Pilot-Scale Modelling of Aerated Lagoon Technology for the Treatment of Landfill Leachate: Case Study Hrybovychi Plant

Results of experimental pilot-scale study of aerobic pre-treatment of the leachate of the Hrybovychi municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill (Ukraine) in batch reactor mode and in semi-continuous mode are presented. The dependencies of key pollution indicators, namely biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, pH, suspended solids, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), during a 30-day periodical aeration process were obtained. The first 15 days treatment was in the batch reactor mode treating an initial volume of raw leachate. The second 15 days treatment was in a semi-continuous reactor mode: 400 L of aerobically pre-treated leachate were pumped to the next treatment stage and consequently the same volume of raw leachate was added in the bioreactor tank. Aerobic biological treatment of Hrybovychi landfill leachate using the developed method achieved significant treatment effects, namely 55.3% of the total Kjeldahl nitrogen, 27% of COD, 70.2% of BOD5 and 66.5% of BODtot. Time dependences of TKN, COD, BOD5, and BODtot are well fitted by simple exponential trends, which correspond to first-order reactions. Landfill leachate, aerobically pre-treated in the pilot-scale treatment unit, can be discharged for final treatment to the bio-plateau or to the wastewater treatment plant.