Application of geophysical monitoring techniques as aids to probabilistic risk-based management of landfill sites

Increasingly stringent regulatory regimes, in conjunction with landfill development in environmentally sensitive locations and the large number of abandoned landfill sites, are significantly increasing the responsibilities of local authorities and environmental agencies. These responsibilities include the identification and/or monitoring of: locations of contaminated land; boundaries of waste sites; nature of the landfill content; location, extent, content and depth of closed landfill sites; leachate plumes escaping from both operational and closed sites and the performance of landfill liners. Probabilistic risk based modelling is a standard methodology for monitoring and managing the environmental impact of landfill sites. A critical problem in the implementation of probabilistic risk based modelling is the large uncertainty in the shallow geology, internal structure and leachate distribution of landfills caused by the severe lack of both surface and subsurface information from within and outside the landfill site. The utility of two non-invasive ground based geophysical monitoring techniques, ground penetrating radar and reflectance spectroscopy, as aids to characterising the three-dimensional structure and distribution of leachate within a landfill has been investigated. Strong correlations between red edge inflection position and chlorophyll and metal concentration have been demonstrated from grassland species affected by leachate contamination of the soil adjacent to the landfill study site. The results of this study have demonstrated how recent advances in equipment, techniques and software mean that field-based reflectance spectroscopy and Ground Penetrating Radar can now provide environmental scientists with cost-effective, rapid techniques to characterise landfill sites in three dimensions, aid landfill managers in positioning additional boreholes and field sampling surveys, and provide data as inputs to leachate migration modelling.     

垃圾填埋场渗滤液水头变化的OWEIS法分析

垃圾卫生填埋场渗滤液水头是填埋设计和场地管理的一个重要参数,一般很难获得。本文将Oweis等人提出的数学模型和解析解编制成一个计算机程序,仅需几个容易获得的计算参数就可以计算出垃圾填埋场渗滤液水位的年、月变化。     

中国各省甲烷排放量初步估算及空间分布

CH₄是除CO₂以外的最重要的温室气体,是大气中含量最丰富的有机痕量气体。估算我国甲烷排放量对控制温室气体的排放有着重要的意义。采用2006年IPCC清单指南推荐的温室气体清单编制方法,结合国内外研究成果,选取适合我国的排放因子,利用官方统计数据对2000～2005年我国各省煤炭开采、废弃物管理、生物质燃烧、水稻种植、牲畜反刍、粪便管理等排放源的排放量分别做了估算,并得到空间分布状况。结果表明:与1994年相比,我国甲烷排放总量有所增大,1994年排放总量为34287Gg(1Gg=10⁶kg),至2005年增加到41493Gg,主要是煤炭开采甲烷排放量增加趋势最为明显,但是与我国GDP增加速度和能源使用量增加速度相比,我国的甲烷排放还是有所控制的。在空间分布上来看,各省排放量地区差异明显,CH₄排放量较大的区域主要集中在我国的东北、华北以及西南地区,西北地区和部分直辖市排放量较低,另外各省排放源的配置也各不相同,主要与各区域排放源的变化有关。     

Modelling landfill location using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA): Case study Bo,Southern Sierra Leone

Among the various approaches devised in managing municipal solid wastes, landfills remain the final destination of waste irrespective of the technology used in treating it. Incorrect siting of landfill sites could lead to environmental, social and economic cost; hence, appropriate techniques are required in the identification of potential landfill sites. In densely populated areas in Sierra Leone, there is often tension over the location of landfill sites, where ‘not in my backyard’ campaigns have sparked riots. This article presents a methodological framework for identifying municipal landfill sites in urban areas in Sierra Leone using Bo in Southern Sierra Leone as a case in point. This framework involves a multi-criteria GIS approach that blends two aggregation techniques: Weighted Linear Combination and Ordered Weighted Averaging. Key results show that 83.3% of the study area is unsuitable for municipal landfill.     

Fluxes of CO2 and CH4 in high latitude wetlands: measuring, modelling and predicting response to climate change

This review covers selected aspects of recent international efforts to measure and model greenhouse gas emission from northern wetlands, to identify the environmental factors that control gas emission, and to investigate wetlands'responses (particularly with respect to gas emission) to global change. Both bottom-up and top-to-bottom approaches, based respectively on local observations plus inventory of gas fluxes and inverse modelling of global circulation, agree on the size of the high latitude (>60_°N) contribution to global methane, which should be about 13% or 70 Tg/year. It has been shown that winter and spring fluxes are an essential part in the annual budget of CH₄ and especially CO₂ exchange (varying from 5 to 50%). Soil micro-organisms were shown to be able to respire during winter even at-16_°C. In comparison to aerobically respiring organisms, anaerobic methanogenic bacteria were less active in frozen soil, although they are subjected to significant stimulation by soil freeze-thaw cycles. The absence of immediate coupling of methanogenesis with plant photosynthesis implies that substrates for methane formation are derived from peat decomposition rather than from root exudation.     

不同电子受体及盐分输入对河口湿地土壤甲烷产生潜力的影响

对闽江河口芦苇(Phragmites australis)湿地土壤甲烷产生潜力及电子受体(硝酸盐,三价铁和硫酸盐)及盐分(氯化钠)输入对其的影响进行了厌氧培养实验及测定。结果表明,芦苇湿地土壤甲烷产生潜力范围是0.0202~0.0871 μg · g^-1 · d^-1,0~10 cm土壤甲烷产生潜力最大;电子受体及盐分的输入对土壤甲烷产生潜力具有抑制作用,3种电子受体对甲烷产生潜力抑制程度从大到小为硝酸盐>三价铁>硫酸盐,不同浓度硝酸盐与三价铁添加后甲烷产生潜力与对照土壤差异显著(P<0.05),而硫酸盐与盐分的添加抑制作用不显著,对于每一种电子受体及盐分其不同浓度处理对甲烷产生潜力的影响差异也不明显(P>0.05)。     

Study of the Natural Gas Hydrate “Trap Zone” and the Methane Hydrate Potential in the Sverdrup Basin,Canada

The methane hydrate stability zone beneath Sverdrup Basin has developed to a depth of 2 km underneath the Canadian Arctic Islands and 1 km below sea level under the deepest part of the inter-island sea channels. It is not, however, a continuous zone. Methane hydrates are detected in this zone, but the gas hydrate/free gas contact occurs rarely. Interpretation of well logs indicate that methane hydrate occurs within the methane stability zone in 57 of 150 analyzed wells. Fourteen wells show the methane hydrate/free gas contact. Analysis of the distribution of methane hydrate and hydrate/gas contact occurrences with respect to the present methane hydrate stability zone indicate that, in most instances, the detected methane hydrate occurs well above the base of methane hydrate stability. This relationship suggests that these methane hydrates were formed in shallower strata than expected with respect to the present hydrate stability zone from methane gases which migrated upward into hydrate trap zones. Presently, only a small proportion of gas hydrate occurrences occur in close proximity to the base of predicted methane hydrate stability. The association of the majority of detected hydrates with deeply buried hydrocarbon discoveries, mostly conventional natural gas accumulations, or mapped seismic closures, some of which are dry, located in structures in western and central Sverdrup Basin, indicate the concurring relationship of hydrate occurrence with areas of high heat flow. Either present-day or paleo-high heat flows are relevant. Twenty-three hydrate occurrences coincide directly with underlying conventional hydrocarbon accumulations. Other gas hydrate occurrences are associated with structures filled with water with evidence of precursor hydrocarbons that were lost because of upward leakage.     

底物和电子受体对互花米草湿地沉积物甲烷产生潜力的影响

采用室内厌氧培养法研究闽江河口潮汐盐湿地甲烷产生不同底物(醋酸、甲醇和三甲胺)及电子受体(SO42-、NO3-和NH4+)对外来入侵种互花米草Spartinaalterniflora湿地表层沉积物甲烷产生潜力的影响,结果表明:盐湿地非竞争性甲烷产生底物中的甲醇对互花米草湿地表层沉积物甲烷产生潜力的促进作用最大,高于醋酸和三甲胺,且3种底物的添加均在培养5d后对沉积物甲烷产生潜力的促进作用最为明显;随着培养时间的增加,不同浓度的SO42-、NO3-、NH4+的添加对沉积物甲烷产生潜力的影响呈现出抑制作用或无抑制作用2种结果,添加电子受体的浓度越高,对沉积物甲烷产生潜力的抑制作用越显著。     

Natural Gas Hydrates in the Offshore Beaufort–Mackenzie Basin—Study of a Feasible Energy Source II

In the offshore part of Beaufort–Mackenzie Basin depth of methane hydrate stability reaches more than 1.5 km. However, there are areas in the western part of the basin where there are no conditions of methane hydrate stability. Construction of the first contour maps displaying thickness of hydrate stability zones as well as hydrate stability zone thicknesses below permafrost in the offshore area, shows that these zones can reach 1200 m and 900 m, respectively. Depth to the base of ice-bearing relict permafrost under the sea (depth of the –1°C isotherm-ice-bearing permafrost base) and regional variations of geothermal gradient are the main controlling factors. Hydrostatic pressures in the upper 1500 m are the rule. History of methane hydrate stability zone is related mainly to the history of permafrost and it reached maximum depth in early Holocene. More recently, the permafrost and hydrate zone is diminishing because of sea transgression. Reevaluation of the location of possible gas hydrate occurrences is done from the analysis of well logs and other indicators in conjunction with knowledge of the hydrate stability zone. In the offshore Beaufort–Mackenzie Basin, methane hydrate occurs in 21 wells. Nine of these locations coincides with underlying conventional hydrocarbon occurrences. Previous analyses place some of the hydrate occurrences at greater depths than proposed for the methane hydrate-stability zone described in this study. Interpretation of geological cross sections and maps of geological sequences reveals that hydrates are occurring in the Iperk–Kugmallit sequence. Hydrate–gas contact zones, however, are possible in numerous situations. As there are no significant geological seals in the deeper part of the offshore basin (all hydrates are within Iperk), it is suggested that overlying permafrost and hydrate stability zone acted as the only trap for upward migrating gas during the last tens of thousand of years (i.e., Sangamonian to Holocene).     

Solid Waste Management in Ohio*

State environmental protection agencies are being forced to assume more responsibility for solid waste management. Ohio took the lead in mandating the state control of waste by implementing a statewide, integrated solid waste management plan. This paper discusses the shift in management responsibility and key factors affecting variations in the amounts of waste managed by Ohio's 48 solid waste management districts. Accessibility, population characteristics, location, and open landfill availability are factors that influence managed volumes of solid waste.     

PFS混凝-Fenton-SBR反硝化脱氮-BAF组合工艺深度处理垃圾渗滤液

采用混凝沉淀-Fenton-SBR反硝化脱氮-BAF法工艺对经SBR处理的垃圾渗滤液进行深度处理。在进水污染物平均浓度为:CODcr=800mg·L-1,BOD5=50mg·L-1,NH3-N=10mg·L-1,NO3-N=550mg·L-1,TN=630mg·L-1,色度=600倍的情况下,组合工艺的最佳条件为:PFS加药量为0.5g·L-1;H2O2(30%)投加量为0.6m·lL-1,Fe2+投加量为0.005mo·lL-1,反应时间为4小时;反硝化以甲醇为外加碳源,碳氮比为3.2。最终出水水质CODcr≤80mg·L-1,BOD5≤10mg·L-1,NH3-N≤1.0mg·L-1,NO3-N≤10mg·L-1,TN≤10mg·L-1,色度≤15倍,SS≤10mg·L-1,达到生活垃圾填埋场污染排放标准(GB16889-2008)。组合工艺的药剂总成本低于6.85元/吨。     

Distribution Characteristics of In Situ Stress Field and Vertical Development Unit Division of CBM in Western Guizhou,China

In situ stress is not only a vital indicator for selecting explorative regions of coalbed methane (CBM), but also a pivotal factor affecting CBM production. The present study explored whether in situ stress affected the development potential of CBM in western Guizhou, China. To this end, we collected injection/falloff well test data and gas content data from 70 coal seams in 28 wells. The study found that from top to bottom, strike slip fault stress fields (<?500 m), normal fault stress fields (500–1000 m) and strike slip fault stress fields (>?1000 m) were successively developed in western Guizhou. The distribution features of vertical permeability in western Guizhou are consistent with the stress fields' transformation location. The coal permeability in the western part in Guizhou presents a tendency of increase followed by decrease as a result of increased burial depth. The vertical development characteristics of coal seam gas content are controlled mainly by reservoir pressure, and the relationship between reservoir pressure and buried depth shows a linear increase. The CBM in western Guizhou is divided vertically into three development potential regions dependent on the characteristics of burial depth, permeability and gas content of coal seams. The most favorable vertical development potential region in western Guizhou is 500–1000 m. This region exhibits high gas content, high permeability and moderate burial depth, which are favorable for the production of CBM. These research results can provide basis for geological selection and engineering implementation of CBM in western Guizhou.

     

Pyrolysis of Municipal Solid Waste for Syngas Production by Microwave Irradiation

In the present study, we discuss the application of microwave-irradiated pyrolysis of municipal solid waste (MSW) for total recovery of useful gases and energy. The MSW pyrolysis under microwave irradiation highly depends on the process parameters, like microwave power, microwave absorbers, and time of irradiation. The thoroughness of pyrolysis and product recovery were studied by changing the abovesaid variables. Pyrolysis of MSW occurs in the power rating range of 450–850 W—outside this power rating range, pyrolysis is not possible. Experiments were carried out using various microwave absorbers (i.e., graphite, charcoal, and iron) to enhance the pyrolysis even at lower power rating. The results show that the pyrolysis of MSW was possible even at low power ratings. The major composition of the pyrolysis gaseous product were analyzed with GC–MS which includes CO₂, CO, CH₄, etc.     

Waste interfaces: biodegradable waste, municipal policy and everyday practice

Recent years have seen a rapid rise in the political saliency of the ever growing volumes of municipal waste produced in the UK. In this paper, we examine how one particular part of the municipal waste stream – biodegradable waste – has come under the policy spotlight. As targets to divert biodegradable waste from landfill under the Landfill Directive come into force, the need to focus explicitly on recovering value from biodegradable materials has risen up national and local policy agendas, not least with the introduction of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme. Accompanying this new rationality for managing waste has been a suite of different policy interventions. In this paper we examine the impact of the changing nature of municipal waste policy and the ways in which it has sought to rework the disposal and collection of biodegradable waste. We argue that the predominantly technical framing and instrumental rationality of these interventions does not sufficiently challenge entrenched understandings regarding the boundaries between public and private responsibility for waste, and thus short-circuits their capacity to engage with everyday community/individual waste practices. In conclusion, we suggest that, in order to move waste management towards sustainability, there is a need both to engage with the institutional and infrastructural dimensions of the systems of provision within which waste management occurs, and to take seriously the everyday contexts within which making waste is practiced.     

Natural Gas Hydrate Stability in the East Coast Offshore-Canada

The methane hydrate stability zone beneath the Canadian East Coast oceanic margin has developed to a depth of more than 600 meters beneath the deep water column in the area of the deep shelf and the slope. This zone is continuous spreading from the Labrador continental shelf in the north to the slope of the Nova Scotia shelf in the south. Gas hydrates within the methane hydrate stability zone are detected only in one situation, however, they are numerous in the deeper zone in which type II gas hydrates are present through the whole area at water depths as low as 100-200 m. Well-log indications of gas hydrate situated deeper than the base of the methane hydrate stability zone may be an indication of wetter, compositionally more complicated hydrates that probably are not of bacterial only origin. This could indicate a deep thermogenic source of gas in hydrates. The presence of hydrates in the upper 1000 m of sediments also can be considered as an indicator of deeper hydrocarbon sources.     

湿地甲烷产生的测定方法及主要控制因子研究综述

湿地甲烷排放是湿地甲烷产生、传输和氧化过程的综合作用的结果,其中,甲烷产生是甲烷排放的先决条件.本文对湿地甲烷产生的测定方法以及控制湿地甲烷产生的主要因子进行了综述.湿地甲烷产生的测定方法包括厌氧培养法和添加甲烷氧化抑制剂的方法,比较而言,运用厌氧培养法的研究成果较多,而且也较为成熟,对于培养土样的选择,鲜土与干土培养均有实例.许多因子控制着湿地甲烷的产生过程,包括温度、土壤水、pH值和底物等,其中,甲烷产生所需的底物因子最为重要.     

湿地甲烷产生的测定方法及主要控制因子研究综述

湿地甲烷排放是湿地甲烷产生、传输和氧化过程的综合作用的结果,其中,甲烷产生是甲烷排放的先决条件.本文对湿地甲烷产生的测定方法以及控制湿地甲烷产生的主要因子进行了综述.湿地甲烷产生的测定方法包括厌氧培养法和添加甲烷氧化抑制剂的方法,比较而言,运用厌氧培养法的研究成果较多,而且也较为成熟,对于培养土样的选择,鲜土与干土培养均有实例.许多因子控制着湿地甲烷的产生过程,包括温度、土壤水、pH值和底物等,其中,甲烷产生所需的底物因子最为重要。     

Deep‐sourced gas seepage and methane‐derived carbonates in the Northern Adriatic Sea

In the Northern Adriatic Sea, the occurrence of gas seepage and of unique rock outcrops has been widely documented. The genesis of these deposits has recently been ascribed to gas venting, leading to their classification as methane‐derived carbonates. However, the origin of seeping gas was not clearly constrained. Geophysical data collected in 2009 reveal that the gas‐enriched fluid vents are deeply rooted. In fact, the entire Plio‐Quaternary succession is characterized by widespread seismic anomalies represented by wipe‐out zones, and interpreted as gas chimneys. They commonly root at the base of the Pliocene sequence but also within the Palaeogene succession, where they appear to be associated to deep‐seated faults. We suggest that there is a structural control on chimney distribution. Chimneys originate and terminate at different stratigraphic levels; commonly they reach the seafloor, where authigenic carbonate deposits form locally. Gas analyses of some gas bubble streams just above the rock outcrops reveal that gas is composed mainly of methane. Geochemical analyses performed at four selected outcrop sites show that these deposits formed as a consequence of active gas venting. In particular, geochemical analyses indicate carbonate precipitation from microbial oxidation of methane‐rich fluids, although a straightforward correlation with the source depth of gas feeding the authigenic carbonates cannot yet be clearly defined.     

Origin and significance of diagenetic concretions in sediments of Laguna Potrok Aike, southern Argentina

Authigenic minerals can form in the water column and sediments of lakes, either abiotically or mediated by biological activity. Such minerals have been used as paleosalinity and paleoproductivity indicators and reflect trophic state and early diagenetic conditions. They are also considered potential indicators of past and perhaps ongoing microbial activity within sediments. Authigenic concretions, including vivianite, were described in late glacial sediments of Laguna Potrok Aike, a maar lake in southernmost Argentina. Occurrence of iron phosphate implies specific phosphorus sorption behavior and a reducing environment, with methane present. Because organic matter content in these sediments was generally low during glacial times, there must have been alternative sources of phosphorus and biogenic methane. Identifying these sources can help define past trophic state of the lake and diagenetic processes in the sediments. We used scanning electron microscopy, phosphorus speciation in bulk sediment, pore water analyses, in situ ATP measurements, microbial cell counts, and measurements of methane content and its carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C_CH4) to identify components of and processes in the sediment. The multiple approaches indicated that volcanic materials in the catchment are important suppliers of iron, sulfur and phosphorus. These elements influence primary productivity and play a role in microbial metabolism during early diagenesis. Authigenic processes led to the formation of pyrite framboids and revealed sulfate reduction. Anaerobic oxidation of methane and shifts in pore water ion concentration indicated microbial influence with depth. This study documents the presence of active microbes within the sediments and their relationship to changing environmental conditions. It also illustrates the substantial role played by microbes in the formation of Laguna Potrok Aike concretions. Thus, authigenic minerals can be used as biosignatures in these late Pleistocene maar sediments.