Methane eruptions from landfill final cover soil during rainfall events in laboratory experiments

Landfill sites are significant sources of greenhouse gases, particularly methane. It is believed that methane gas eruptions occur under a surface ponding condition during rainfall events. In this study, based on laboratory column experiments in which mixed gas was applied to variably compacted soil columns (10 cm in diameter and 30.5 cm in height) under different rainfall intensities, the effects of the bulk density of the landfill cover soil, the gas injection rates, and the rainfall intensities on the gas eruption phenomenon were investigated. The gas pressure and the water content were monitored during rainfall events. The main results were that (1) an episodic gas compression and eruption cycle was observed under a surface ponding condition, (2) gas eruptions occurred at a higher gas pressure in the soil with a higher dry bulk density, and (3) a higher gas injection rate resulted in continuous gas eruptions. The monitoring of the gas eruption flux and gas concentration in the soil columns, using oxygen-mixed gas as an injected gas, showed that longer gas compression led to higher gas fluxes during the gas eruptions. The concentration of gas in the soil increased over time because of the upward gas flow in accordance with the eruptions. The calculation of the oxygen mass balance indicated that the eruptions had slightly promoted the emission of gas from that which had been stored in the soil prior to the rainfall events.