Mitigation of Methane, NMVOCs and Odor Emissions in Active and Passive Biofiltration Systems at Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

Isabella Pecorini, Elena Rossi and Renato Iannelli
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Isabella Pecorini: DESTEC—Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Elena Rossi: DESTEC—Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Renato Iannelli: DESTEC—Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-23

Abstract: Biofiltration systems are emerging technological solutions for the removal of methane and odors from landfill gas when flaring is no longer feasible. This work analyzed and compared two full-scale biofiltration systems: biofilter and biowindows. The emission mitigation of methane, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and odors during a two-year management and monitoring period was studied. In addition to diluted methane, more than 50 NMVOCs have been detected in the inlet raw landfill gas and the sulfur compounds resulted in the highest odor activity value. Both systems, biofilter and biowindows, were effective for the oxidation of methane (58.1% and 88.05%, respectively), for the mitigation of NMVOCs (higher than 80%) and odor reduction (99.84% and 93.82% respectively). As for the biofilter monitoring, it was possible to define the oxidation efficiency trend and in fact to guarantee that for an oxidation efficiency of 80%, the methane load must be less than 6.5 g CH 4 /m 2 h with an oxidation rate of 5.2 g CH 4 /m 2 h.

Keywords: biofilter; biowindow; landfill gas; compost; methane oxidation; odor mitigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:8:p:3203-:d:345860

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