Sustainable Environmental Infrastructure

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Rosaline Casey
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1 Sustainable Environmental Infrastructure Patrick Hettiaratchi, PhD, PEng Professor of Environmental Engineering Department of Civil Engineering & CEERE ( Center for Environmental Engineering Research & Education) Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary August 5, 2006 Bangkok, Thailand

2 Sustainable Development (UN, 1987) Development without destruction Current development (and resource utilization) should consider the needs of future generations; social/political, environmental and economical Consider Triple Bottom Line (Social, Environmental and Economical), instead of the Single Bottom Line (economics).

3 Environmental Infrastructure Water Supply Systems (source, treatment, distribution networks) - Wastewater Management Systems (collection networks and treatment plants) - Air Pollution Control Systems - Solid Waste Management Systems (more complicated because required infrastructure are highly site-specific)

4 Reduce Reuse Recycle Resource Recovery Disposal The Inverted Pyramid of ISWM

5 Waste Management 101 Landfill is the center of waste management Other waste management techniques are built around a good Landfill

6 Modern conventional dry-tomb type Sanitary Landfills are designed and constructed to eliminate problems associated with Open Dumps

7 Construction of Dry-tomb Landfills Final cover Daily cover Intermediate cover

8 Leave it alone!!!!! R I P

9 Sanitary Landfill Cell: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

10 Rincon Verdes Landfill, Tlaliniplanta, Mexico (with gas extraction etc)

11 Problems with Dry-tomb Landfillls Un-sustainable??? Loss of Space. Need to find new space every few years (Toronto, Edmonton) Long-term liability: Need to monitor potential impact for a long- time (until waste stability is achieved) Landfill gas

12 Solution: Sustainable Landfill or Biocell First, operate a Cell in the Anaerobic mode for maximum methane production for energy recovery by leachate recirculation Then, convert the operation to: Aerobic Bioreactor (in-ground composter) Biocell Mining Stabilize the waste quickly (Anaerobic and Aerobic) Mine the cell, and extract recyclables & compost Reuse the space. Holistic approach (not piece-meal )

13 Biocell 1 st Stage Anaerobic Reactor

14 Biocell 2 nd Stage Aerobic Reactor

15 Sustainable Landfills/Biocells: Not really.. Are we there yet??? Although there are some Anaerobic Bioreactors (and a few Aerobic Bioreactors) in operation, no one has tried the sequential operation (Sustainable Landfill or Biocell), yet A number of operational problems needs to be resolved before Biocell can be universally applied. NOTE: These problems are common to all types of Bioreactors!!

16 THE CALGARY BIOCELL: Operate a Pilot landfill cell sequentially, as Anaerobic and Aerobic Bioreactors, followed by Mining to Recover Resources and Space - First of its kind in Canada

17 Calgary Pilot Biocell Project Partners: City of Calgary (primary funding of more than $2 million), Stantec Ltd (Cell design and project management) University of Calgary and collaborators (Research; funding from NSERC-Strategic Grant) A one hectare cell capable of taking 55,000 tonnes of residential and commercial organic waste Unique project coined the term landfill bio-cell (LBC)

18 The Calgary Biocell Concept Anaerobic Year 1 Anaerobic Year 2 Mining/ Space Recovery Year 6 Anaerobic Year 3 Aerobic Year 5 Aerobic Year 4

19 Unique Features of Biocell Design

20 Biocell Construction

22 Leachate/Gas collection systems

23 Research/Monitoring/Sensors Temperature Settlement (plates at 4 levels) Loads (pressure transducers/pressure plates) Leachate head (piezometers) Moisture in waste (TDR) Pore pressure measurements

24 Settlement plates

25 Monitoring/Sensors; Layout

26 Leading-edge Research Waste settlement (issue: high settlement rates; changes waste density and permeability profile. Develop models to predict behavior during early stages of Biocell operation; consider biodegradation, and gas production) Lateral migration of leachate (impact of intermediate covers) Intermediate thin biocovers (TBCs)

30 Conclusions Waste disposal has progressed from open dumps (in the past) to dry-tomb sanitary landfills (present). Biocell (or Sustainable Landfills) could be the future because it has the potential to solve the most pressing problem; lack of space in urban centers in developed and developing countries. Biocell landfilling follows a holistic approach. Consider waste as a resource; extract biogas energy and other resources, and space. It is consistent with the sustainable development principles. Several technical challenges need to be overcome, before Biocell (or Bioreactor) concept could be universally applied.

31 Thank You

Bioreactor Landfills An Innovative Technology for Biostabilization of Municipal Solid Waste

Bioreactor Landfills An Innovative Technology for Biostabilization of Municipal Solid Waste Nandana Perera, Don Davies, Stantec Consulting Ltd. David van Everdingen, Jasna Hundal, City of Calgary Patrick