SWANA Chapter Conference 2008 West Edmonton Landfill Leachate Treatment Plant

1. SWANA Chapter Conference 2008 West Edmonton Landfill Leachate Treatment Plant By Steve Johnson M.Eng, P.Eng

2. Introduction • Leachate Management Options • West Edmonton Leachate treatment process • Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status • Lessons learned

3. Leachate Management Options • Do nothing • Dispose to municipal wastewater treatment plant • Dispose to deepwell • recirculate • Onsite treatment • Mechanical plant • Evaporator • wetlands

4. Leachate treatment process • Phases of leachate management since 1974 • Do nothing • dust control • Recirculation/offsite deep well disposal • Develop leachate treatment plant

5. Leachate treatment process In 2006 evaluate leachate treatment options • Consultants • Leachate quantity estimate • Technology evaluation • Disposal options • Haul to deepwell – unreliable • Recirculation no longer approved by AENV • City of Edmonton sewer bylaw • To reduce liability best to treat on-site

6. Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status • New Logic Research Inc. http://www.vsep.com/ • Vibratory Sheer Enhanced Processing technology • Leachate pilot plant test conducted in US • Pilot test basis • 5 day trial • Several membranes investigated for pressures, short term line out, concentration, cleaning

7. Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status

8. Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status

9. Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status

10. Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status • Plant set up during fall of 2007 • 4 Feed tanks • 3 mix tanks • 2 concentrate tanks • 2 permeate tanks • Hot water tank • VSEP skid • Pumps, valves, hoses • Treatment R&D trials for approximately 6 months • Leachate mixes as quality varies throughout landfill • Single pass and percent recovery modes • pH, anti-scaling, and process temperature

11. Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status • Quality targets • Permeate - City of Edmonton sanitary sewer bylaw • Permeate - Agriculture irrigation guideline • Concentrate - Non-haz waste – AB User’s Guide • Operational finding with current leachate mix • Single pass mode • 4 to 4.5 m3/hr depending on cleaning frequency • Permeate to concentrate ratio of 80:20

12. Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status • Operational finding with current leachate mix (cont.) • Percent recovery mode • Membrane efficiency decreases at a faster rate then single pass • Concentrate quality worse then single pass Current Operation • Six hours per day five days per week • Two hours per day for cleaning

13. Treatment Plant Commissioning/Status • Future developments • R&D to trial temperature adjustment (heat exchanger), pH adjustment, and anti-scaling to determine affect on membrane performance • Plan to add another shift in route to automate plant for 24 hr/d operation • To include additional feed, blend, and concentrate tanks • Treatment target of 6 to 7 m3/hr

14. Lessons learned • New computer hard drives can crash (have a back-up) • There is always one or more parameters where mass balance doesn’t apply to the laboratory results between feed, concentrate and permeate • New Logic Research has good customer service and documentation (process binders, operations binders) • Plant design to include upgraded breaker and checkvalve in cleaning loop • Laboratory response time is inadequate for R&D • Limited odour experienced • R&D takes much longer than anticipated

15. Questions