Quantifying Capture Efficiency of Gas Collection Systems with Gas Tracers

Start Date:
Jan 2010

End Date:
Aug 2011

Award Amount:
$140,993

Project Background & Objectives
There is a critical need for methods to quantify methane capture efficiency from landfill gas (LFG) collection systems. In addition to providing information that will improve calculations of landfill methane budgets, such measurements are essential for evaluating the utility of alternative gas collection systems and management practices. While measurements of surface methane emissions from landfills aid in determining methane capture efficiency, we propose a fundamentally new approach – quantifying the capture efficiency using controlled releases of inert tracer gases within refuse. Such tests are a straightforward means to quantify the efficiency of alternative gas collection well designs and management practices. In this work we will
Objective #1: demonstrate in situ gas tracer tests for quantifying the collection efficiency of a LFG well;
Objective #2: compare gas tracer test results with in situ gas pressure measurements, to determine if the cheaper and easier gas pressure measurements can be used to define the zone of influence of a collection well where the LFG collection efficiency is high; and
Objective #3: compare gas tracer test results with predictions from a gas flow model to evaluate the utility of such

Publications
Final Report