Comparison of seven methods for measuring methane flux at a municipal solid waste landfill site

Tregoures, A.; Beneïto, A.; Berne, P.; Gonze, M.-A.; Sabroux, J. C.; Savanne, D.; Pokryszka, Zbigniew; Tauziède, Christian; Cellier, Pierre; Laville, Patricia; Milward, R. C.; Arnaud, A.; Levy, Flávia Mauad; Burkhalter, R.

doi:10.1034/j.1399-3070.1999.00065.x

Cited by 19 publications

(27 citation statements)

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“…A recent review (Trégourès et al 1999) of seven methods of measuring methane flux from landfills was carried out in France, in which the use of static and dynamic chamber, tracer gas and micrometeorological methods were compared with regard to a number of scientific, technical and economic criteria. A recent review (Trégourès et al 1999) of seven methods of measuring methane flux from landfills was carried out in France, in which the use of static and dynamic chamber, tracer gas and micrometeorological methods were compared with regard to a number of scientific, technical and economic criteria.…”

Section: Selection Of a Methods For Measuring Landfill Gas Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measured gas emissions from four landfills in South Africa and some implications for landfill design and methane recovery in semi-arid climates

Fourie

Morris

2004

Waste Manag Res

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The magnitude of annual global emissions of methane from municipal solid waste landfills without landfill gas control systems implies that these landfills are significant contributors to the atmospheric load of greenhouse gases. There have been a number of field studies undertaken internationally to measure actual fluxes of methane and carbon dioxide from landfills, with a view to corroborating modelled predictions of the contribution of landfills to the global greenhouse gas budget. The vast majority of these studies have been undertaken in more temperate climates and in developed countries. This paper reports a study of landfill gas emissions from four large landfills located in the semi-arid interior of South Africa. A static accumulation chamber was used and measurements were made at each site over a period of two to three days. The results were analysed by three different methods, all of them leading to the same general conclusion that landfill gas emission rates were lower than expected. A common conclusion based on results from all four sites was that capping of landfills in semi-arid climates with low permeability covers would probably significantly retard the already low rate of waste degradation and thus gas generation. While this may be regarded as advantageous in the short term, it cannot be relied upon in perpetuity as clayey landfill covers will inevitably desiccate and crack in a semiarid environment. In addition, reasonable after-care periods for such landfills are likely to extend well beyond the currently stipulated 30-year period, and efforts to encourage energy recovery from landfills may be hampered because gas generation rates decrease as the waste dries out under conditions of minimal recharge from precipitation. A landfill cover that allows small amounts of percolation of rainfall into the waste may therefore in fact be beneficial in semiarid climates, although care would need to be taken to carefully regulate this infiltration.

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Section: Selection Of a Methods For Measuring Landfill Gas Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measured gas emissions from four landfills in South Africa and some implications for landfill design and methane recovery in semi-arid climates

Fourie

Morris

2004

Waste Manag Res

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“…For example, a flux chamber approach is widely used because it is easy to operate and costefficient (Reinhart et al, 1992;Abushammala et al, 2011). However, these measurements have surface footprints that are too small to account for whole-site LFG emissions because the material disposed of at landfills and the areal emission pattern can hardly be considered homogeneous (Börjesson et al, 2000;Scheutz et al, 2009;Trégourès et al, 1999). Over the past decade, a tracer dispersion method has been developed and proved to be more reliable and reproducible than other measurement approaches (Abichou et al, 2010Galle et al, 2001;Goldsmith et al, 2012;Scheutz et al, 2011b); resent studies have established the method as a reliable and accurate approach for quantifying whole-site fugitive landfill CH 4 emissions (Mønster et al, 2014(Mønster et al, , 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation and application of site-specific data to revise the first-order decay model for estimating landfill gas generation and emissions at Danish landfills

Mou

Scheutz

Kjeldsen

2015

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Methane (CH 4 ) generated from low-organic waste degradation at four Danish landfills was estimated by three first-order decay (FOD) landfill gas (LFG) generation models (LandGEM, IPCC, and Afvalzorg). Actual waste data from Danish landfills were applied to fit model (IPCC and Afvalzorg) required categories. In general, the single-phase model, LandGEM, significantly overestimated CH 4 generation, because it applied too high default values for key parameters to handle low-organic waste scenarios. The key parameters were biochemical CH 4 potential (BMP) and CH 4 generation rate constant (k-value). In comparison to the IPCC model, the Afvalzorg model was more suitable for estimating CH 4 generation at Danish landfills, because it defined more proper waste categories rather than traditional municipal solid waste (MSW) fractions. Moreover, the Afvalzorg model could better show the influence of not only the total disposed waste amount, but also various waste categories. By using laboratory-determined BMPs and k-values for shredder, sludge, mixed bulky waste, and street-cleaning waste, the Afvalzorg model was revised. The revised model estimated smaller cumulative CH 4 generation results at the four Danish landfills (from the start of disposal until 2020 and until 2100). Through a CH 4 mass balance approach, fugitive CH 4 emissions from whole sites and a specific cell for shredder waste were aggregated based on the revised Afvalzorg model outcomes. Aggregated results were in good agreement with field measurements, indicating that the revised Afvalzorg model could provide practical and accurate estimation for Danish LFG emissions. This study is valuable for both researchers and engineers aiming to predict, control, and mitigate fugitive CH 4 emissions from landfills receiving low-organic waste.Implications: Landfill operators use the first-order decay (FOD) models to estimate methane (CH 4 ) generation. A single-phase model (LandGEM) and a traditional model (IPCC) could result in overestimation when handling a low-organic waste scenario. Site-specific data were important and capable of calibrating key parameter values in FOD models. The comparison study of the revised Afvalzorg model outcomes and field measurements at four Danish landfills provided a guideline for revising the Pollutants Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR) model, as well as indicating noteworthy waste fractions that could emit CH 4 at modern landfills.

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“…To the best of our knowledge, there is only one study in the literature that tried to quantify landfill methane emissions on a continuous and long‐term basis (about 6 months) with the eddy covariance method [ Lohila et al , ], although a few studies did use the eddy covariance method at landfills but only on a short‐term field campaign basis ranging from a few hours to 2 weeks [ Hovde et al , ; Tregoures et al, ; Fowler and Muller , ; Eugster and Plüss , ; Schroth et al , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of changes in barometric pressure on landfill methane emission

Lin

Amen

et al. 2014

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

104

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Landfill methane emissions were measured continuously using the eddy covariance method from June to December 2010. The study site was located at the Bluff Road Landfill in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Our results show that landfill methane emissions strongly depended on changes in barometric pressure; rising barometric pressure suppressed the emission, while falling barometric pressure enhanced the emission, a phenomenon called barometric pumping. There was up to a 35-fold variation in day-to-day methane emissions due to changes in barometric pressure. Wavelet coherence analysis revealed a strong spectral coherency between variations of barometric pressure and methane emission at periodicities ranging from 1 day to 8 days. Power spectrum and ogive analysis showed that at least 10 days of continuous measurements was needed in order to capture 90% of the total variance in the methane emission time series at our landfill site. From our results, it is clear that point-in-time measurements taken at monthly or longer time intervals using techniques such as the trace plume method, the mass balance method, or the closed-chamber method will be subject to large variations in measured emission rates because of the barometric pumping phenomenon. Estimates of long-term integrated methane emissions from landfills based on such measurements could yield uncertainties, ranging from 28.8% underestimation to 32.3% overestimation. Our results demonstrate a need for continuous measurements to quantify annual total landfill emissions. This conclusion may apply to the study of methane emissions from wetlands, peatlands, lakes, and other environmental contexts where emissions are from porous media or ebullition. Other implications from the present study for hazard gas monitoring programs are also discussed.

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Comparison of seven methods for measuring methane flux at a municipal solid waste landfill site

Cited by 19 publications

References 1 publication

Measured gas emissions from four landfills in South Africa and some implications for landfill design and methane recovery in semi-arid climates

Measured gas emissions from four landfills in South Africa and some implications for landfill design and methane recovery in semi-arid climates

Evaluation and application of site-specific data to revise the first-order decay model for estimating landfill gas generation and emissions at Danish landfills

Impact of changes in barometric pressure on landfill methane emission

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