ASSESSMENT OF LANDFILL GAS (LFG) ENERGY POTENTIAL BASED ON ESTIMATES OF LFG MODELS

Abstract

Methane emission from landfilling of waste is one of the most prevalent gascontributingto the greenhouse effect. Current waste management strategies,aimtoreducemethane emissions from landfills,promote energy recovery from landfillgas (LFG) that is recognized as a renewable energy resource, due to its higher calorific value.First and the most crucialstage in the planning and design of LFG collection and energy recovery systems is to quantifyLFG generation.It’s because, the quantity of LFG and its methane content determine both the applicable method for the control and use of LFG and the feasibility of energy recovery.LFG models are developedfor the projection of LFG generation over time from a mass of landfilled waste. During planning and projection phase of a landfill, the amountof gas that will be generated and recovered at the sitecan be estimated –based on projected amounts of waste –by only using these models.Due to complex nature of LFG formation, several models have been developedto model and estimate LFG generationwith different approachesfor regions in different climates.In a LFG energy recovery project,selectionof the appropriate modeling approach and its model parameters for the estimation of LFG generationis the most crucial step. With considering this requirement, this study aims to estimatethe amount of LFG and itstechnical energy potential from the case study landfill site(i.e. Harmandalı Landfill Site in İzmir Metropolitan City).According to the computationscarried out by Multi-phase model, it was determined that the remaining amountof LFG at the site was nearly 50% of total energy potential. Besides,maximum energy potential from LFG generated at the site was estimated as 9.6 MW.This study indicates that LFG models can be utilized as effective tools in energy recovery projects.