Prof. D. N. Singh

AGNES ANTO C.

Ph. D.
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, India AGNESANTO10@GMAIL.COM

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN EFFICIENT FUNCTIONING OF BIOREACTOR LANDFILLS

The disposal and management of huge quantities of the municipal solid waste, MSW, generated, in most of the cities of developing nations, are becoming a major concern. In this context, a bioreactor landfill, BLF, wherein the leachate generated during decomposition of the MSW is collected, stored and recirculated back in to the landfill, to facilitate: (i) rapid decomposition of the MSW, (ii) mangement of leachate and (iii) rapid generation of the landfill gas, LFG. With this in view, a comprehensive study on decomposition of the MSW in a BLF, which is first of its kind in India, has been conducted. The samples of fresh MSW received and those retrieved from the BLF (designated as decomposed MSW) were characterized to establish the variation in the ?volatile solid? contents, VS, with time. The data so obtained were corroborated with the data available in the literature and generalized relationships that can be employed for determining the variation in the degree of decomposition, DOD, with time have been proposed. Also, an attempt has been made to explore the feasibility of: (i) geotechnical in-situ techniques (viz., piezo-cone penetration test, standard penetration test), well established for soil sub-surface exploration, to determine the state of decomposition of the MSW in the BLF, and (ii) potential of the biostabilized MSW as a ?resource material?.