Residual Methane Generation Capacity of Waste Residue in a Landfill Bioreactor: Case Study of Calgary Biocell

With the aim of evaluating the environmental economic value of Biocell technology, in this paper, excavated waste residue (EWR) from the Calgary Biocell was characterized for the first time. The objective was to find the carbon offset of the Calgary Biocell project through biochemical methane potential (BMP) assay. The EWR samples were collected from different locations within the Calgary Biocell, and the physical and chemical characteristics of the individual EWR samples were evaluated following the standard methods. The BMP assays were conducted using the modified solid-phase method that represent condition of landfills more accurately. A composite sample which was a mixture of all EWR samples was prepared to represent the entire Biocell condition. Laboratory batch experiments were conducted using the biodegradable fraction of EWR to evaluate the methane (CH4) generation potential (Lo) and the first-order rate coefficient (k) values of Calgary Biocell. Based on the BMP assays, it was shown that the excavated waste from the Calgary Biocell has gone through more degradation (i.e., with a production of 16.81 ± 2.9 mL CH4/g TS) compared with the other studies on excavated waste, emphasizing effectiveness of Biocell technology in terms of waste degradation.