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Title:	Determination and modelling of methane emission and oxidation from selected landfills in Malaysia
Authors:	Mohammed F.M. Abushammala (P44088)
Supervisor:	Noor Ezlin Ahmad Basri, Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Keywords:	Landfill gases Fills (Earthwork) -- Malaysia Methane Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- Dissertations Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia
Issue Date:	7-Dec-2012
Description:	The decomposition of municipal solid waste (MSW) in landfills produces landfill gas (LFG) containing approximately 50-60 %v/v methane (CH4) and 30-40 %v/v carbon dioxide (CO2). CH4 has a global warming potential which is 21 times greater than CO2; its emission causes a serious environmental problem. Microbial CH4 oxidation in landfill cover soils may provide a means of controlling CH4 emission. Although landfills are the main method for waste disposal in Malaysia, there was yet no study done to measure either surface LFG emission rate or CH4 oxidation. The objective of this study was to estimate the total CH4 emission from landfills in Malaysia and to assess the effect of LFG collection system as well as waste recycling on emission reduction. Furthermore, the objective was to measure CH4 and CO2 emission rates and estimate CH4 oxidation capacity from three selected landfills in order to evaluate CH4 generation potential (Lo) and rate (k), determine the most important factors controlling CH4 emission and oxidation, and develop empirical models for predicting CH4 oxidation (%) from landfill cover soils and estimating total CH4 emission. Total CH4 emission from landfills in Malaysia was estimated using the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 1996 and 2006 first-order decay (FOD) models. CH4 and CO2 emission rate measurements were performed during wet and dry seasons using fabricated static flux chamber. A geostatistical analysis was conducted using Surfer 8 Software to examine CH4 and CO2 spatial variations and to quantify total CH4 and CO2 emission from the landfills under the study. Four monitoring stations at each landfill were chosen randomly for investigating CH4 oxidation capacity; two of them were selected for monitoring temporal variations of CH4 and CO2 emission rates, and CH4 oxidation. The CH4 oxidation was estimated using surface CH4 and CO2 emissions measured by the flux chamber, and soil gas profile measurement. The soil gas profile was trapped by preinstalled stainless steel tubes at different soil depths and withdrawn using gas-tight syringes for analysis. Atmospheric pressure, soil and air temperature, and average soil moisture content were measured simultaneously with surface CH4 and CO2 emissions and soil gas profile measurements at those locations. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software was used in order to investigate the main governing factors controlling CH4 emission and oxidation, and to develop linear regression models. In order to investigate the Lo and k values, the total CH4 emission and average CH4 oxidation estimated from the landfills under the study were modeled with the 1996 FOD model. Based on the data collected from the four monitoring stations, the Methane Emission and Oxidation Model (MEOM) was built using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models integrated with the 1996 FOD model for predicting percent of CH4 oxidation within landfill cover soils and estimating total CH4 emission. The total CH4 emission estimated using the IPCC 1996 FOD model for the year 2009 was 318.8 Gg, while projected emissions from 1981 to 2024 using the IPCC 2006 FOD model ranged from 98 to 260 Gg. At all landfills under the study, the CH4 emission rates ranged from -1.83 to 2,011.7 g m-2 d-1, CO2 emission rates ranged from 0 to 3,329.9 g m-2 d-1, LFG emissions during wet season was higher than dry season, and the averages of CH4 oxidation ranged from 16.33 to 52.47 %. The data analysis has shown that average moisture content is the main governing factor controlling the CH4 emissions and oxidation. The k and Lo values for sanitary and open dumping landfills were not far from those found by other researchers in different countries. Thus, from this study the MEOM system predicts CH4 oxidizing capacity better than the linear models.,Certification of Master's / Doctoral Thesis" is not available
Pages:	283
Call Number:	TP359.M4A367 2012 3 tesis
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment / Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina

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