Project VAPORE: The long life of a landfill
The "VA.PO.RE.", an acronym for "Evaluation of Residual Potential," project aims to quantify the residual biogas (CO2+CH4) production capacity of waste that has undergone mechanical-biological stabilization processes (Stabilized Organic Fraction – FOS) and of waste that has been permanently disposed of in landfills. For the latter, the objective is to assess the residual potential in qualitative and quantitative terms based on the age of disposal, while for the FOS, the research focuses on defining the degree of actual stabilization achieved.
To achieve the project goals, CNR-IGG, in collaboration with the DIEF of Florence and TerreLogiche Srl, co-financed by the company Belvedere Spa, has planned a series of standard biogas production tests (BMP, GB21), chemical (CH4, CO2, N2, O2, Ar, H2, H2S) and isotopic (d13CCO2, d13CCO4) analyses of the gases produced by the tests (at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 91 days) as well as elemental analyses of the solid matrix (C, N, H, O) and mathematical modelling of long-term production, calibrated on the data emerging from the tests conducted in the laboratory.
The project will allow us to define the biogas production exhaustion timescales of a waste disposal plant, while also providing information on the expected evolution in terms of both quantity and composition. Through the use of isotopic techniques, it will also allow us to define the different phases of the fermentation processes responsible for biogas production.