Two Novel Biofilters to Remove Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted by Landfill Sites

The present work investigates the potential of two experimental field columns (FC-2 and FC-4) to reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill located in Quebec, Canada. The FC-2 and FC-4 were fed by raw biogas coming from the landfill site. The VOC were identified and quantified in emitted biogas and raw biogas. The emitted biogas was collected at the surface of FC-2 and FC-4, and the raw biogas was obtained directly from the well. The main groups of the VOC in the landfill biogas are BTEX (66 %), alkanes (19 %), cyclic compounds (10 %), and halogenated compounds (5 %). The concentration of VOC in the landfill raw biogas varies from below the limit of detection (BLD) to 22 ppmv, and that of the emitted biogas varies from BLD to 3.1 ppmv. The result of this study showed that the experimental field columns had a very high potential to reduce the VOC emissions from the investigated landfill. The effectiveness of the VOC emission removal for the FC-2 and FC-4 was shown to be practically 100 % for many compounds. The experimental field column elimination capacity of VOC emissions is in the range of 0.1 to 4.6 mg m(-3) h(-1).