title: Modeling the final phase of landfill gas generation from long-term observations.
abstract: For waste management, methane emissions from landfills and their effect on climate change are of serious concern. Current models for biogas generation that focus on the economic use of the landfill gas are usually based on first order chemical reactions (exponential decay), underestimating the long-term emissions of landfills. The presented study concentrated on the curve fitting and the quantification of the gas generation during the final degradation phase under optimal anaerobic conditions. For this purpose the long-term gas generation (240-1,830 days) of different mechanically biologically treated (MBT) waste materials was measured. In this study the late gas generation was modeled by a log-normal distribution curve to gather the maximum gas generation potential. According to the log-normal model the observed gas sum curve leads to higher values than commonly used exponential decay models. The prediction of the final phase of landfill gas generation by a fitting model provides a basis for CO(2) balances in waste management and some information to which extent landfills serve as carbon sink.
authors.affiliation: Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Institute of Waste Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria. johannes.tintner@boku.ac.at
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tintner
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kühleitner
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Binner
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brunner
authors.forename: Ena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smidt
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D013997:Time Factors; D018505:Waste Management
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D008697:Methane