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Clogging of Leachate Collection Systems in Florida

All modern day landfills contain a series of perforated pipes installed beneath the waste whose purpose is to collect all liquid which drains through the cell. This system is called
the leachate collection system and its primary purpose is to drain any liquid toward a central location where it is pumped and then treated, discharged, or recirculated. It has been
discovered that certain landfills see a buildup of precipitates within the system which leads to clogged pipes and buildup of leachate head on top of the landfill. The formation of the
precipitates is linked to the chemical and biological make-up of the leachate generated within the landfill. In order to better understand this clogging process and thus be able to prevent it
in future landfills, the chemical and biological characteristics of leachate as well as landfill design must be examined. It is now known that ash content within the waste will lead to
greater clogging. This is due to the fact that ash contributes greater amounts of the calcium necessary for biofilm to grow within the drainage media. While one solution to this problem is
the monofilling of ash residue in separate landfills, many operators still choose to combine MSW and ash. Since no law exists prohibiting the later it is the goal of this research to design a
model which may be used by landfill operators to foresee clogging potential of their landfill and thus prevent it. The main objective of this study is to use a "film growth
approach" to simulate clogging in Florida landfills. The change of hydraulic properties and porosities of leachate drainage materials due to calcium carbonate buildup will be
predicted using Florida specific leachate composition data and leachate generation data for typical landfills operated in different micro-climates of the state. The results of this
investigation will be used to examine the adequacy of the current design methodology of leachate collection systems in the state of Florida. The findings of this study will then be used to
estimate the service life of LCSs in different regions of the state. The study was conducted in four stages. The first stage consisted of a literature review of previous laboratory and field
tests of LCSs. It also took into account all available FDEP databases of leachate quality and quantity. The second stage aimed at modeling calcium carbonate growth within an LCS based on
results obtained in the first stage. The third stage consisted of an analysis of LCS clogging results as applied to model landfills which represented typical landfills throughout the state of
Florida. The performance of these model landfills and LCSs was evaluated to see what kinds of changes are noticeable in the leachate quality and quantity over the lifetime of the landfill.
Clogging of drainage media was the main focus of this stage because this clogging is the biggest contributor to LCS failure. Finally the adequacy of design of LCSs in model landfills was
examined and adjusted as needed based on results obtained in stages 1-3. It was also possible to estimate the service life of existing and future LCSs to make sure that no leachate ever
escapes the landfill and contaminates the groundwater. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science. / Fall Semester, 2014. / November 6, 2014. / Clogging, Florida, Landfill, LCS, Leachate, MSW / Includes bibliographical references. / Tarek Abichou, Professor Directing Thesis; Gang Chen, Committee Member; Clayton Clark, II, Committee Member.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_252885
ContributorsSakharova, Daria V. (authoraut), Abichou, Tarek (professor directing thesis), Chen, Gang, 1969- (committee member), Clark, Clayton J., 1971- (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Engineering (degree granting college), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (degree granting department)
PublisherFlorida State University, Florida State University
Source SetsFlorida State University
LanguageEnglish, English
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, text
Format1 online resource (116 pages), computer, application/pdf
RightsThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them.

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