A new approach to estimation of methane emission rates from landfills

Methane emission monitoring has become increasingly essential for diffusive area sources, especially for landfills, which contribute to a significant fraction of the total anthropogenic methane emission globally. Statutorily, methane emission rate from landfills in Germany shall be examined on a semiannual basis; however, an appropriate approach has yet to be developed and adopted for general use. In this study, a new method is proposed based on experimental results, which utilizes a TDLAS (Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy) instrument – GasFinder2.0® system and a dispersion model LASAT (Lagrangian Simulation of Aerosol Transport) as the measurement device and calculation model, respectively. Between April 2010 and December 2011, a research project was conducted at a pilot scale landfill in the south of Germany. Drawing on the extensive research into this pilot project, an effective strategy of measurement setup was determined. Methane concentration was measured with GasFinder2.0® system in the upstream and downstream sections of the project site, while wind and turbulence data were measured simultaneously by an ultrasonic anemometer. The average methane emission rate from the source can be calculated by using the results as input data in the dispersion model. With this method, site-specific measurement approaches can be designed for not only landfills, but also different diffusive area sources with less workload and lower cost compared to conventional FID (Flame Ionization Detector) method.     

Design and implementation study of a Permanent Selective Collection Program (PSCP) on a University campus in Brazil

The selective collection and recycling of municipal solid waste are presented as stages of an integrated program of solid waste management to minimize the environmental impact of the treatment and final disposal of solid waste. Therefore, this program aims to save natural resources, such as energy and raw materials, in the manufacture of new products and to conserve areas for sites, such as to minimize the use of existing landfill sites, and to minimize the need for new waste treatment sites. A university is composed of educational professionals aware of their societal responsibilities, and, therefore, they play a fundamental role in the management of the university's solid waste. This study presents the design and implementation of a Permanent Selective Collection Program (PSCP) at the Federal University of Itajubá (Universidade Federal de Itajubá, UNIFEI), Itajubá-MG, Brazil. The material requirements for initiating the PSCP have been identified, and an action plan for continuous program improvement, which is initially based on the collection of performance indicator data for the PSCP campus, has been developed. Finally, the data from the PSCP performance indicators and software from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Landfill Gas Generation Model (LandGEM) and the Waste Reduction Model (WARM), were used to evaluate the impact of implementing PSCP in terms of energy and the generation of greenhouse gases (GHG). The results were promising, showing that there has been an improvement, since the inception of PSCP in 2006, in separating materials for selective collection, even though paper (41.00 wt%), plastic (6.00 wt%) and organic matter (26.00 wt%) are still highly generated wastes. The WARM simulations for a scenario in which 90% of the waste is sent for recycling resulted in an economy of −7 tCO₂ or −74.91 GJ (on an energy basis). The LandGEM (USEPA) simulations estimated 1424.60 kWh of energy in the peak production year.     

A Thermodynamic View of Partial Oxidation,Steam Reforming,and Autothermal Reforming on Methane

Abstract

Thermodynamic analysis on three thermo-chemical reforming processes, i.e., partial oxidation (POX), steam reforming (STR), and autothermal reforming (ATR) with methane as the feedstock fuel are conducted in this study. The focus of this article is to show the effect of air-fuel (AF) ratio, water-fuel (WF) ratio, temperature and pressure on hydrogen (H₂) yield, hydrogen/carbon monoxide (H₂/CO) ratio, carbon (C), and carbon monoxide (CO) formation. Optimal operating conditions under no solid carbon formation in the reaction are recommended for each thermochemical reforming technique.     

Exhaust Emissions from a Gas-fuelled S.I. Engine

Attempts to improve engine performance are often accompanied by increased emissions. An effective approach to reduce emissions without necessarily a significant penalty in fuel economy is through operating S.I. engines on a range of gaseous fuels, and either leaning the operating mixture or diluting it with some exhaust gases.

The emission characteristics of an engine operated in turn on CH₄, H₂, CO and some of their mixtures are examined experimentally. The role of changes in some key factors affecting the production of the pollutants CO, NOx and unburned hydrocarbons were investigated. Guidelines for reducing the undesirable emissions are outlined.     

Enhanced methane production during long-term UASB operation at high organic loads as enabled by the immobilized Fungi

• Fungi enable the constant UASB operation even at OLR of 25.0 kg/(m³×d). • The COD removal of 85.9% and methane production of 5.6 m³/(m³×d) are achieved. • Fungi inhibit VFAs accumulation and favor EPS generation and sludge granulation. • Fungi enrich methanogenic archaea and promote methanogenic pathways. Anaerobic digestion is widely applied in organic wastewater treatment coupled with bioenergy production, and how to stabilize its work at the high organic loading rate (OLR) remains a challenge. Herein, we proposed a new strategy to address this issue via involving the synergetic role of the Aspergillus sydowii 8L-9-F02 immobilized beads (AEBs). A long-term (210-day) continuous-mode operation indicated that the upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor (R1, with AEBs added) could achieve the OLR as high as 25.0 kg/(m³×d), whereas the control reactor (R0, with AEBs free) could only tolerate the maximum OLR of 13.3 kg/(m³×d). Remarkably, much higher COD removal (85.9% vs 23.9%) and methane production (5.4 m³/(m³×d) vs 2.2 m³/(m³×d)) were achieved in R1 than R0 at the OLR of 25.0 kg/(m³×d). Such favorable effect results from the facts that fungi inhibit VFAs accumulation, favor the pH stabilization, promote the generation of more extracellular polymeric substance, and enhance the sludge granulation and settleability. Moreover, fungi may enhance the secretion of acetyl-coenzyme A, a key compound in converting organic matters to CO₂. In addition, fungi are favorable to enrich methanogenic archaea even at high OLR, improving the activity of acetate kinase and coenzyme F₄₂₀ for more efficient methanogenic pathway. This work may shed new light on how to achieve higher OLR and methane production in anaerobic digestion of wastewater.     

Environmental sub models for a macroeconomic model: agricultural contribution to climate change and acidification in Denmark

Integrated modelling of the interaction between environmental pressure and economic development is a useful tool to evaluate environmental consequences of policy initiatives. However, the usefulness of such models is often restricted by the fact that these models only include a limited set of environmental impacts, which are often energy-related emissions. In order to evaluate the development in the overall environmental pressure correctly, these model systems must be extended. In this article an integrated macroeconomic model system of the Danish economy with environmental modules of energy related emissions is extended to include the agricultural contribution to climate change and acidification. Next to the energy sector, the agricultural sector is the most important contributor to these environmental themes and subsequently the extended model complex calculates more than 99% of the contribution to both climate change and acidification. Environmental sub-models are developed for agriculture-related emissions of CH(4), N(2)O and NH(3). Agricultural emission sources related to the production specific activity variables are mapped and emission dependent parameters are identified in order to calculate emission coefficients. The emission coefficients are linked to the economic activity variables of the Danish agricultural production. The model system is demonstrated by projections of agriculture-related emissions in Denmark under two alternative sets of assumptions: a baseline projection of the general economic development and a policy scenario for changes in the husbandry sector within the agricultural sector.     

Phytocapping: An alternative technique to reduce leachate and methane generation from municipal landfills

Avoiding percolation of water into refuse is the key function of landfill covers. ‘Phytocapping’ has been considered as an effective, economical and environment-friendly technique for landfill remediation. In this technique, trees are established on a layer of soil cap placed over the refuse. Soil cover acts as a ‘storage’ and trees act as ‘bio-pump and filters’. For effective functioning of this technique, it is critical that an ‘optimum’ depth of soil is placed over the refuse, and ‘suitable’ plant species are used as plant cover. Preliminary results of a phytocapping trial (using 21 tree species and two depths of soil layers) show that the established trees can remove more water than that received via rainfall and rainfall interception can reduce up to 20% of the rain reaching the soil in a 1.5 year old plantation. The study is also trialling an US numeric model ‘STOMP’ (Subsurface Transport over Multiple Phases), to calculate daily water balance, to identify suitable plant species and to optimise thickness of the soil cover to be used in phytocapping.     

内蒙古农牧交错带土地利用方式对土壤CH4吸收的影响

本文选取内蒙古锡林郭勒盟太仆寺旗温带半干旱典型草原及其邻近不同开垦年限的农田（5年,10年,50年）为研究对象,利用静态暗箱法对土壤CH4的吸收通量进行了野外观测试验。结果表明：天然草地转化为农田后,土壤吸收CH4的能力增强,随农垦年限的增加,土壤对CH4的吸收能力呈现逐渐降低趋势,依次为F5〉FIO〉F50〉G。     

Effect of scale on flame speeds of methane-air

Explosions are the main types of accidents causing casualties in underground coal mines. Research on the mechanisms of gas explosions is needed as a basis for the development of techniques and strategies for explosion prevention, suppression, and mitigation. The prevention of loss in explosion accidents and inquiries into their causes require understanding of the explosion process of methane in air. Because of the high cost and safety issues in full scale experiments, the experiments with small scale ducts have become a key alternative approach. Whether the experimental results at small scales agree with those at full scales needs to be investigated to validate the significance of the experimental results at small scale. Numerical simulation was used to obtain the explosion characteristics of a methane-air mixture in a gallery or duct. If the grid size is too fine in the numerical simulation for a methane-air explosion it is difficult to calculate using the present computer resource. If the grid size is too coarse, the considerable error may result. The effect of grid size on results of calculation depends on the scenario being investigated. The effect of grid sizes on simulation accuracy was analyzed in this work. The overpressure and temperature distributions and the flame propagation for the deflagration of methane-air mixtures in a gallery or duct were obtained by the AutoReaGas code at three different scales. The geometry of investigated objects and the grids in the calculation domain were similar in the three cases. The calculated overpressures vary with the scale. The calculated temperatures do not vary with the scale for the three cases.     

南方农村集约化养猪场污染及其防治

应用生态农业原理，分析了集约化养猪场的主要环境污染问题，并厚得种养有限公司大型养猪场所采用的“三段利用两步净化”方法工艺流程及其环境经济效益进行了剖析。