Abstract
In the current study, a pilot biowindow was constructed in a closed cell of a Canadian Landfill, undergoing high seasonal fluctuations in the temperature from −30 in winter to 35 in summer. The biowindow was filled with biosolids compost amended with yard waste and leaf compost with the ratio of 4:1 as the substrate layer. Two years of monitoring of methane (CH4) oxidation in the biowindow led to remarkable expected observations including a thick, solid winter frost cover affecting gas exchange in winter and temperatures above 45 ℃ in the biowindow in late summer. A high influx compared to the reported values was observed into the biowindow with an average value of 1137 g.m−2.d−1, consisting of 64% of CH4 and 36% of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the landfill gas. The variations in the temperature and moisture content (MC) of the compost layer in addition to the influx fluctuations affected CH4 oxidation efficiency; however, a high average CH4 oxidation rate of 237 g.m−2.d−1 was obtained, with CH4 being mostly oxidized at top layers. The laboratory batch experiments verified that thermophilic methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) were active throughout the study period and oxidized CH4 with a higher rate than mesophilic MOB. The methanotrophic potential of the compost mixture showed an average value of 282 µmol.g−1.d−1 in the entire period of the study which is in the range of the highest reported maximum CH4 oxidation rates. The adopted compost mixture was suitable for CH4 oxidation if the MC was above 30%. The significance of MC variations on CH4 oxidation rate depended on the temperature range within the biowindow. At temperatures below 2 ℃, between 29 and 31℃, and above 45 ℃, MC was not a controlling factor for mesophilic CH4 oxidation.
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The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Province of Manitoba under the Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention (WRAPP), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC – CRDPJ/508792-17) and KGS Group.
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Parvin Berenjkar: conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, experimental operation, writing—original draft. Richard Sparling: supervision, methodology, writing—review and editing. Stan Lozecznik: conceptualization, funding acquisition, writing—review and editing. Qiuyan Yuan: supervision; methodology; writing, review and editing; resources.
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Highlights
• Seasonal fluctuations cause frost formation and temperature variation in biowindow.
• There is a temperature-related transition from mesophilic to thermophilic cultures.
• The moisture content significance on CH4 oxidation depends on temperature range.
• At moisture contents below 30%, mesophilic and thermophilic MOB activity drop.
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Berenjkar, P., Sparling, R., Lozecznik, S. et al. Methane oxidation in a landfill biowindow under wide seasonally fluctuating climatic conditions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 24623–24638 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17566-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17566-4