August 2011
Afvalzorg has developed a simple methane generation model
As spin-off of an international project and tasks carried out in the framework of the European Commission's Technical Adaptation Committee's working group on landfill methane emission reduction, Afvalzorg has developed a simple methane generation model.
As much as possible this model is based on mathematics and default values recommended in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for Solid Waste Disposal Sites. A 'library' is included in the model in order to quickly find the parameter values suitable for each region on our planet. The IPCC model itself is normally not suitable to be applied for individual landfill sites. It is based on the fractions of paper, food waste, leather, textile, etc in the waste. For individual landfills this information is usually not available. The simple model can be downloaded from here.
When the gas production on a landfill decreases methane oxidation becomes an attractive solution to reduce landfill methane emission. Currently available quantification approaches do not correctly assess methane oxidation on individual landfills. Afvalzorg has been cooperating with international experts to provide a solution and develop a "Methane Oxidation Tool". This tool can be used in quantifying methane emission and in designing testfields, hot-spot remediation and full-scale biowindows amongst others. The tool has also been proposed as something to consider in a first draft for a European guidance document on landfill methane emission reduction. The Methane Oxidation Tool and an explanatory note can be downloaded from here.
If you download a model you will be asked to provide an email address. Don't worry: Afvalzorg will not SPAM you, will not sell your information to others and will not try to sell you anything. Your email address will only be used to inform you of updated versions of models. Afvalzorg models are regularly updated. Currently we are working on a tool to automatically assess average waste carbon content based on European Waste Catalogue entry numbers. For European landfill operators this will simplify gas generation modelling as amounts of waste for each EWC entry number have to be reported to the competent authority annually.