Integrated solid waste management

Landfilling is the most common method of solid waste disposal in the United
States. However, a reported issue with landfill management is the production of
leachate, which is a wastewater that is typically too strong to be discharged to
municipal wastewater treatment facilities. After reviewing the performance of
existing leachate treatment methods, it is clear that an understanding of emerging
issues and an all-inclusive solution to long-term management of leachate is currently
not available. The goal of this project is to address the lack of viable and sustainable
engineering alternatives for handling leachate. One such futuristic technology is
called Photochemical Iron Mediated Aeration (PIMA).
Based on the Iron Mediated Aeration process, the PIMA process involves the
combined oxidation effect of hydroxyl radicals and ultraviolet radiation with the air
stripping potential of aeration. The experiments conducted demonstrated promising
results but also the lack of maturity of this technique.

Since the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) began requiring landfills to implement a leachate collection system in 1991, the proper disposal of leachate has become a growing concern. The potential toxicity of landfill leachate will contaminate groundwater and soil if not managed properly. Research has been made in efforts to manage leachate in a cost-effective, single treatment process. Photocatalytic oxidation is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) which has shown ability to reduce toxicity of an array of leachate constituents including organics, inorganics and heavy metals. The purpose of this manuscript is to scale up the batch scale study of TiO2 photocatalytic degradation of leachate utilizing a pilot scale falling film reactor. In this research project, the use of UV/TiO2 for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia, alkalinity and color will be studied in order to optimize catalyst dosage, determine pH effects and reaction kinetics and develop preliminary cost estimates.

A landfill is in a reserved space on land used for the disposal of refuse by utilizing the principles of engineering to confine the refuse to the smallest practical area to prevent the creation of nuisances to public health or safety (Andersen et al. 1967). However, because landfills are open to the atmosphere, rainfall can saturate them, resulting in a liquid called leachate. Leachate generated within the landfill contains suspended solids, soluble components of the waste and by-products from the degradation of the waste by various micro-organisms. Treatment of leachate is an emerging area of need. In this manuscript the main purpose is to investigate a laboratory scale batch reactor that is able to detoxify and treat leachate by using an advanced oxidation process (i.e. TiO2). Based on the results obtained from this ground breaking research, it appears that the process investigate has the potential to radically change the way landfill leachate is treated. Scale up may provide direction that can be used to improve the efficiency of the different stages of toxicity of leachate during the entire life of a landfill.