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Probabilistic Slope Stability Analysis of Bioreactor Landfills

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Earth Retaining Structures and Stability Analysis (IGC 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering ((LNCE,volume 303))

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Abstract

Improper disposal management coupled with colossal waste that is being generated needs an alternative method for its disposal. The “bioreactor landfill” is the adopted technology in one such alternative method where landfills are designed primarily to enhance the waste decomposition, gas production, and waste stabilization. In bioreactor landfill operation, leachate or waste water is recirculated in order to maintain the optimum moisture content throughout the waste mass to escalate waste degradation. This accelerated decomposition leads to change in the geomechanical properties of the waste and motivates lot of researchers to study its stability. In the present study, a typical bioreactor landfill having 1:3 side slope has been re-analyzed using two limit equilibrium methods of slices, namely the Bishop’s simplified method and the Spencer’s method to evaluate the factor of safety. Keeping in view the various uncertainties associated with the geotechnical parameters, in the study, the first-order reliability method (FORM) has been made use of as a reliability model to perform the probability-based stability analysis of the bioreactor landfill. It is observed that the safety factor computed at the initial stage keep decreasing as the waste passes from one phase to another phase of decomposition and, therefore, poses serious instability challenges in the future. The results of reliability analysis show that reliability index associated with the FS decreases with temporal decomposition. A sensitivity analysis carried out to identify the dominant random variables has revealed that the relative standing of some random variables over others changes with the stage of decomposition of the waste.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, India

    Ankit Goel & Subhadeep Metya

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, IIEST, Shibpur, India

    Gautam Bhattacharya

Authors
  1. Ankit Goel
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  2. Subhadeep Metya
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  3. Gautam Bhattacharya
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Correspondence to Subhadeep Metya .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India

    Kasinathan Muthukkumaran

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Sangareddy, Telangana, India

    Balunaini Umashankar

  3. AECOM India Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India

    N. Kumar Pitchumani

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Goel, A., Metya, S., Bhattacharya, G. (2023). Probabilistic Slope Stability Analysis of Bioreactor Landfills. In: Muthukkumaran, K., Umashankar, B., Pitchumani, N.K. (eds) Earth Retaining Structures and Stability Analysis. IGC 2021. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 303. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7245-4_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7245-4_19

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-19-7244-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-7245-4

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