A simulation analysis of the migration and transformation of pollutants contained in landfill leachate

A dynamic composite model for a soil-water system that can be used to simulate the movement of leachate from a landfill. The composite model includes nine sub-models that trace water movement and the migration and transformation of five pollutants (organic N, NH4-, NO3-, NO2-, and Cl-) in saturated and unsaturated soil. The model to simulate the movement of leachate from a landfill in Laogang Town, Shanghai City was used. In this application, the values for the model parameters were obtained by performing a laboratory simulation experiment of water movement and pollutant migration and transformation in soil columns. Soil and leachate obtained from the landfill site and its vicinity were used in the laboratory experiments. The model was then used to simulate leachate movement and pollutant activity during the ten-year period when the landfill was in operation and in the twenty-year period following its closure. The simulation results revealed that the leachate migrated into the groundwater at the rate of 90-100 meters per year. This model can be applied in the design of future landfills in China for the purpose of assessing and forecasting leachate plumes.