T2LBM Version 1.0: Landfill bioreactor model for TOUGH2; TOPICAL

The need to control gas and leachate production and minimize refuse volume in landfills has motivated the development of landfill simulation models that can be used by operators to predict and design optimal treatment processes. T2LBM is a module for the TOUGH2 simulator that implements a Landfill Bioreactor Model to provide simulation capability for the processes of aerobic or anaerobic biodegradation of municipal solid waste and the associated flow and transport of gas and liquid through the refuse mass. T2LBM incorporates a Monod kinetic rate law for the biodegradation of acetic acid in the aqueous phase by either aerobic or anaerobic microbes as controlled by the local oxygen concentration. Acetic acid is considered a proxy for all biodegradable substrates in the refuse. Aerobic and anaerobic microbes are assumed to be immobile and not limited by nutrients in their growth. Methane and carbon dioxide generation due to biodegradation with corresponding thermal effects are modeled. The numerous parameters needed to specify biodegradation are input by the user in the SELEC block of the TOUGH2 input file. Test problems show that good matches to laboratory experiments of biodegradation can be obtained. A landfill test problem demonstrates the capabilities of T2LBM for a hypothetical two-dimensional landfill scenario with permeability heterogeneity and compaction