Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T08:42:28.139Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Calcite precipitation in landfills: an essential product of waste stabilization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

D. A. C. Manning
D. A. C. Manning*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Routine monitoring of landfill leachates has been extended to include characterization of suspended solids recovered by filtration. Calcite is consistently identified as a suspended solid, with less frequent reports of quartz and clays (kaolinite, illite, chlorite). Morphologically, calcite occurs as discrete grains, coatings on quartz sand and as microconcretions. Preliminary stable isotope data for seven samples generally show positive δ13C values (relative to PDB) up to +3.5‰ and δ18O values between −5 and −8‰, consistent with an origin through precipitation from leachate. Geochemical modelling of leachate compositions for the same samples indicates that the leachates are saturated with respect to calcite, and that the degree of supersaturation decreases for older samples. Mass balance considerations show that the proportions of methane and carbon dioxide observed for landfill gas do not reflect the amount of bicarbonate that is potentially available from the anaerobic decomposition of putrescible waste. Overall, putrescible waste has the potential to form a maximum of 1.9 g of calcite for every gram of waste, although values less than this are likely to be achieved in practice. From these differing lines of evidence, there can be no doubt that calcite precipitation should be expected to take place within landfill systems as an essential part of the waste degradation and stabilization process, and should be considered in modelling both gas evolution and carbon emissions.

Keywords

calcitelandfillwaste degradationwaste stabilizationleachategreenhouse gas emissions
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 65 , Issue 5 , October 2001 , pp. 603 - 610
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AFRC (1988) A basic study of landfill microbiology and biochemistry. Department of Energy, Energy Technology Support Unit, report ETSU B 1159.Google Scholar
Baedecker, M.J. and Back, W. (1979) Hydrogeological processes and chemical reactions at a landfill. Groundwater, 17, 429–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, P.J., Longstaffe, F.J. and Rowe, R.K. (2000) The stability of dolomite in landfill leachate collection systems. Canad. Geotech. J., 37, 371–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boone, D.R. and Bryant, M.P. (1980) Propionate-degrading bacterium, Syntrophobacter wolinii sp. nov. gen. nov. from methanogenic ecosystems. Appl. Env. Microbiol., 40, 626–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cantrell, K.J., Serkiz, S.M. and Perdue, E.M. (1990) Evaluation of acid neutralising capacity data for solutions containing natural organic acids. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 54, 1247–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, K.Y. and Bowerman, F.R. (1974) Mechanisms of leachate formation in sanitary landfills. Pp. 349–67 in: Recycling and Disposal of Solid Wastes: Industrial, Agricultural and Domestic (Yen, T.F., editor). Ann Arbor Science Publications, Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar
Department of the Environment (1989) Landfill Gas. Waste Management Paper no 27, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 2nd Edition, London.Google Scholar
Department of the Environment (1994) Licensing of Waste Management facilities. Waste Management Paper no 4, 3rd Edition, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Department of the Environment (1995) Landfill Design, Construction and Operational Practice. Waste Management Paper no 26B, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Eleazer, W.E., Odle, W.S., Wang, Y.-S. and Barlaz, M.A. (1997) Biodegradability of municipal solid waste components in laboratory-scale landfills. Env. Sci. Technol., 31, 911–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornibrook, E.R.C., Longstaffe, F.J. and Fyfe, W.S. (2000) Evolution of stable carbon isotope compositions for methane and carbon dioxide in freshwater wetlands and other anaerobic environments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 64, 1013–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kharaka, Y.K., Gunter, W., Aggarwal, P.K., Perkins, E.H. and De Braal, J.D. (1988) SOLMINEQ88: A computer programme for geochemical modelling of water-rock interactions. U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 88–4227.Google Scholar
Maliva, R.G., Missimer, T.M., Leo, K.C., Statom, R.A., Dupraz, C., Lynn, M. and Dickson, J.A.D. (2000) Unusual calcite stromatolites and pisoids from a landfill leachate collection system. Geology, 28, 931–4.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, D.A.C. (1997) Acetate and propionate in landfill leachates: Implications for the recognition of microbiological influences on the compositions of waters in sedimentary systems. Geology, 25, 279–81.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, D.A.C. (2000) Carbonates and oxalates in sediments and landfill: monitors of death and decay in natural and artificial systems. J. Geol. Soc., London, 157, 229–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, D.A.C. and Robinson, N. (1999) Leachate-mineral reactions: implications for drainage system stability and clogging. Pp. 269–76 in: Proceedings of the 7th International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium (Christensen, T.H., Cossu, R. and Stegmann, R., editors). Sardinia, volume III.Google Scholar
Oremland, R.S. (1988) Biogeochemistry of methanogenic bacteria. Pp. 641–705 in: Biology of Anaerobic Microorganisms (Zehnder, A.J.B., editor). John Wiley & Sons, New York. Google Scholar
Owen, J.A. and Manning, D.A.C. (1997) Silica in landfill leachates: implications for clay mineral stabilities. Appl. Geochem., 12, 267–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfennig, N. and Widdel, F. (1982) The bacteria of the sulphur cycle. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., B298, 433–41.Google Scholar
Robinson, H.D. (1990) Leachate composition and treatment. Pp. 44–52 in: The 1980s. A decade of progress? Achievements in Waste Management and Research, Proceedings of the 1990 Harwell Waste Management Symposium. AEA Environment and Energy, Harwell, Oxon, UK.Google Scholar
Robinson, H.D. (1995) A review of the composition of leachates from domestic wastes in landfill sites. Report CWM/072/95. Department of the Environment, London.Google Scholar
Waldron, S., Watson-Craik, I.A., Hall, A.J. and Fallick, A.E. (1998) The carbon and hydrogen stable isotope composition of bacteriogenic methane: a laboratory study using a landfill inoculum. Geomicrobiol., 15, 157–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, P.T. (1998) Waste Treatment and Disposal. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK.Google Scholar