Modeling of Solid Waste Sites as Bioreactors

About this book

Where and how wastes disappear, and how the environment is affected by the process, are issues that affect cities and towns around the world. Recent investigations have convincingly shown that waste poses water, air, and public health dangers that necessitate highly efficient engineered controls. An inexpensive, effective, method for assessing impacts and risks of a system and devising management plans is to develop mathematical and quantitative models that are sufficiently representative to allow examination of physical systems as units subject to environmental factors. Providing detailed coverage of the biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of solid waste sites, Waste Sites as Biological Reactors: Characterization and Modeling describes the parameters required to understand, model, and assess the capacity of a waste disposal site as an open biodegradation system. The authors present original analyses of waste and reactor kinetics, decomposition, temperature, and moisture effects, and heat properties. They discuss landfill gas and leachate chemicals generation with detailed composition and property data. Tables and figures provide easy access to the information, and the authors explore various site management options.The simplicity, ugliness, and beauty of a waste disposal site confronts us with a microcosm of nature at its most basic, yet functioning in its most elegant form. Where and how wastes disappear and how the environment is affected are issues of concern to cities and towns around the world. Waste Sites as Biological Reactors: Characterization and Modeling deconstructs the mystery of the waste site in such a way that it can be modeled using familiar tools and the information obtained can then be applied to site remediation.

Contents

INTRODUCTIONThe Nature and Control of Waste Disposal SitesThe Bioreactor ConceptReactor Configurations of Relevance to Practical Description of a Waste SiteThe Waste Site as a Biological ReactorPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WASTE SITESWaste Site Bioreactor ConceptsPorosity of a Waste SiteDensity and Other Properties of Mixed Soil and Waste MaterialsApplicability of Conductivity and Permeability Relations for Packed BedsPermeability k of a Mixed Porous MediaPermeability (k) Correction for Packed Bed FlowCorrection of Packed Column Pressure Drop for Wall EffectsCorrections for Pressure Drop Relations for Fluid Flow through a Waste SiteWaste Site Particle Properties: Size and ShapeReferencesCHARACTERIZATION OF DISPOSED WASTES: PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES, AND BIODEGRADATION FACTORSDetermination of Physical and Chemical Characteristics of WastesMSW Composition vs. Landfill Layer Depth or Age: Data for InitializationIndividual Wastes and CharacteristicsCharacteristics of Paper WastesCharacteristics of Food WastesCharacteristics of Yard WastesCharacteristics of Plastics WastesPlastics Deterioration in LandfillsLandfill Leachate and Landfill Gas CharacteristicsWASTE SITE ECOLOGYInfluence of the Waste Site Environment on Types of Organisms PresentSpecies Competition for Food at a Waste SiteThe Range of Organisms at Waste SitesOrganisms Found in Compost PilesTrophic Relations and Environmental Factors Determining Organisms at Waste SitesInfluence of Site Environmental factors on Organism TypesThe Waste Site as an Environment for OrganismsDefinition of Impact of Organisms at Disposed Waste SiteOrganisms Reported at Landfills, Dumps, and Other Waste Sites: ConsiderationsWaste Site ScavengersWaste Removal Impact of Animals at Disposal SitesWaste Removal by Insects and Soil MesofaunaReferencesMOISTURE AND HEAT FLOWSMoisture as a Control of Processes in the Waste SiteWater Film Thickness on Solid Materials under Sorption RegimeMethod 1 for Liquid Film Thickness DeterminationMethod 2 for Moisture Film ThicknessWater Potential vs. Water Activity of Soils and Solid Porous MaterialsThe Issue of Mixed Water Saturation or Varied Water Potential in WastesMaximum Moisture Sorption by a MaterialEffect of Waste Moisture Content on Soil OrganismsWater Availability to OrganismsHydraulic ConductivityCapillary Effects in Waste SitesWaste Site Moisture Retention CharacteristicsFull Range Moisture CapillarityMiddle Moisture Content RangeMoist to Saturation of Wet Moisture Content Section of CurveMoisture Retention Curve in the Dry Range for Landfilled WasteBoundary ConditionsEstimation of Constants Full-Range (Wet to Dry)Reliability of Estimated ValuesRelevance of the Lower Curve Junction to Bioreactor SimulationDevelopment of Moisture Capillarity-HydraulicSummary of Extended Range Conductivity RelationshipsMoisture Inflow and Moisture Ba

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