MODUELO 2: A new version of an integrated simulation model

for municipal solid waste landlls

Amaya Lobo Garc a de Cortazar
*
, Inaki Tejero Monzon
Environmental Engineering Group, University of Cantabria, E.U.I.T. Minera e U.D. Ingenier a Ambiental,
39316 Tanos, 254, Bulevar Ronda Runo Peo n, Torrelavega (Cantabria), Spain
Received 1 November 2004; received in revised form 1 November 2005; accepted 17 November 2005
Available online 30 January 2006
Abstract
This work presents a new version of the landll dynamic simulation program MODUELO. Based on landll characterization data, the
program calculates the daily leachate ow and organic pollution and the generation and composition of biogas. The models that constitute
the principal body of the program have been improved in the new version, called MODUELO 2. The mathematical expressions for the cal-
culation of the surface water balance and the saturated ow between the landlls model cells have been corrected. The runoff effect on the
leachate ow and a model for the variation of the waste hydraulic conductivity with depth have now been included, as well as an improved
biodegradation model.
As a rst verication of the new version, the model has been applied to the Meruelo I landll (Spain). The hydrologic model results are
compared to the available data and other models, MODUELO 1 and HELP. The biodegradation model is then evaluated by contrasting its results
with the available data and the emission trends found by other authors in different facilities.
The simulation results are close to the available data, indicating that the models presented here can constitute an adequate basis for the
development of future models representing other landll phenomena.
2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Landll leachate; Modeling; Organic pollution; Biodegradation; Landll gas; Dynamic simulation; Municipal solid waste; Hydrologic balance; Landll
history
Software availability
Name: MODUELO 2.0
Developer: Environmental Engineering Group. University of
Cantabria
Contact address: Amaya Lobo Garc a de Cortazar. Environ-
mental Engineering Group, Department of Sciences
and Techniques of Water and the Environment, Uni-
versity of Cantabria, E.U.I.T. Minera e U.D. Ingenie-
r a Ambiental, Bulevar Ronda Runo Peon, 254,
39316 Tanos, Torrelavega (Cantabria), Spain. Tel.:
34 942 846542; fax: 34 942 846541; e-mail:
loboa@unican.es
Year rst available: 1999
Hardware required: PC, Pentium processor, 32 MB of RAM
Minimum software required: Windows 95
Program language: C
Program size: 10 MB of disk space
Availability and cost: free availability of the compiled code,
by contacting the authors
Supporting documentation: MODUELO 1 user and technical
manuals (in Spanish). Manuals of the presented
version in preparation.
1. Introduction
The use of simulation software as a tool for the design, op-
eration and monitoring is not as widespread in the eld of mu-
nicipal solid waste landlls as in other elds of environmental
engineering (for example, wastewater treatment plants). In the
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 34 942 846542; fax: 34 942 846541.
E-mail address: loboa@unican.es (A. Lobo Garc a de Cortazar).
1364-8152/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2005.11.003
Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
www.elsevier.com/locate/envsoft
case of landll process modeling, the signicance of local fac-
tors such as the waste composition, disposal method and pro-
tection systems against potential impacts, the heterogeneity of
the medium, as well as the several physical and biochemical
phenomena that need to be considered (meteorology, liquid
and gas movement, biological and chemical degradation of
the waste, aging of materials), makes the development of
models applicable to different landll facilities difcult.
Since the 1970s a number of empirical expressions of gas
generation have been developed to assess the economics of
gas harnessing systems (an excellent review of them can be
found in El-Fadel et al., 1997). These sorts of models do not
represent the biological degradation processes, but only one
of their consequences, which is gas generation. Their calibra-
tion is based on data observed in a specic landll or similar
facilities, which does not give rise to actual prediction tools.
Nonetheless, these models are still used for approximate esti-
mations when more rened tools are not available.
Subsequently, models have also appeared to support the
study of the possible impacts of the leachate in the surrounding
land. HELP (Schroeder et al., 1994), among the programs de-
veloped with this aim, became of widespread use in facilities
all over the world, but nowadays its use is questioned as a num-
ber of shortcomings have been detected (Berger, 2002). On the
other hand, several authors have reported modeling approaches
that focus on the biological and/or chemical degradation of
waste that generates gas and leachate pollutants.
More recently, integrated models have appeared that com-
bine the several phenomena the previous models have tackled
individually. These models consider both the leachate pollu-
tion and gas, simulating jointly the hydrological and degrada-
tion phenomena, and can include settlement and heat transfer
as well. When adapted to the simulation of real facilities, these
models will make possible the a priori study of the different
effects of design and operation measures such as leachate
recirculation. Furthermore, the results from such simulations
could constitute the input for other models, such as those of
leachate underground transport, making it possible to estimate
the impacts on the landll environment and, in combination
with probabilistic models, form part of other complex tools
for environmental risk assessment (Ho et al., 2004; Babendreier
and Castleton, 2005).
Several research groups worldwide are working on the de-
velopment of this kind of software (Chanthikul et al., 2004;
Demirekler et al., 2004; Kindlein et al., 2003; White et al.,
2004; Zacharof and Butler, 2004), but the reasons mentioned
in the rst paragraph above have prevented faster development.
Chanthikul et al. (2004) present a mathematical model to
simulate the release of contaminant from solid wastes and their
movement into the leachate, in order to estimate the active life of
the landll under different conditions of operation. The landll
is modeled as a unit volume to which two differential equations,
expressing the mass balance for the contaminant considered in
the percolating liquid and in the solid waste, are applied.
Demirekler et al. (2004) have presented a mathematical
model that simulates the distribution of leachate and pollutants
through the landll taking into consideration the effects of
landll development. With this objective, the landll is di-
vided in cells or columns of cells composed of several layers,
each of which is modeled as a completely mixed reactor.
Kindlein et al. (2003) develop a numerical model for the
analysis of the ow and degradation and transport phenomena
in the landll. The model combines a local degradation model
(Haarstrick et al., 2001) with a macroscopic approach to the
ow of leachate and gas and the transports of substances
and heat, based on continuum mechanics.
White et al. (2004) describe a spatially distributed numeri-
cal model as a framework to contain and link sub-models that
simulate the degradation of the waste and generation of landll
gas. The landll is divided in discrete constant volume ele-
ments between which the transport of leachate and gases, as
well as their consolidation, is simulated.
Zacharof and Butler (2004) focus on the improvement of
the parameter identication and the reduction of the parameter
requirements in this kind of model. With this objective they
create a model that groups a simplied methodology to repre-
sent the waste biodegradation with a stochastic model of ow
and transport, capable of representing the effects of waste
heterogeneity on the leachate ow through the waste.
Among these integrated models is MODUELO, developed
for the environmental assessment of municipal solid waste
landlls. MODUELO estimates the leachate ow and organic
pollutants and the volume and composition of the generated
gas throughout time as a consequence of the water owing
through the waste and the degradation of organic matter in
the landll. The program comes from the revision of existing
models, adapting them to a three-dimensional representation
of the landll composed of layers formed of square horizon-
tal section cells that are incorporated in accordance with the
operational history of the landll. Since it was created in
1998, MODUELO has been used for the simulation of theo-
retical cases (Lobo et al., 2001), laboratory experiments
(Dupuy, 2000) and real facilities (Lobo et al., 2002a,b,
2003; Loddo, 2001). The results of these applications were
encouraging, but revealed some aspects of the program that
needed modication. These included some operating details
and incorporating new hydrologic phenomena, removing
some pure calibration parameters, and improving the
biodegradation model.
In this paper the improved version, MODUELO 2, is pre-
sented in which surface runoff effects, the variation of the
waste hydraulic conductivity with depth, corrected expressions
for the interior ow and new approaches in the surface hydro-
logical balance and in the biodegradation model have been in-
corporated. First, the modied models are described, and then
the results of their application to a practical case, the landll
Meruelo I, are discussed.
2. Incorporated models
2.1. General algorithm
The general algorithm of the program is shown in Fig. 1.
The user denes the landll by means of three types of
60 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzon / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
data: waste generation (generation and recycling rates, their
changes in time, moisture content, specic weight and bio-
degradability), topographical data and landll operation
practices, and meteorological (daily insolation, temperature,
relative humidity, and hourly precipitation). With this informa-
tion the landll model is created, in a three-dimensional net of
different sorts of cells (see Fig. 2)dterrain, landll,
closed landll, soil and drain cellsdeach of which
characterizes a material with specic hydrological and biodeg-
radation properties. The horizontal dimensions of these cells are
on the order of tens of meters while their thickness will be of
some meters, depending on the operational practices in the land-
ll. The leachate drainage nets are dened in the corresponding
layers, regardless of the type of cells that make them up, by
means of their drainage section, its slope, length of inuence,
roughness coefcient and the slope of the layer towards them.
The waste generation block calculates the generation
and composition of the waste reaching the landll throughout
time. With these data and the topography and operational his-
tory, the present landll layout block establishes which
Topography,
Operation strategies
t
g+1
= t
g
+t
g
PRESENT LANDFILL
LAYOUT BLOCK
HYDROLOGICAL
MODULE
WASTE GENERATION
BLOCK
Quantities,
Composition,
Characteristics
Meteorological
data
METEOROLOGICAL
BLOCK
LEACHATE
FLOW &
COMPOSITION
POLLUTANTS
DISSOLVED
IN CELLS
GAS
QUANTITY &
COMPOSITION
MOISTURE &
DISSOLV.POLLUT.
IN CELLS
t
h+1
= t
h
+ t
h
BIODEGRADATION
MODULE
Fig. 1. Scheme of the general calculation algorithm of the MODUELO program.
Fig. 2. Screen of denition of the landll layout in MODUELO (the original captions have been translated from Spanish in this gure).
61 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzo n / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
cells are active in the corresponding time step. As Fig. 1
points out, pollutants transport (along with moisture) and gen-
eration phenomena are simplied through uncoupled models,
which are implemented in the hydrological and the bio-
degradation modules. The meteorological data allow the
hydrological calculation module to establish the surface
balance and simulate the ow and transport of dissolved sub-
stances inside the landll, obtaining the total leachate ow and
composition and the moisture and dissolved pollutants in each
cell for the time step. Finally, the biodegradation module
simulates the decomposition of the waste to estimate the pol-
lutants that will be conveyed along with the leachate and the
generated landll gas.
Two different time steps are dened: t
g
, the global simu-
lation step, for the general algorithm and t
h
, the hydrologi-
cal simulation step, which is shorter to allow more accurate
hydrological calculations. As a reference, values of 1 day and
1 h for t
b
and t
h
have been used for the simulations presented
here.
2.2. Hydrological module
2.2.1. Surface balance
From the rainfall data and moisture volume available in the
surface cells the evaporation from the surface and from the in-
terior is estimated. The remaining water gives way to inltra-
tion, increasing the moisture content of the surface cells, and
surface storage and runoff.
The Penman Method has been adopted for calculating
the evapotranspiration in the new version of MODUELO.
Two expressions have been introduced for the evaporation
(Penman, 1963; Hargreaves and Samani, 1982) and two for
the potential evapotranspiration, to be used depending on the
data availability (see Lobo, 2003 for a complete description).
The quantity of water available for evaporation (or evapotrans-
piration) in the landll surface layers is calculated as a function
of an evaporation depth (as proposed by Schroeder et al.,
1994), which is a characteristic of the material that composes
the layer, and a percentage of its eld capacity as a limit for
the evaporated moisture.
The effect of the surface runoff on the leachate ow has
been taken into account by means of a new parameter,
dp, maximum surface accumulation depthdtaken
from the urban runoff models of Huber and Dickinson
(1988)dand there is the opportunity to dene some of the
landll cells as connected, to simulate that the runoff
over them is directly conducted to the leachate collection sys-
tem (Lobo et al., 2003).
2.2.2. Water movement in the interior of the landll
Having calculated the inltrated ow through the surface
balance models, the water movement in the interior cells
that compose the landll is evaluated. The three-dimensional
hydraulic ow problem has been simplied dealing with each
dimension as if they were uncoupled. Firstly, the vertical
ows between cells are calculated, followed by the ows to-
wards the leachate drains, and the total leachate collected in
the corresponding time step. Then, the value of moisture
content of every cell is upgraded, estimating the horizontal
ows afterwards and calculating the cells moisture content
again.
In the new version of MODUELO the interior ow models
have been revised and the hydraulic conductivity changes in
depth have been considered.
The original hypothesis of the hydrological model has been
kept: the ow between waste layers separated by signicant
thickness of low permeability cover takes place in saturated
conditions, as a consequence of the cover slowing down the
vertical ows and favoring the horizontal movement of
water. Thus, the vertical ow between cells is calculated
through Darcys equation, as a function of the leachate head
(or saturated depth) over the inferior cell and the thickness
of its cover, assuming that it takes place in saturated
conditions.
As a number of authors have proposed (Wong, 1977; McBean
et al., 1982; Schroeder et al., 1994; Bagchi and Ganguli, 1990),
the ow towards the drains has been analyzed as a horizontal
ow. It has been modeled based on the insertion of Darcys
equation in the mass conservation law applied to the direc-
tion of the considered ow, giving rise to Eq. (1), where n
e
is the drainable porosity, u
SAT
u
FC
, being u
SAT
and u
FC
the moisture content corresponding to saturation and eld ca-
pacity state, respectively; H(l ) [L] the saturated depth; l the
considered ow direction, assumed to be parallel to the low
permeability surface on which the water is accumulated;
K [LT
1
] hydraulic conductivity of the medium; h(l ) [L]
piezometric head, Eq. (2), where m is the slope of the waste
layer:
n
e
vHl
vt
dl
v
vl
_
KHl
vhl
vl
_
dl; 1
hl Hl zl Hl lsinm: 2
Eq. (1) is applied to the cells that make up the landll rep-
resentation using a nite difference scheme with the nodes
centered in each cell. The saturated depth corresponding
to each cell (thickness of material whose pores are saturated
by water), H
in
L, is dened as a function of the present con-
tent, the eld capacity and saturation moisture values of the
cell (u, u
FC
and u
SAT
) and its height (h
ijk
[L]) (Eq. (3)):
H
ijk

_
uu
FC
u
SAT
u
FC
_
ijk
h
ijk
: 3
Considering the direction perpendicular to the leachate con-
duction in a drain the right-hand term of Eq. (1) is integrated
along the inuence length of the drain, L
in
[L], which is the
furthest distance from which the water is collected in the con-
sidered drain, assuming free ow in the same and a constant
hydraulic gradient throughout L
in
. The volume owing to
a drain located in a certain cell per time unit, FD
ijk
[L
3
T
1
],
is obtained as a function of H
in
L, the saturated depth in
the length of inuence, the hydraulic conductivity of the
62 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzon / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
draining depth, K
D
[LT
1
], the slope of the ground towards
the pipe, a, and the cells length L
ijk
[L] (Eq. (4)):
FD
ijk

_
H
in
K
D
_
cos a
H
in
L
in
sin a
__
ijk
L
ijk
: 4
Given FD
ijk
, H
in
are upgraded in every cell affected by
a drain, before simulating the horizontal ows between cells.
For that Eq. (1) is considered in the two horizontal dimensions,
integrating both terms in each cell and approaching the function
and its derivatives through the upgraded initial values H
t
ijk
L.
The saturation depth of each cell in the following time step,
H
tDt
ijk
L, is thus calculated as a function of the slopes of the
waste layer (mx and my), its horizontal hydraulic conductivity,
K
h
[LT
1
], drainable porosity n
e
, and the cells length L [L]
(Eq. (5)) (see Lobo, 2003 for the mathematical development):
The ow of water from cell i to the adjacent cell along the
x-axis (cell i 1), used to calculate the (advective) transport of
dissolved substances between them, would be (Eq. (6)):
HF
i1;j
ij
L
y
cos
2
mxKDx
2
_
H
t
i1;j
H
t
i;j
_

_
H
t
i1;j
H
t
i;j
L
x
tan mx
_
: 6
2.2.3. Refuse hydraulic conductivity variation
To consider the decrease in the ability of the landll to
transmit water as a result of several phenomena [the loss of
porosity by compression and loss of solid mass, the change
in texture as a consequence of biodegradation processes,
etc.] the simplication proposed by Demirekler et al. (1999)
has been adopted. These authors include, in their three-dimen-
sional model simulating leachate quantity and salinity
throughout time, an exponential model of saturated conductiv-
ity variation as a function of the vertical stress on the waste.
The same law has been adopted in MODUELO 2, so that the
hydraulic conductivity K
i
[LT
1
] varies with the overburden
stress upon the cell as shown in Eq. (7), where K
0
[LT
1
]
is the hydraulic conductivity of waste when it is placed at
zero stress, a
K
[M
1
L
2
] is the constant of variation and W
i
[M L
2
] is the overburden stress on layer i. In the rst version
of the model, the inuence of this factor on the eld capacity
was already included, based upon the model proposed by
Huitric et al. (1980):
K
i
K
0
expa
K
W
i
: 7
This law must be adjusted according to experimental obser-
vations in the landlls modeled. By default, in this work the
value of a
K
is adapted from the hydraulic conductivity
coefcientedepth variation constant proposed in Rowe and
Nadarajah (1996), the applicability of which was veried in
the work of Landva et al. (1998). The value of this constant
is 0.269 m
1
. Thus a
K
will be Eq. (8), where g [M L
3
] is
the mean specic weight of the material on the layer
considered:
a
K
0:269=g: 8
2.3. Biodegradation module
2.3.1. General description. Connection with
the hydrological module
Based on the waste composition and the hydrological
results (moisture and dissolved substances in each cell), the
biodegradation module simulates the transformations under-
gone by the organic matter in each cell as a consequence of
the microorganism action, estimating the quantities of released
gases and the solid substances dissolved in each cell. From
these data, in order to facilitate the contrast with laboratory
data, the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD
(chemical oxygen demand) (the most widely used parameters
characterizing the organic pollution) of the leachate, calcu-
lated based on the corresponding reactions of oxidation
(Lobo et al., 2002b), are also given as results.
Given the slow rates of refuse decomposition in the landll,
some authors (Kouzeli-Katsiri et al., 1999) suggest consider-
ing the landll as a completely mixed reactor. In this case,
the degradation model is applied to each cell as if it were
a mixed bioreactor. Thus, the model presented in the following
paragraphs is solved once for each global simulation step in
every cell making up the landll, assuming that the reactions
in each cell do not inuence the adjacent cells and taking
the results of the last hydrological time step as the initial con-
ditions. The interchange between cells and towards the leach-
ate collection system of the resulting dissolved substances is
simulated afterwards, through the hydrological module, as-
suming that every substance is homogeneously distributed in
the liquid contained in each cell.
The contribution of water as a consequence of the biologi-
cal reactions has been neglected. On the other hand, the strong
inuence of the moisture content on the biological processes
has been introduced in the biodegradation module by means
of a switch function affecting the hydrolysis rates, as
explained below.
Since the gas movement model has not yet been incorpo-
rated, the gas release calculation is simplied through an
H
tDt
ijk
H
t
ijk

_
cos
2
mxKhDt
n
e
L
_
ijk
_
H
t
i1; jk
H
t
ijk
2
_
H
t
i1; jk
H
t
ijk
L
tan mx
_

H
t
ijk
H
t
i1; jk
2
_
H
t
ijk
H
t
i1; jk
L
tan mx
__

_
cos
2
myKhDt
n
e
L
_
ijk
_
H
t
i;j1;k
H
t
ijk
2
_
H
t
i;j1;k
H
t
ijk
L
tan my
_

H
t
ijk
H
t
i;j1;k
2
_
H
t
ijk
H
t
i;j1;k
L
tan my
__
: 5
63 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzo n / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
interface balance model applied in each cell that assumes
a constant atmospheric pressure within the wastes pores.
During the applications of MODUELO 1, some drawbacks
were detected to adequately simulate the nitrogen pollution
and the changes in the biogas composition (Lobo et al.,
2002b). With the purpose of solving these difculties the
new biodegradation model has been created which incorpo-
rates changes in the wastes biodegradability mathematical
characterization and in the denition of the processes.
2.3.2. Modeling waste biodegradability
In the earlier MODUELO version, the biodegradation model
only considers the organic matter of the waste. It is divided in
two fractions: the biodegradable and the non-biodegradable
fraction. A part of the former is readily hydrolyzable (MS
rb
)
and another slowly hydrolyzable (MS
sb
). Both are characterized
by their chemical formula (Cc
rb
Hh
rb
Oo
rb
Nn
rb
Ss
rb
and
Cc
sb
Hh
sb
Oo
sb
Nn
sb
Ss
sb
).
The biodegradable fraction of the waste can be estimated
through the ratio experimentally-observed biochemical
methane potential (BMP)/theoretical BMP corresponding to
each component (paper, cardboard, food waste, yard waste,
etc.) reaching the landll. These ratios, dened for each waste
component, have been called f
bio
.
In MODUELO 2, the waste can be dened by components
or by global fractions, depending on the information available.
If the waste is represented by global fractions only the
amounts of slowly and readily biodegradable mass and their
global chemical formulae are needed.
The potential appearance of non-biodegradable organic
compounds in the leachate (non-biodegradable COD) is mod-
eled by means of the dragging factor, f
dr
, that gives the
amount of these kinds of substances that are dissolved as the
ready and slow hydrolyses are produced.
Finally, the parameter describing the accessibility of the
matter to the microorganisms, f
ah
, is maintained. f
ah

establishes which part of the total biodegradable matter can

actually be hydrolyzed in the specic conditions of the landll
studied. It has to be considered as a site-specic calibration
parameter that can vary from 0 (microorganisms cannot access
any fraction of the waste and the landll would remain mum-
mied) to 1 (the ideal situation in which all the degradable
matter can be broken down).
2.3.3. Biodegradation processes
The new model is based on the substrate balance reported
for similar anaerobic ecosystems by Zehnder et al. (1982).
Table 1 presents the stoichiometry and kinetics of the seven
processes that form the three considered stages, which are de-
scribed in the following paragraphs. In this table each column
represents a compound of the model (readily hydrolyzable and
slowly hydrolyzable solid matter, non-biodegradable solid
matter of readily hydrolyzable and slowly hydrolyzable waste
components, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in the intermediate
organic compounds [C
CHO
, H
CHO
and O
CHO
], acetate, carbon
dioxide, hydrogen, methane, ammonium, hydrogen sulde
and non-biodegradable dissolved matter) and each row T
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b
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64 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzon / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
corresponds to a process (ready and slow hydrolysis, acetogen-
esis and acetoclastic and hydrogenophilic methanogenesis).
The elements of each row of the matrix represent the quantity
of each compound generated in the corresponding process.
According to the rst row, for instance, for each mole of solid
matter dissolved in the ready hydrolysis process, f
dr
moles
of non-biodegradable matter and f
CHO
c
rhb
, e
rhb
, d
rhb
,
f
AC
=2c
rhb
, (1 f
CHO
f
AC
)c
rhb
, a
rhb
n
rhb
and s
rhb
moles of
C
CHO
, H
CHO
, O
CHO
, acetate, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, ammo-
nium and hydrogen sulde are dissolved, respectively.
2.3.3.1. Hydrolysis. The hydrolysis groups all of the phenom-
ena that give way to dissolving the particulated material that
initially makes up the solid waste, by biological, chemical or
physical activity. Depending on the kind of matter affected
by the process, two reactions, ready and slow hydrolysis,
are distinguished. Both directly generate intermediate com-
pounds, acetic acid, carbon dioxide and hydrogen, as well
as ammonium and hydrogen sulde coming from the breaking
down of the organic nitrogen and sulfur. Most of the interme-
diate compounds are carboxylic acids generated from the
carbohydrates, but their global chemical formula will de-
pend on the ratio carbohydrates/proteins/lipids of the waste
and the predominant metabolic paths.
On the other hand, the non-biodegradable matter that has
been dissolved does not give way to specic subproducts, as
proposed for every compound in MODUELO 1.
Taking into consideration the inuence of moisture on the
biodegradation processes the hydrolysis rates shown in Table 1,
kh
rea
and kh
slo
, are calculated as constant values k
0
h
rea
and
k
0
h
slo
affected by FM, inuence factor of moisture, that
will be a function of the parameter P (Eq. (9)). Table 2 pres-
ents the values of FM as a function of P according to the
model proposed by Arias et al. (1995):
P
uu
FC
u
SAT
u
FC
: 9
2.3.3.2. Acetogenesis. Acetogenesis accounts for the breaking
down of the intermediate compounds into acetate, carbon
dioxide and hydrogen.
2.3.3.3. Gasication. Gasication is the nal decomposition
process that converts dissolved organic matter into gas. Two
independent reactions are proposed to represent the two bio-
logical pathways of methane generation: acetate break down
(by the acetophilic methanogens) and CO
2
reduction with H
2
(hydrogenophilic methanogens).
As these reactions simplify the real metabolic pathways,
their stoichiometric factors can vary from one landll to
another. For this reason they have been introduced as model
parameters whose values can be changed by the user. If no
specic data are available the values obtained from the
diagram of Zehnder et al. (1982) are proposed [ f
AC
0.2;
f
CHO
0.76; f
0
AC
0.68].
The seven reactions representing the three decomposition
stages are simulated as rst-order kinetics with respect to
the substrate (see column Rate in Table 1). For the aceto-
genesis and gasication reactions no factor taking into account
the inuence of moisture has been introduced, as the biodeg-
radation will be cancelled as soon as moisture disappears,
since their rates are directly proportional to the concentration
of dissolved substances.
The activation time parameters that account for a possi-
ble initial lag in the hydrolysis and methanization, tact,rea,
tact,slo and tact,met, described in Lobo et al. (2002b),
have also been included.
3. Application to a real case of reference
3.1. The Meruelo I landll
Having implemented the models described above in the
program, and having checked their accuracy in theoretical sim-
ulations (Lobo et al., 2004), a rst application to a real landll
was developed. With this objective, the rst operational phase
of the Meruelo landll (Meruelo I), located in the region of
Cantabria (Spain) was chosen. Meruelo I has been taken as
a reference in previous studies and there is a quite detailed
characterization of its operation period available.
During its two years of operation (1989e1990), Meruelo I
received the municipal solid waste generated in the eastern and
central areas of Cantabria (a total of 202,000 t). It occupies
a surface area of 40,000 m
2
but, as it is a depression-type
landll, this area changed throughout the operational stage.
Located in the lowest part of a valley, it was developed in
successive 2.5-m layers, formed of 0.5-m waste layers with
an intermediate clay covering of 20 cm, all of which have
a total height of 35 m. The leachate collection system is
formed of a dendritic network situated on an impermeable
base (constituted of the original compacted clay material) and
a large central quarrystone wall. This drain follows the slope
of the thalweg, extends throughout the height of the ll and
is connected to the main leachate conduction drain. This
way it totally conditions the landlls hydraulic response, en-
abling horizontal drainage of intermediate layers and acting
like a drain for surface runoff during operation.
For the simulation of this landll the available cartographic,
operational, waste and emissions characterization and meteo-
rological data were compiled. Having built the meteorological
and physical models of the landll, the hydrological module
was calibrated rst, comparing its results with those obtained
with the previous version of the program and with HELP,
Table 2
Values of the factor of inuence of the moisture content on the biodegradation
as a function of the parameter P [adapted from Arias et al. (1995)]
P FM
10 0
20 0.25
80 0.75
100 1
65 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzo n / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
as a hydrological model of reference. The biodegradation
module was adjusted subsequently, once the hydrological re-
sults were accepted.
The calibration process was based on the data collected
during the measuring campaign developed by Fantelli (1990)
and the Environmental Engineering Group (1991) from March
to October 1990. This campaign consisted of the measurement
of the instantaneous ow and the determination, among other
variables, of the leachate COD and ammonium nitrogen
(NH
4
-N) of point samples taken approximately three times
a week. In view of the lack of a characterization of integrated-
in-time samples of the leachate, for the calibration of the
model, that gives daily pollutant load values, it has been as-
sumed that the available instantaneous ow data adequately
represent the average daily ows and the monthly average
concentration of each pollutant in the leachate is represented
by the average of the point values corresponding to the con-
sidered month. This way of obtaining the data limits the ap-
proach obtained with the model, and introduces a factor of
uncertainty that has to be considered when comparing the
calibration results.
3.2. Hydrological model
3.2.1. Calibration
Fig. 3 shows the leachate ows observed during the mea-
suring campaign from March to October 1990 along with
the simulated daily results for the calibrated models of the
landll in MODUELO 1, HELP and MODUELO 2. The cali-
bration parameter values of each model were reported in Lobo
et al. (2003).
The hydrographs caused by the rainfall in Meruelo are
more pronounced than those simulated with MODUELO 1.
The other models, which include the surface runoff effect, ad-
just the ow-time curves more approximately. These results
verify the hypothesis that surface runoff greatly conditions
the systems hydraulics, but they do not explain what seems
to be a less pronounced curve of decreasing ows, such as
those recorded from April 24 to May 3. During these days
the instantaneous ow was registered on three occasions.
Therefore, what appeared to be a continuous curve of progres-
sive decrease in ow could correspond to isolated rainfall
events in the landll that were not registered at the
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
1
/
0
3
/
1
9
9
0
1
1
/
0
3
/
1
9
9
0
2
1
/
0
3
/
1
9
9
0
3
1
/
0
3
/
1
9
9
0
1
0
/
0
4
/
1
9
9
0
2
0
/
0
4
/
1
9
9
0
3
0
/
0
4
/
1
9
9
0
1
0
/
0
5
/
1
9
9
0
2
0
/
0
5
/
1
9
9
0
3
0
/
0
5
/
1
9
9
0
0
9
/
0
6
/
1
9
9
0
1
9
/
0
6
/
1
9
9
0
2
9
/
0
6
/
1
9
9
0
0
9
/
0
7
/
1
9
9
0
1
9
/
0
7
/
1
9
9
0
2
9
/
0
7
/
1
9
9
0
0
8
/
0
8
/
1
9
9
0
1
8
/
0
8
/
1
9
9
0
2
8
/
0
8
/
1
9
9
0
0
7
/
0
9
/
1
9
9
0
1
7
/
0
9
/
1
9
9
0
2
7
/
0
9
/
1
9
9
0
0
7
/
1
0
/
1
9
9
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
3
/
1
/
1
9
9
0
3
/
1
1
/
1
9
9
0
3
/
2
1
/
1
9
9
0
3
/
3
1
/
1
9
9
0
4
/
1
0
/
1
9
9
0
4
/
2
0
/
1
9
9
0
4
/
3
0
/
1
9
9
0
5
/
1
0
/
1
9
9
0
5
/
2
0
/
1
9
9
0
5
/
3
0
/
1
9
9
0
6
/
9
/
1
9
9
0
6
/
1
9
/
1
9
9
0
6
/
2
9
/
1
9
9
0
7
/
9
/
1
9
9
0
7
/
1
9
/
1
9
9
0
7
/
2
9
/
1
9
9
0
8
/
8
/
1
9
9
0
8
/
1
8
/
1
9
9
0
8
/
2
8
/
1
9
9
0
9
/
7
/
1
9
9
0
9
/
1
7
/
1
9
9
0
9
/
2
7
/
1
9
9
0
1
0
/
7
/
1
9
9
0
DATE
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
P
R
E
C
I
P
I
T
A
T
I
O
N

(
m
m
/
d
)
L
E
A
C
H
A
T
E

F
L
O
W

(
m
3
/
d
)Precipitation
'Measured'
MODUELO 1
HELP
MODUELO 2
Fig. 3. Daily leachate ows in Meruelo I during the measuring campaign in 1990, resulting from simulation with HELP, MODUELO 1 and MODUELO 2.
66 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzon / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
meteorological station in a nearby town where the data were
recorded, or to the nature of the available data (point measures
taken as representative of the daily average). There were two
other possible causes that would also justify the observation
of peak ows greater than those expected on several occasions
(April 30, May 5, June 13, October 8): the entry of water from
surface runoff from hillsides that surround the landll and/or
the penetration of subsurface ow. With these results the oper-
ating companys les were consulted, conrming the existence
of an underground stream intercepted by the Meruelo I landll
vessel. This stream has a quick response to the rainfall events
in the vicinity of the landll, making the peak leachate ows
corresponding to these events greater. As a consequence,
when the leachate volume resulting from the simulation of
the measuring period is compared to the total volume calcu-
lated from the recorded data there is a signicant deviation.
The relative deviation between the two global leachate vol-
umes during this period is 58% (7445 m
3
measured against
3114 m
3
simulated), which would indicate that approximately
this fraction of the recorded leachate comes from external
subterranean sources.
The window in Fig. 3 shows how the HELP and MOD-
UELO 2 models adjust more adequately the background or
base ows. By analyzing their progress in the graph, the
MODUELO 2 simulation seems to obtain a closer approxima-
tion. In the rst few months the bottom ow is smaller, in-
creasing once the landll receives a great volume of rainfall
in April, later decreasing gradually as its storage capacity in-
creases and the lower layers become compacted. The HELP
model results remain unchanged, as expected if the landlls
history and the variation of its hydraulic properties for that
period are not simulated. The resulting curve, with growth in
the base ow in September, responds to the annual cyclic
tendency reproduced by the model, as shown in Fig. 4.
3.2.2. Thirty-year simulation
In order to check the response of the hydrologic model of
MODUELO for a longer term, a 30-year simulation was car-
ried out, supposing the Meruelo I landll closing after the
two-year operational stage. The results, presented in Fig. 4,
show a mean time lag of approximately seven months in the
maximum annual values of the leachate ow resulting from
the HELP simulation in regards to the MODUELO results.
Unfortunately, specic data are not available to contrast with
these results, but other considerations can be made. The data
collected in the Meruelo II landll during its operation
(E.R.C.S.A., 2001) show a variation similar to the MODUELO
2 curves, with greater mean ows from November to April
(never maximums in August or September). In addition, other
authors have found the same delay in the ows resulting from
the HELP model in respect to those recorded in other landlls
(Gomez and Antiguedad, 1994; Gomez, 1997). However, these
cases also correspond to landlls in their operational stage,
possibly owing this overall tendency to signicant amount
of surface ow collected in the leachate collection system,
which also causes great variations in daily ow, as shown in
Fig. 3.
In light of the results presented above, the hydrologic
model developed for MODUELO 2 was chosen from the three
models studied for simulating the biodegradation processes in
Meruelo.
3.3. Biodegradation model
3.3.1. Calibration
As the waste composition and biodegradability was known
from previous work (Lobo et al., 2002a), the calibration of the
biodegradation model was based on the least squares method,
applied to the variables observed during the measuring
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2
/
1
/
1
9
9
1
5
/
3
/
1
9
9
1
8
/
2
/
1
9
9
1
1
1
/
1
/
1
9
9
1
1
/
3
1
/
1
9
9
2
5
/
1
/
1
9
9
2
7
/
3
1
/
1
9
9
2
1
0
/
3
0
/
1
9
9
2
1
/
2
9
/
1
9
9
3
4
/
3
0
/
1
9
9
3
7
/
3
0
/
1
9
9
3
1
0
/
2
9
/
1
9
9
3
1
/
2
8
/
1
9
9
4
4
/
2
9
/
1
9
9
4
7
/
2
9
/
1
9
9
4
1
0
/
2
8
/
1
9
9
4
1
/
2
7
/
1
9
9
5
4
/
2
8
/
1
9
9
5
7
/
2
8
/
1
9
9
5
1
0
/
2
7
/
1
9
9
5
1
/
2
6
/
1
9
9
6
4
/
2
6
/
1
9
9
6
7
/
2
6
/
1
9
9
6
1
0
/
2
5
/
1
9
9
6
1
/
2
4
/
1
9
9
7
4
/
2
5
/
1
9
9
7
7
/
2
5
/
1
9
9
7
1
0
/
2
4
/
1
9
9
7
1
/
2
3
/
1
9
9
8
4
/
2
4
/
1
9
9
8
7
/
2
4
/
1
9
9
8
1
0
/
2
3
/
1
9
9
8
1
/
2
2
/
1
9
9
9
4
/
2
3
/
1
9
9
9
7
/
2
3
/
1
9
9
9
1
0
/
2
2
/
1
9
9
9
1
/
2
1
/
2
0
0
0
DATE
S
I
M
U
L
A
T
E
D

L
E
A
C
H
A
T
E

F
L
O
W

(
m
3
/
d
)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
P
R
E
C
I
P
I
T
A
T
I
O
N

(
m
m
/
d
)
Precipitation
HELP
MODUELO 2
Fig. 4. Simulation results of the closed Meruelo I landll hydrologic model with HELP and MODUELO 2.
67 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzo n / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
campaign (COD and NH4-N) to establish the optimum kh
rea
,
kh
slo
, k
AC
, k
A
and f
dr
values. The hydrolysis rates (kh
rea
and
kh
slo
) were rst adjusted tting the NH
4
-N loads. Next k
A
and k
AC
were simultaneously calibrated based on the BOD
series and eventually the COD and TKN series were used to
determine the f
dr
value.
In addition, the solution had to fulll other conditions that
complement the eld data. Firstly, the values of the degrada-
tion constants were maintained among the ranges found in
the literature. As some references the values obtained by
Lee et al. (1993), El-Fadel et al. (1996a,b), Manna et al.
(1999), Young (1995), Zacharof and Butler (2001), Haarstrick
et al. (2001) and Lee et al. (2001) in the calibration of their
models, compiled by Lobo (2003), were considered. Taking
directly the rates reported or calculating, when necessary,
the equivalent rst-order kinetics rates from the values re-
ported by these authors, the obtained ranges were 10
7
e10
2
for the hydrolysis, 10
4
e10
3
for the acetogenesis and
10
5
e10
5
for the acetoclastic methanogenesis. The vast range
of these intervals is not only due to the variability of local con-
ditions not considered in the models, but also to the difculty
of quantifying the available substrate in each case, the concen-
tration of which takes part in the calculation of the degradation
rate too.
On the other hand, the landll gas generation rates, as well
as the proportion of each gas in the released mixture, have to
coincide with the values observed in similar facilities (Barlaz
et al., 1990; Pohland, 1980; Tchobanoglous et al., 1993;
Young, 1995; Ehrig and Kruempelbeck, 2001). Finally, the ra-
tio BOD/COD in the leachate has to develop in time according
to the data reported by Stegmann and Ehrig (1989) for munic-
ipal solid waste landlls.
Fig. 5 compares the monthly average values resulting from
the calibrated Meruelo I model in MODUELO 2 (see the
parameter values in Table 3) with the available measured
data. The line bisecting the quadrant shown in this graph
represents the locus of the points where the simulation value
coincides with the measured data.
The approach to the released loads achieved by the
corrected model is more satisfactory than that obtained with
MODUELO 1 (Lobo et al., 2003): the deviations of the
values resulting from the simulation with MODUELO 2 are
less than half of the deviations obtained on that occasion.
The total COD and NH
4
-N simulated loads being emitted
with the leachate estimated by the rst version were 30%
and 38% higher than the loads calculated from the measured
values, respectively. Together with an overestimation of the
leachate ow due to the non-consideration of the runoff enter-
ing the leachate system in the hydrologic module, these re-
sults suggested a non-controlled migration of the leachate
to the surrounding terrains, but this could not be veried in
the eld.
In the simulation presented here the relative differences in
the global values are 14% for the COD (144,319 kg simu-
lated versus 168,611 kg measured) and 6% (2030 kg
simulated versus 2161 kg measured) for the NH
4
-N. The
monthly average COD points as well as the NH
4
-N points
group around the agreement axis. The average deviations are
14% and 9%, respectively, which can be neglected if the
way the measured data have been obtained (averaging point
concentration values) is taken into account. However, the
leachate ow values seem to be underestimated, as has been
discussed in the previous paragraph.
On the other hand, the simulated pollutant concentrations
are greater than the observed data. The COD average concen-
tration in the studied period is 34,500 mg L
1
, against the sim-
ulated 55,840 mg L
1
. The average relative deviation made in
the estimation of the monthly average is 61%, very close to the
difference between the measured and simulated leachate
volumes. This proves the hypothesis set out in view of the
hydrological results, of clean subterranean streams entering
the waste mass. The released pollutant loads are adequately
estimated, but they appear diluted in a stream greater than
that simulated.
3.3.2. Thirty-year simulation
The 30-year simulation results, compared with the emis-
sions registered by other authors in similar circumstances
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
"Measured" values
S
i
m
u
l
a
t
e
d

v
a
l
u
e
s
NH4-N (g/d/10)
COD (Kg/d)
Leachate flow (L/d/10)
Fig. 5. Comparison of the leachate ow, COD and NH
4

-N monthly average
values registered in Meruelo I during the measuring campaign in 1990 with
the values estimated with MODUELO.
Table 3
Calibration values for the biodegradation parameters in the Meruelo I model
with MODUELO 2
Parameter Calibration value
kh
rea
(d
1
) 0.0007
kh
slo
(d
1
) 0.0001
k
A
(d
1
) 0.005
k
AC
(d
1
) 0.005
kH
2
(d
1
) 50
f
dr
0.20
f
ah
0.65
68 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzon / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
(laboratory simulations or real municipal solid waste landlls),
allow us to contrast the models validity.
Fig. 6 shows the leachate pollutants concentration
throughout this period. The maximum concentrations
(131,000 mg L
1
COD, 37,000 mg L
1
BOD, 3300 mg L
1
NH
4
-N) are comparable with the highest values reported by
Pohland (1987), Tchobanoglous et al. (1993), Stegmann and
Ehrig (1989) and Ehrig and Kruempelbeck (2001), as expected
in a landll with such a height with respect to its horizontal
dimensions (the ratio rainfall volume/waste volume is smaller
than in an average facility). The ratio COD/BOD decreases
during the landlls life between 0.65 and values under 0.2,
as Stegmann and Ehrig (1989) reported.
The amount of total Khjedal nitrogen (TKN) has been
estimated as the sum of NH
4
-N and the non-biodegradable
organic nitrogen that appear in the leachate according to the
model. As can be seen in the graph, TKN and NH
4
-N experi-
ence a similar evolution in time in general, as does every
compound not undergoing signicant degradation after the
hydrolysis. The TKN/NH
4
-N ratio stays near 1.5 throughout
the entire period in this case, in the superior range of the
values reported by Ehrig and Kruempelbeck (2001) and
Stegmann and Ehrig (1989).
The curves in Fig. 7 can be compared with the gas emission
curves compiled by Tchobanoglous et al. (1993) based on data
reported by other authors. The maximum landll gas genera-
tion rates take place during the rst few years: in 1992
1,437,000 m
3
of gas are released (of which 47% is CH
4
,
45% CO
2
and 7% H
2
) which is equivalent to a net CO
2
plus
CH
4
release of 23 Lyear
1
per kilogram of dry waste, in the
middle of the rates interval of reference (Barlaz et al.,
1990; Pohland, 1980; Ehrig and Kruempelbeck, 2001).
The gas emission curves, as well as the proportion that each
gas represents in the mixture, coincide with the consulted lit-
erature. The methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen percent-
ages throughout the time curves in Fig. 7 follow the
tendencies of the curves of Tchobanoglous et al. (1993), taking
into account that the transition-to-anaerobic-condition phases
(usually extended along a short period of time since the waste
is placed in the landll) are not simulated by the program. The
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
D
e
c
-
8
8
D
e
c
-
8
9
D
e
c
-
9
0
D
e
c
-
9
1
D
e
c
-
9
2
D
e
c
-
9
3
D
e
c
-
9
4
D
e
c
-
9
5
D
e
c
-
9
6
D
e
c
-
9
7
D
e
c
-
9
8
D
e
c
-
9
9
D
e
c
-
0
0
D
e
c
-
0
1
D
e
c
-
0
2
D
e
c
-
0
3
D
e
c
-
0
4
D
e
c
-
0
5
D
e
c
-
0
6
D
e
c
-
0
7
D
e
c
-
0
8
D
e
c
-
0
9
D
e
c
-
1
0
D
e
c
-
1
1
D
e
c
-
1
2
D
e
c
-
1
3
D
e
c
-
1
4
D
e
c
-
1
5
D
e
c
-
1
6
D
e
c
-
1
7
DATE (month)
C
O
D
,

B
O
D

(
m
g
O
2
/
L
)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
N
i
t
r
o
g
e
n

(
m
g
N
/
L
)
,

l
e
a
c
h
a
t
e

(
m
3
/
m
o
n
t
h
)
BOD (mg/L)
COD (mg/L)
N-NH4 (mg/L)
TOTAL LEA (m3)
NTK (mg/L)
Fig. 6. Flow and pollutants concentration in the Meruelo I landll leachate during the 30-year simulation.
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
D
e
c
-
8
8
D
e
c
-
8
9
D
e
c
-
9
0
D
e
c
-
9
1
D
e
c
-
9
2
D
e
c
-
9
3
D
e
c
-
9
4
D
e
c
-
9
5
D
e
c
-
9
6
D
e
c
-
9
7
D
e
c
-
9
8
D
e
c
-
9
9
D
e
c
-
0
0
D
e
c
-
0
1
D
e
c
-
0
2
D
e
c
-
0
3
D
e
c
-
0
4
D
e
c
-
0
5
D
e
c
-
0
6
D
e
c
-
0
7
D
e
c
-
0
8
D
e
c
-
0
9
D
e
c
-
1
0
D
e
c
-
1
1
D
e
c
-
1
2
D
e
c
-
1
3
D
e
c
-
1
4
D
e
c
-
1
5
D
e
c
-
1
6
D
e
c
-
1
7
DATE (month)
R
e
l
e
a
s
e
d

g
a
s

v
o
l
u
m
e

(
m
3
/
m
o
n
t
h
)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
CH4 (m3) CO2 (m3)
H2 (m3) CH4(%)
CO2(%) H2(%)
Fig. 7. Methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen ows and proportion of the landll gas generated in Meruelo I during the 30-year simulation.
69 A. Lobo Garc a de Corta zar, I. Tejero Monzo n / Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 59e72
three of them develop as expected. CO
2
reaches a peak around
85%, later descending to values near 50%, where it remains
until the degradation ends. CH
4
gradually increases to around
50%, a percentage that remains in time as CO
2
. The H
2
ap-
pears in proportions under 20% (in this case it reaches 10%
as a maximum), according to the values reported in the litera-
ture (Young, 1995).
4. Conclusions
In this paper the second version of the landll dynamic
simulation program MODUELO is presented. This program
is being developed as a tool for the design, operation and
monitoring of the environmental protection measures (leachate
collection and treatment systems, landll gas collection and
harnessing nets) in municipal solid waste landlls.
Several aspects required improvement from the rst version
to adequately estimate the daily ow and organic pollution in
the leachate and the ow and composition of the landll gas
released. In this version the hydrological module of the
program has been corrected (maintaining the saturated ow
hypothesis) and a new biodegradation model has been incor-
porated. The applicability of both, described here, has been
proven in a real case of reference, the Meruelo I landll.
The estimation of the registered leachate ows in this land-
ll made by the calibrated hydrological model, which includes
the connection of a part of the surface runoff to the leachate net
and the changes in depth of the waste hydraulic conductivity in
the simulation, reproduces more adequately the data available
from March to October 1990 than its previous version and
HELP. Using the new hydrological model as a base, the new
biodegradation model obtains a better approximation to the
COD and NH
4
-N loads calculated from the analyzed leachate
samples than MODUELO 1, satisfactorily reproducing the
general landll emission tendencies in time observed by other
authors as well.
Analyzing the results of both models (the leachate ows
and composition) the existence of a signicant entry of subter-
ranean water in the Meruelo landll has been detected, giving
an example of the potential usefulness of this kind of model
for landll monitoring.
These results are encouraging for continuing the develop-
ment of the model. However, its application in other landll
facilities is essential to detect possible problems and identify
other needs. In any case the renements of the model that
need to be incorporated (gas movement and interaction with
the moisture ow, generation of other pollutants, etc.) should
be checked step by step (checking the earlier models rst
and then incorporating the new phenomena), as has been
done on this occasion.
The version of the model that has been described can con-
stitute an adequate base for the modeling of other phenomena
in landlls with low permeability intermediate layers, but for
a more general case the hydrologic model has to be improved,
taking into account the leachate ow in the non-saturated zone
and through preferential pathways.
Appendix
Symbols and parameters introduced in the description of (a) hydrologic model
and (b) biodegradation model
Symbol Description
(a) Hydrologic model
a
K
[M
1
L
2
] Parameter of variation of the hydraulic conductivity in depth
a Slope of the layer towards the drain
FD
ijk
[L
3
T
1
] Flow to the drain in cell ijk
g [ML
3
] Specic weight
H [L] Saturated depth
h [L] Piezometric head
h
ijk
[L] Height of the cell ijk
HF [L
3
T
1
] Horizontal ow
K [LT
1
] Hydraulic conductivity
L [L] Length
L
in
[L] Length of inuence of the drain
m Slope of the waste layer
n
e
Drainable porosity
u
SAT
Saturated moisture content
u Moisture content
u
FC
Field capacity moisture content
W [ML
2
] Overburden stress
(b) Biodegradation model
f
bio
Biodegradable fraction of the considered component
f
ac
Fraction of the waste that is accessible to microorganisms
f
dr
Dragging factor: fraction of the non-biodegradable
material that is dissolved in the hydrolysis process
kh
rea
[T
1
] Rate of ready hydrolysis
kh
slo
[T
1
] Rate of slow hydrolysis
FM Factor of inuence of the moisture content in the hydrolysis
t
act,rea
[T] Activation time of the ready hydrolysis
t
act,slo
[T] Activation time of the slow hydrolysis
t
act,met
[T] Activation time of the methanization
f
AC
Fraction of the waste carbon that forms acetate
in the hydrolysis
f
CHO
Fraction of the waste carbon that forms intermediate
compounds in the hydrolysis
k
A
[T
1
] Rate of acetogenesis
f
0
AC
Fraction of the intermediate compounds carbon that forms
acetate in the acetogenesis
k
AC
[T
1
] Rate of acetoclastic methanogenesis
kH
2
[T
1
] Rate of hydrogenophilic methanogenesis
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