NUMERICAL MODELING OF GENERATION AND TRANSPORT OF GAS AND HEAT IN LANDFILLS .1. MODEL FORMULATION

A mathematical model for the generation and transport of gas and heat in a sanitary landfill was developed based on earlier work on the Moun tain View Controlled Landfill Project (MVCLP) in California, U.S.A. Th e present model incorporates biokinetic model equations describing the dynamics of the microbial landfill ecosystem into multi-layer, time-d ependent transport and generation of gas and heat models. It is based on the fundamental principles governing the physical, chemical and mic robiological processes in a porous media context such as a sanitary la ndfill. The model includes biochemical and temperature feedback loops to simulate the effects of their corresponding parameters on microbiol ogical processes. The resulting integrated biokinetic, gas and heat ge neration and transport model was used to simulate field data from the MVCLP and to assess the sensitivity of model results to biological par ameters. The model can be used to predict the rate and total productio n of methane in a landfill. The present work is presented in a series of three papers: (I) model formulation, (II) model application; and (I II) sensitivity analysis. (C) 1996 ISWA