Measuring fluid flow properties of waste and assessing alternative conceptual models of pore structure

Laboratory procedures were developed to obtain constitutive relations for fluid flow in refuse. Five different types of experiments were conducted for the same waste sample: a drainage experiment, multi step outflow experiment, total porosity measurement, saturated hydraulic conductivity test, and gas permeability tests. To investigate fundamental processes affecting water movement and moisture retention, samples consisted entirely of newspaper. Samples were prepared in two particle sizes and two compaction pressures and packed in compression cells to replicate stress conditions in landfills. Data were modeled using HYDRUS-1D, which allowed alternative conceptual models of the pore space to be assessed. A dual-permeability model performed significantly better than a single-porosity model for water movement, suggesting that a dual domain description is required to describe water flow in landfills with significant amounts of paper and paperboard. However, a single-porosity model was adequate for describing gas transport. Results indicated that properties of the fracture domain, the large openings between refuse particles, are significantly affected by the size of waste materials and compaction, and may be best studied with field-scale measurements. On the other hand properties of the matrix domain, the smaller pore openings within and between refuse particles, are likely amenable to laboratory study because representative samples sizes should be much smaller.