A case study on establishing the state of decomposition of municipal solid waste in a bioreactor landfill in India

2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110456
Author(s):  
Arif Mohammad ◽  
Piotr Osinski ◽  
Eugeniusz Koda ◽  
Devendra Narain Singh

Estimation of temporal changes undergone by municipal solid waste (MSW) in its physico–chemico–geomechanical properties in a bioreactor landfill (BLF) is essential for: (i) efficient landfilling, (ii) establishing the state of decomposition of MSW with time and (iii) deciding upon the appropriate time to initiate landfill mining. To achieve this, a series of destructive (DTs) and non-destructive tests (NDTs) can be conducted on the MSW samples in the BLF. With this in view, several DTs were conducted on these samples retrieved from different depths of the two cells of a fully operational BLF in Mumbai, India. Subsequently, the physical and chemical properties of these samples such as composition, moisture content, volatile solids (VS), elemental content, lignocellulosic content (i.e. cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content) and bio-methanation potential, were determined by following the laboratory testing, as a function of time. Also, NDTs such as cone penetration test and multichannel analysis of surface waves were conducted on these cells of BLF to obtain geomechanical parameters (viz. cone resistance, sleeve resistance, friction ratio and shear wave velocity) of the MSW. Based on the data obtained from these tests, and reported in the literature, it has been observed that the VS, elemental content, lignocellulosic content and bio-methanation potential of MSW exhibits very well-defined trends, as compared to the geomechanical parameters, with time. Furthermore, it has been observed that the VS, hydrogen-, carbon- and nitrogen-content reduce significantly (≈62%, 70%, 50% and 30%, respectively), following an exponential decay, until the critical time ( tcr) (≈4 years) has been achieved. As, beyond tcr these parameters remain practically unchanged, which corresponds to the ‘stabilized MSW’, mining of the BLF can be initiated without further delay.

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Jad Bawab ◽  
Jamal Khatib ◽  
Said Kenai ◽  
Mohammed Sonebi

Waste management is a vital environmental issue in the world today. Municipal solid wastes (MSWs) are discarded in huge quantities on a daily basis and need to be well controlled. Incineration is a common method for reducing the volume of these wastes, yet it produces ashes that require further assessment. Municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWI-BA) is the bulk byproduct of the incineration process and has the potential to be used in the construction sector. This paper offers a review of the use of MSWI-BA as aggregates in cementitious materials. With the growing demand of aggregates in cementitious materials, MSWI-BA is considered for use as a partial or full alternative. Although the physical and chemical properties of MSWI-BA are different than those of natural aggregates (NA) in terms of water absorption, density, and fineness, they can be treated by various methods to ensure suitable quality for construction purposes. These treatment methods are classified into thermal treatment, solidification and stabilization, and separation processes, where this review focuses on the techniques that reduce deficiencies limiting the use of MSWI-BA as aggregates in different ways. When replacing NA in cementitious materials, MSWI-BA causes a decrease in workability, density, and strength. Moreover, they cause an increase in water absorption, air porosity, and drying shrinkage. In general, the practicality of using MSWI-BA in cementitious materials is mainly influenced by its treatment method and the replacement level, and it is concluded that further research, especially on durability, is required before MSWI-BA can be efficiently used in the production of sustainable cementitious materials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-481
Author(s):  
Arif Mohammad ◽  
Venkata Siva Naga Sai Goli ◽  
Agnes Anto Chembukavu ◽  
Devendra Narain Singh

Biochemical decomposition of municipal solid waste (MSW) in landfills leads to the generation of leachate, gases and humus substances. In this context, a methodology to assess D ecomposition of MSW, designated as DecoMSW, has been developed; based on a series of tests conducted on samples of the fresh MSW and those retrieved from the active bioreactor landfill (BLF) cells of age from 13 to 48 months. Furthermore, spatial and temporal variation in the (i) physical (composition) and (ii) chemical (pH, volatile solids, total organic carbon, elemental analysis, ammonium and nitrate-nitrogen, biomethanation potential, lignocellulosic content) characteristics of the MSW samples exhumed from the landfill have been established. Finally, these characteristics were correlated vis-à-vis the respective values of the fresh MSW. From this exercise, it has been observed that except for nitrate-nitrogen, all other chemical parameters of MSW decrease exponentially with time until 20 months, and beyond that, they remain constant, which is an indication of stabilization of MSW. In short, it has been demonstrated that DecoMSW is instrumental in assessing the state of decomposition of MSW with respect to time in the BLF and facilitates initiation of the landfill mining activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-167
Author(s):  
Made Gunamantha

Organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is the largest fraction of waste generated in Indonesia. This study was meant to examine the theoretical and experimental results for potential energy recovery from OFMSW in Indonesia. Bioconversion and thermochemical approach were used theoretically. The potential energy recoveries were calculated using the empirical relationship between higher heating value (HHV) and the ultimate analysis, stoichiometric, and thermochemistry concept. The HHV and ultimate analysis of OFMSW were determined by ASTM method while the lignin content and volatile solid were adopted from previous studies. The result indicated that the thermochemical approach given the potential energy recovery is higher than others.


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