Leachate Recirculation in

Bioreactor Landfills
by

Milind V. Khire, Ph.D., P.E.

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Michigan State University

Megafills
1. Over 3,500 active MSW landfills
in the U.S.
2. Permitting new landfill sites is
increasingly difficult
3. Expanding existing landfills
easier
4. Hence, landfills are becoming
megafills

Source: Qian el al. (Text Book)

1
Major Risks Associated
with Megafills
1. Slope Stability
2. Emission/Contamination
Concerns?
3. It is critical to reduce risks
and yet be cost-
cost-effective

Rumpke Landfill, Cincinnati (1996)

Field-Scale Hydraulic
Conductivity of Waste
1. Better prediction of liquid flow
in landfills
2. Improve accuracy of slope
stability predictions
3. Nutrient delivery for optimum
decomposition

2
 Hydraulic Conductivity
Measurement

Key Objectives
1. Demonstrate Field-
Field-Scale
Implementation of Permeable
Blankets for Leachate
Recirculation
2. Develop a method to estimate
field-
field-scale hydraulic
conductivity of landfilled waste
in real-
real-time

Benefits of Leachate Recirculation

1. Offsite leachate disposal cost 1 to 10
/gal up $10,000/acre/year
2. Airspace revenue gain $100 K/acre
3. Off-
Off-site environmental impacts can be
reduced by keeping leachate within the
landfill footprint
4. Accelerated gas production
5. Faster
Faster Improvement in Leachate
Quality?

3
 Conventional Subsurface
Leachate Recirculation Methods

Vertical Wells
Horizontal Trenches

Vertical Wells

Source: Townsend, 2003

Source: Townsend, 2003

4
Vertical Wells Wetted Area

Vertical Wells Wetted Width

20
Well Depth = 15 m -4
Screen Height = 3 m K = 10 cm/s
waste
LCS Slope = 3%
Wetted Width, W (m)

15 LCS Drainage
Material - Pea Gravel 90%
w

saturation
90%
saturation
10
-3
K = 10 cm/s
waste

Dry Zone
5

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Leachate Injection Rate, q (gpm)
s

Vertical Wells Spacing

~ 10 gpm

90%
Dry Zonesaturation
90%
saturation

Dry Zone

10m

5
 Vertical Wells Leachate Head on Liner
3
-3
Well Depth = 15 m _____ K = 10 cm/s
Pressure Head on the liner, H (m)

waste
Screen Height = 3 m -4
2.5 LCS Slope = 3% ______ K = 10 cm/s
waste
p

2
90%
q = 10 gpm saturation
s 90%
1.5 LCS Drainage saturation
Material

1
q = 5 gpm Sand
s
Dry Zone
0.5 Sand

q = 1 gpm
s Sand
0 q = 1 to 10 gpm
s Pea Gravel

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Distance from the Injection Well along Liner (m)

Horizontal Trenches
Waste

Disadvantages
1. Waste Excavation ($$ and odors)
2. High Capital Cost if spaced tight

Horizontal Trenches - Spacing

10m 90%
saturation

60m

Dry Zone

15m

6
Newer Design Permeable Blanket

~ 60 to 150m

Leachate
Relatively Thin & Injection
High Pipe
Transmissivity
Material MSW

Horizontal Trench vs.

Permeable Blanket
Leachate Transport Modeling

Horizontal Trench vs.

Permeable Blanket
Wetted Area Patterns

7
 Horizontal Trench vs. Leachate
Recirculation Blanket Leachate Flux
10
60m-wide Granular
Blanket
8
Leachate Flux, Q (m /d/m)
3

6
s

4
7 Trenches Spaced at 10m c/c
(each trench, 0.6m wide x 1m deep)
2
Single Trench

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Leachate Injection Pressure Head, H (m)
i

Leachate Recirculation Blanket -

Advantages
No Excavation necessary
No Dry Zones
Lower liquid head on the liner
Efficient Gas Collection
Could be instrumented to
monitor properties of waste

8
Field-Scale Testing in
Jackson, Michigan

Materials

Crushed Recycled Glass

Field-
Field-Scale Testing of Leachate
Recirculation Blankets

30 ft
200 ft

9
Installation.

10
Geocomposite Drainage
Layer being Placed

3 Blankets Construction
Complete

11
 Installation of Pipes

Installation of Gauges
Leachate
Line

Pressure
Gauge
Magnetic
Flowmeter

Installation of Sensors

Total 45 Moisture Content

Sensors Installed

12
Covered with Geotextile

13
Blankets Covered with Waste

About 20-ft-thick waste over

the Blankets

Data Logging System

14
Moisture Sensor Impedance (k)
10
Glass (North Side)
Pumping Rate = 140 gpm
5m
10m
30m

20m

0.1

15m
0.01
0 10 20 30 40
Time Since Pumping Started (min)

15