Analysis of the bio-oxidative methods and Assessment of the feasibility study of an emissions treatment plant which takes place in Piedmont

The thesis concerns the study of the biogas emissions from a landfill site located in Piedmont. The origin of the waste mass is mainly attributable to paper and cardboard which degradation leads to the biogas production. Landfills are among the main sources of greenhouse gases release into the atmosphere. The biogas is mainly composed of methane and carbon dioxide, both climate-altering gases. This thesis focus on the analysis of the best technologies aimed to the treatment of the landfill gas emissions with respect to the site under investigation. The biogas emissions referred to the Piedmont site own low values in terms of methane flow as the maximum value sets at 0.033 Nl (CH_4)⁄(m^2 h). In this scenario, one of the suitable methods to be implemented for such a kind of operation appears to be the bio-oxidation in situ. This technique consists in conveying the biogas flow through a filter media which is usually made up of compost and bark. From a bibliographic search, four different bio-oxidation methodologies can be identified which refer to biotarp, biocovers, biowindows and biofilters. In this regard, by comparing these technologies, biofilter and biowindows are the only suitable techniques that can be implemented to the site under investigation. Furthermore, by searching both case studies and field applications, two different biowindows pattern are detected. They focus on the Danish and the Italian template, respectively. Thus, three different treatment plants are outlined in order to evaluate the best biofiltration technique by performing a practical feasibility study. The greatest difference between biofilter and biowindows consists in the project design. On one hand, biofilter is signified by an active biofiltration system where the biogas flow needs to be conveyed towards the filter media. On the other hand, as the biowindows are placed over the soil surface, they naturally exploit the upwards gas movement coming from the waste mass. The feasibility study leads to examine the different plant design in terms of realization procedure, performances and costs. In this regard, because of the lower implementation costs and the highest performance in the methane reduction (efficiency up to 88 %), the Italian biowindow results to be the best bio-oxidative technology to be realized for the site under investigation.