Vapor-phase perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), along with methane emissions from landfills has been key contributors of their atmospheric transport and global distribution. Given the persistence, bioaccumulation, and potential health risks associated with PFAS, understanding their transport behavior in landfill gas barrier is of paramount importance. To gain a deeper understanding of the adsorption and diffusion behavior of vapor-phase PFAS in unsaturated, montmorillonite-rich clay barriers, a molecular dynamics simulation was conducted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe read with great interest the paper by Xie et al. (2024) that describes the methodology for recycling and reusing microplastics, MPs, by utilizing it into the geopolymer, GP, matrix made from fly ash, FA, and ground granulated blast furnace slag, GGBFS. The GP was created by activating the FA and GGBFS (7:3 ratio) using 16 M NaOH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVolatile organic compounds (VOCs) emission flux and their concentration profiles were measured at a final municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill cover in Hangzhou, China. The influencing parameters, especially ground surface air temperature and pressure were monitored concomitantly. Furthermore, a numerical model incorporating coupled thermo-hydro-chemical interaction to assess VOCs emission from this final landfill cover (LFC) system was developed and validated with the field test results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEstablishing concentration of microplastics (MPs), designated as C, in aqueous, semi-solid and solid samples originating from unscientifically created landfills/dumpsites (UCLDs) and engineered landfills (ELFs) is of utmost importance to assess their impact on the geoenvironment. However, the accuracy of C will be guided by the extraction efficiency of MPs from these samples. The extraction of MPs from semi-solid and solid samples of UCLDs/ELFs would be cumbersome, mainly due to their trapping in solid aggregates (including organic matter).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe implementation of circular economy (CE) strategies has facilitated a comprehensive approach to waste management (WM) in university campuses. Composting food waste (FW) and biomass can mitigate negative environmental impacts and be part of a closed-loop economy. The compost can be used as a fertilizer, thereby closing the waste cycle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLandfill gas (LFG) emission is gaining more attention from the scientific fraternity and policymakers recently due to its threat to the atmosphere and human health of the populace living in surrounding premises. Though landfill cover (LFC) (viz., daily, intermittent and final cover) is widely used by landfill operators to mitigate or reduce these emissions, their overall performance is still under question.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe utilization of landfill-mined-soil-like-fractions (LFMSF), which is a major fraction resulting from landfill mining (LFM) activity, is being debated owing to a lack of comprehensive understanding of its characteristics. In this context, based on the physicochemical properties of LFMSF, several of the earlier researchers have opposed its utilization as compost, feedstock in waste-to-energy, and fill material in civil engineering applications. However, it has been noticed that LFMSF consists of required amount of organic matter (OM) and inorganic carbon (IC) to make it suitable as a buffering material that would help to modify/treat geomaterials exhibiting extreme pH values.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeachate is a contaminated liquid generated during the bio-chemical decomposition processes of municipal solid waste (MSW) that occurred at semi-solid or solid-state in a bioreactor landfill (BLF). Conceptually, leachate from a BLF is analogous to the urine generated in the 'human body', on which the medical practitioners rely to diagnose and remediate ailments. In line with this practice, to monitor the complex MSW decomposition processes, prolonged investigations were performed to establish the temporal variation of different chemical parameters (such as pH, electrical conductivity, chemical oxygen demand, organic- and inorganic carbon, nitrate- and ammonium-nitrogen, sugars and volatile fatty acids) of the leachate collected from different cells (age≈ 6-48 months) of a fully functional BLF in Mumbai, India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEstimation of temporal changes undergone by municipal solid waste (MSW) in its physico-chemico-geomechanical properties in a bioreactor landfill (BLF) is essential for: (i) efficient landfilling, (ii) establishing the state of decomposition of MSW with time and (iii) deciding upon the appropriate time to initiate landfill mining. To achieve this, a series of destructive (DTs) and non-destructive tests (NDTs) can be conducted on the MSW samples in the BLF. With this in view, several DTs were conducted on these samples retrieved from different depths of the two cells of a fully operational BLF in Mumbai, India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
January 2019
Industrial activity is one of the most important sources of water pollution. Yearly, tons of non-biodegradable organic pollutants are discharged, at the least, to wastewater treatment plants. However, biological conventional treatments are unable to degrade them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMunicipal solid waste generation is huge in growing cities of developing nations such as India, owing to the rapid industrial and population growth. In addition to various methods for treatment and disposal of municipal solid waste (landfills, composting, bio-methanation, incineration and pyrolysis), aerobic/anaerobic bioreactor landfills are gaining popularity for economical and effective disposal of municipal solid waste. However, efficiency of municipal solid waste bioreactor landfills primarily depends on the municipal solid waste decomposition rate, which can be accelerated through monitoring moisture content and temperature by using the frequency domain reflectometry probe and thermocouples, respectively.
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