Semi-quantitative study on the secondary compression characteristics of municipal solid waste in aerobic and...

Aeration plays a crucial role in accelerating the secondary compression of municipal solid waste (MSW) for the scientific implementation of aerobic bioreactor technology. There are few comparative reports on the secondary compaction characteristics of MSW in aerobic and anaerobic bioreactors. In this study, six long-term compression tests were conducted to analyze the impact of aeration on MSW compression characteristics, considering two degradation conditions (i.e. aerobic and anaerobic conditions) and three overburden stresses (i.e. 30, 50 and 100 kPa). Model-fitting analysis was employed to examine the data from the tests and exiting literatures. The results showed that aeration effectively increased the rate of secondary compression, and slightly enhanced the steady-state secondary compression strain. In addition, these enhancements tended to decrease with increasing stresses. The increment ratio of the secondary compression rate constant (R_k) was concentrated in the range of 25 % to 100 %, and increases with the increase of aeration rate. The increment ratio of the steady-state secondary compression strain (R_ε) ranged from 10 % to 90 %, for the MSW with higher content of paper and wood exhibited higher R_ε. The advance ratio of the secondary compression stabilization time (R_t) fell within the range of 20-50 %, and R_t is higher when the moisture content is in the range of 50-65 %. These findings provide valuable guidance on the accelerated stabilization in aerobic bioreactors, providing practical references for the application of aerobic technology to informal landfills.