EXTRACTION AND CONTROL OF LANDFILL GAS BY THE AUTOMATEDEXTRACTION MONITORING SYSTEM (AEMS)

摘要

We live in a time where the benefits of automation arernprevalent in many industries and sought after in nearly all.rnThe Landfill Gas industry is no different. Automation ofrngas extraction systems can provide both economic andrnenvironmental benefits to landfills. These includernincreased protection to the environment and public safety,rnwhich in turn can be economically advantageous byrnreducing or eliminating regulatory compliance fines.rnAutomation combined with enhanced monitoring allowsrnfor more precise and effective control of the landfill gasrnfield. This provides additional economic benefit throughrnincreased quantity and quality of methane production andrnextraction. The Automated Extraction Monitoring Systemrn(AEMS) installed at the Tequesquite Landfill in Riverside,rnCalifornia provides empirical data supporting therntheological benefits of automation.rnThe AEMS utilizes a modular server based design. Thernsystem at the Tequesquite Landfill was installed in threernphases. The benefits of this system encompass bothrnadvantages of automation and phased installation. Reviewrnof the data obtained during the installation and testing ofrnall three phases depict the incremental operationalrnadvantages obtained with each phase of construction. Anrneconomic analysis is presented to show both the benefit ofrnutilizing a modular based design and the overall benefits ofrnthe final automated system. The economic analysis isrnpresented as number of comparable manual monitoring orrncontrol events.rnThe operational and economic benefits are directly relatedrnto the size of the landfill and frequency of monitoringrnevents required. While potentially very large, therneconomic value of improved health and safety has beenrnomitted in the final analysis to demonstrate the economicrnviability of the system even in less favorable conditions.rnThe operational and economic benefits provided by thernAMES are of significant value to an industry thatrncontinually seeks to provide optimal system performance,rnenvironmental and personal safety while simultaneouslyrnreducing operational cost.