ASSESSMENT OF LANDFILL GAS (LFG) ENERGY POTENTIAL BASED ON ESTIMATES OF LFG MODELS

Methane emission from landfilling of waste is one of the most prevalent gas contributing to the greenhouse effect. Current waste management strategies, aim to reduce methane emissions from landfills, promote energy recovery from landfill gas (LFG) that is recognized as a renewable energy resource, due to its higher calorific value. First and the most crucial stage in the planning and design of LFG collection and energy recovery systems is to quantify LFG generation. It’s because, the quantity of LFG and its methane content determine both the applicable method for the control and use of LFG and the feasibility of energy recovery. LFG models are developed for the projection of LFG generation over time from a mass of landfilled waste. During planning and projection phase of a landfill, the amount of gas that will be generated and recovered at the site can be estimated – based on projected amounts of waste – by only using these models. Due to complex nature of LFG formation, several models have been developed to model and estimate LFG generation with different approaches for regions in different climates. In a LFG energy recovery project, selection of the appropriate modeling approach and its model parameters for the estimation of LFG generation is the most crucial step. With considering this requirement, this study aims to estimate the amount of LFG and its technical energy potential from the case study landfill site (i.e. Harmandalı Landfill Site in İzmir Metropolitan City). According to the computations carried out by Multi-phase model, it was determined that the remaining amount of LFG at the site was nearly 50% of total energy potential. Besides, maximum energy potential from LFG generated at the site was estimated as 9.6 MW. This study indicates that LFG models can be utilized as effective tools in energy recovery projects.