University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) - Research portal
Gewählte Doctoral Thesis:
Reinhard Wolfgang Neugschwandtner
(2007):
Innovative Remediation Technologies: Evapotranspiration Covers of Old Landfills and Abandoned Sites and Chemical Oxidation of Municipal Waste.
Doctoral Thesis,
BOKU-Universität für Bodenkultur,
pp 158.
UB BOKU
obvsg
- Abstract:
- Old landfills pose a threat to the environment due to possible greenhouse gas emissions and the possible contamination of soil and groundwater by contaminated seepage water. Two innovative remediation techniques for the long-term stabilization of old landfills were assessed in lysimeter and field experiments. Evapotranspiration covers (consisting of plants and soil) have shown to be under certain conditions a possible low-cost and low-maintenance alternative to technical sealings for the long-term stabilization of old landfills and abandoned sites. Vegetation, soil parameters and depth of soil cover are important factors for reducing seepage water generation and so the risk of groundwater pollution. The influence of these factors on seepage water generation was assessed by modeling the results obtained from the large scale lysimeter experiment with the Hydraulic Evaluation of Landfill Performance (HELP) model. Contrary to the technical sealing, evapotranspiration covers allowed the diffusion of atmospheric air into the waste body. Thereby the methane production and the chemical composition of the seepage water and the waste have been influenced. A faster decrease of organic matter and the prevention of methane production and/or oxidation of methane under aerobic conditions may lead to a faster stabilization of the waste. Chemical oxidation pre-treatment of old municipal waste using potassium permanganate did influence the chemical composition of the seepage water and the waste, the soil gas concentrations and the growth of alfalfa which was rooting from the recultivation layer down to the waste. Nutrients and heavy metals were mobilized and leached due to the partly decomposition of the organic matter in the waste after the pre-treatment. Biomass production of alfalfa was reduced by the pre-treatment.