6 / 31
Volume 2
Journal of Environmental Research
Page 18
JOINT EVENT
July 26-27, 2018 Rome, Italy
&
6
th
Edition of International Conference on
Water Pollution & Sewage Management
4
th
International Conference on
Pollution Control & Sustainable Environment
Rino Dubé et al., J Environ Res 2018, Volume: 2
Simultaneous treatment of leachates and landfill gas (CH
4
) by a passive biofiltration process well
adapted for Nordic regions
Rino Dubé, Nicolas Turgeon, Yann Le Bihan
and
Gerardo Buelna
Quebec Industrial Research Center, Canada
L
eachate treatment and the elimination of landfill gas (LFG) are the main environmental challenges faced by operators in the
province of Quebec, Canada. CRIQ, in collaboration with its partners (Université Laval and Université de Sherbrooke), has
been working for more than ten years on the development of biofiltration processes for the treatment of leachate and methane
(CH
4
). The leachates treatment is intended to comply with the limit values as prescribed in the regulation (in particular BOD:
65 mg/l, ammonium: 10 mgN_NH
4
/l, zinc: 0.07 mg Zn/l and phosphorus: 0.3 mg Ptot/l). The process makes it possible to
envisage, using methanotrophic bacteria that are unique in their ability to use CH
4
as a source of carbon and energy, the
treatment of landfill gas. The results obtained in laboratory tests over a period of 16 months for simultaneous treatment
(leachate-methane) will be shown for parameters such as BOD5, MES, NH
4
, NO
3
-, pH, CH
4
. The behaviors observed for
nitrogen are presented in figures 1 and 2. For the period when the conditions were optimal (250
th
to 450
th
day) the nitrification
process made it possible to reach N-NH
4
transformation rates higher than 95% (output concentration of less than 10 mgN
NH
4
/l). Considering the average concentration of N_NH
4
contained in the leachates (680 mg N-NH
4
/l) as well as the observed
transformation rates (nitrification), the elimination of N-NO
3
in the biofiltration process would be attributable to the activity
methanotrophic bacteria (methanotrophic denitrification). Overall, the results obtained make it possible for landfill operators
to make significant gains in terms of sustainable development (passive technology, increased treatment of nitrogen (NH
4
and
NO
3
), autothermal biological process), reduction of GHG emissions, etc.). Those work led to a patent in 2017. Future work
planned is on-site testing using a prototype.
Figure 1: Transformation of ammonium Figure 2: Elimination of nitrates
Recent Publications
1. Dia O, P Drogui, G Buelna and R Dubé (2017) Strategical approach to prevent ammonia formation during
electrocoagulation of landfill leachate obtained from a biofiltration process. Separation and Purification Technology
189:253-259.
2. Dia O, Drogui P, Buelna G, Dubé R and Ben Salah Ihsen (2017) Electrocoagulation of bio-filtrated landfill leachate:
Fractionation of organic matter and influence of anode materials. Chemosphere 168:1136-1141.
3. M Zolfaghari, P Drogui, S K Brar, G Buelna and R Dubé (2016) Unwanted metals and hydrophobic contaminants in
bioreactor effluents are associated with the presence of humic substances. Environmental Chemistry Letters DOI:
10.1007/s10311-016-0598-7.