Municipal solid waste from landfills a solution to energy crisis in South Africa
- Authors: Dada, O.R. , Mbohwa, Charles
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Biogas , Landfill , Sustainable development
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/215015 , uj:21353 , Citation: Dada, O.R & Mbohwa, C. 2016. Municipal solid waste from landfills a solution to energy crisis in South Africa.
- Description: Abstract: There is a growing interest in the management of municipal solid waste globally, and South Africa is also not relenting in its effort to turning wastes from landfill into resourceful materials or energy because of the environmental issues and job opportunities that arises from the wastes generated from household to industrial by-products. Due to the escalating increase in the cost of dumping wastes into landfills and depletion of land spaces despite the popular global campaign of waste reduction, re-use and recycling there is still a rapid increase in the tonnage of wastes that is being produced on daily basis from all works of life which results in huge quantity of waste that is disposed to landfills. This calls for an urgent need to look into possible ways of managing wastes better in such a manner that it contributes and promotes sustainable socio - economic development of the nation. This research paper focuses on the type of waste generated from the City of Johannesburg, the potential biomethane that could be produced from the organic wastes, waste collection methods around the city before disposal on landfills within the City of Johannesburg and investigation of energy generation from waste as a better waste management technique. Robinson deep landfill which is one of the biggest landfill site within the city in terms of capacity is located in the South of Johannesburg. This landfill is a potential site for the establishment of a biogas plant where landfill wastes is expected to be used as feedstocks for the production of biogas. The biogas produced will be further upgraded to biomethane for powering the City of Johannesburg metro buses.
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Biochemical methane potential of OFMSW for City of Johannesburg
- Authors: Maile, Ireen , Muzenda, Edison , Mbohwa, Charles
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Anaerobic digestion , Landfill , Methane potential
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/216566 , uj:21522 , Citation: Maile, I., Muzenda, E. & Mbohwa, C. 2016. Biochemical methane potential of OFMSW for City of Johannesburg.
- Description: Abstract: The accumulation of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) in landfills not only pose threat to the environment, it may also lead to potential health hazards. Anaerobic digestion stands a very good chance to mitigate this waste accumulation in landfills and has potential to create green jobs. BMP has been widely studied in anaerobic digestion for the production of sustainable energy. Bioprocess control Automatic Methane Potential Test System (AMPTS) II machine was used to set up the assays and run the tests. OFMSW was observed to have a low pH which affects the production process and biogas yield. Buffer solutions that were used in this study were calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). It was observed that CaCO3 not only stabilizes the pH but it also gives nutrients to the microbes and thus results in higher biogas yields. Inoculation also helped in stabilizing the process and improved the yield. The digester with CaCO3 resulted in a higher methane yield than the others. Though CaCO3 gave good results its use was discontinued as it has a negative impact on the environment. The BMP of OFMSW was found to be 200 ml CH4 / g VS. The methane content was found to be on average 58%.
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Design considerations for an engineered landfill
- Authors: Manyuchi, Musaida Mercy , Mbohwa, Charles , Muzenda, Edison
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Design considerations , Landfill , Leachate control
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/260152 , uj:27385 , Citation: Manyuchi, M.M., Mbohwa, C. & Muzenda, E. 2017. Design considerations for an engineered landfill.
- Description: Abstract: An engineered landfill presents an opportunity for proper waste management that allows resource recovery from waste. However, for this to be achieved several technical parameters must be considered when designing a sanitary landfill. These technical parameters include proper site selection with minimal environmental and hydrological negative impacts, selection of a liner network that will not allow the leachate to infiltrate into the ground. Furthermore, there is need to have an integrated network for monitoring the movement of the waste as well as quality of the leachate. The surface drainage at a landfill site must also be well understood as well as daily covering measures to avoid pests and pathogens coming outside the designated landfill site. Although, landfills present a potential for proper municipal waste management, the human capital aspect is also critical and must be considered.
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