Aged refuse filled bioreactor (arfb), as a pretreatment for landfill leachate

The wide spectrum of bio-recalcitrant polluting molecules present in the landfill leachate, make it a hard to address pollution problem. A recently tested technology for its treatment is based on the use of aged refuse. The present paper is aimed to highlight the potential of a recently tested technology for the treatment of leachates, based on the use of an aged refuse filled bioreactor. The aged refuse, extracted from the sanitary landfill of the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico, were characterized with granulometric parameters, moisture, volatile solids, ash and volumetric weight. A microbiological characterization of the aged refuse was also carried out, which allowed identifying the presence of eight species, related to the degradation and mineralization of organic compounds. The bioreactor was operated for one year under four hydraulic leachate loads (10.5, 18, 26 and 41 L/m3-d). The maximum average efficiency of the system reached 80% in both COD and color, this was achieved when the system was operated with a hydraulic load of 18 L/m3-d. The values of COD, BOD, color and biodegradability index of the final effluent were 959 mg/L, 72 mg/L, 1685 Pt-Co, and 0.07, respectively, being prepared for a final purification stage.

Keywords: bioreactor, COD, landfill leachate, aged refuse, pretreatment.