Title

Field evaluation of resistivity sensors for in situ moisture measurement in a bioreactor landfill

Authors

Authors

D. Kumar; S. Jonnalagadda; P. Jain; N. A. Gawande; T. G. Townsend;D. R. Reinhart

Abbreviated Journal Title

Waste Manage.

Keywords

MEASURING WATER; WASTE; Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences

Abstract

The ability of resistance-based sensors to measure in situ waste moisture content in a landfill was examined. One hundred and thirty-five resistance-based sensors were installed in a leachate recirculation well field at a bioreactor landfill in Florida, US. The performance of these sensors was studied for a period of over 6 years. The sensors were found to respond to an increase in moisture resulting from leachate recirculation. It was observed that 78% of sensors worked successfully in the field during the study period. The initial spatial average moisture content determined by the sensor readings (using a laboratory-derived calibration) was 42.8% compared to 23% from gravirnetric readings. Eighteen sensors (13%) showed that they were saturated before liquid addition, and no change in moisture content was observed in these sensors during the study period. Laboratory-derived calibration methods resulted in an over-estimation of moisture content. An alternate field-calibration method, where wetted sensor output was assumed equal to the average of gravimetric measurements for wet samples, was evaluated. The final spatial average Moisture contents were 64.2% and 44.4% for the laboratory-derived and field-derived calibration methodologies, respectively, compared to 45% measured gravimetrically from excavated waste samples. When moisture content was determined using a mass balance approach, the result was 34.6%. The results suggest that when appropriately calibrated, resistivity-based sensors can be used to obtain a reasonably accurate estimate of local moisture content. However, caution should be taken to extend the moisture content values that are representative of waste surrounding the sensors to estimate the overall moisture content on the landfill-wide scale. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Journal Title

Waste Management

Volume

29

Issue/Number

5

Publication Date

1-1-2009

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

1547

Last Page

1557

WOS Identifier

WOS:000264977200014

ISSN

0956-053X

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