LANDFILL GAS UTILIZATION FEASIBILITY ASSESSMENT AND PERIMETER MIGRATION CONTROL SYSTEM OPERATION OPTIMIZATION

摘要

Assessing the feasibility of landfill gas (LFG) utilization at small sites is often overlooked, as numerous challenges face small landfills when balancing the capital and operating expense versus potential revenues of a utilization project. With the new electricity pricing environment in Ontario, Canada, the potential for utilization facilities at smaller landfills has substantially improved, providing an enhanced potential for small landfills to effectively use their landfill gas resource. The North Sheridan Landfill (Site) in Mississauga, Ontario, is a closed landfill with LFG challenges for utilization: declining landfill gas production within the Site, decreasing operating performance of its perimeter LFG migration control system, poor site setting for landfill gas control, and the close proximity of residential properties. Extending the service life of the perimeter LFG migration control system during the declining phases of the gas production at the Site was an immediate and positive outcome from conducting a feasibility assessment for a small scale LFG utilization project at the Site. In this paper, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates Limited (CRA) and the Regional Municipality of Peel (Region) will present the steps taken to conduct the initial feasibility assessment for landfill gas utilization at the Site. This will include the preliminary results from the utilization assessment and the improvement in the operation of the landfill gas migration control system. Details will include the preliminary results from the utilization assessment and improvements in the operation of the landfill gas migration control system. Additionally, considerations relating to conversion of the perimeter control system to a collection system with a utilization objective will be presented. Further, a financial analysis of potential technology for LFG utilization at the Site will be detailed and put in the context of the current electrical pricing. As a function of the basic economics, combining the improvement of the existing landfill gas migration control systems with a feasibility assessment for a landfill gas utilization project provides a potential win-win situation for this landfill site.