%.
Conclusions:
- The Tucumán bioreactor successfully demonstrated efficient biogas production and collection.
- The bioreactor technology proves effective for leachate treatment and landfill stabilization.
- Mesophilic operation is viable for accelerated waste decomposition and resource recovery.
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