Assessment of municipal waste compost as a daily cover material for odour control at landfill sites [An article from: Environmental Pollution]

This digital document is a journal article from Environmental Pollution, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The ability of municipal waste compost as a daily cover material to reduce the odorous emissions associated with landfill surfaces was investigated. Trials were carried out using landfill gas, a certified sulphurous gas mix and ambient air as a control. Odorous gas was passed through portable test column filled with compost at different densities (590kg/m^3 and 740kg/m^3). Gas samples were taken from the inlet, outlet and at varying column depths and examined using a combination of sensory analysis (olfactometry) and a novel analytical method (Transportable Selected Ion Flow Tube - TSIFT). Results for the trials using landfill gas showed a 69% odour reduction (OU/m^3) through the column for compost with a bulk density of 590kg/m^3, and a reduction of 97% using compost with a bulk density of 740kg/m^3. TSIFT analysis showed an overall decrease in the concentration of terpenes, and sulphurous compounds in the outlet gas from the column for both bulk densities. No significant trend could be identified for the concentrations at different depths within the column. Results show the ability of compost to reduce landfill odours under differing conditions. The inconclusive data provided by TSIFT analysis may be due to the analysis of compounds that are not contributing to odour, and thus highlights the potential for synergetic effects and the importance of sensory measurement when examining odorous emissions.