Impact of Volatile Organic Compounds in Large Garbage Landfills on Regional Environment

Abstract

Landfill disposal is a major approach of disposing domestic waste in China. In order to explore the impact of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) generated by landfill waste on the air quality of regional environment, Jiangcungou landfill in Xi'an and its surrounding area were taken as a research object to analyze the spatial distribution and seasonal variation patterns of NMHC and VOCs components on the working plane and surrounding areas through seasonal sampling of regional NMHC concentration and VOCs concentration (116 species). CALPUFF model was used to analyze the regional diffusion characteristics of NMHC on landfills. In addition, PEC and MIR methods were used to estimate O3 formation potential of the landfill, while FAC and SOAP methods were used to estimate SOA formation potential of the landfill. It was indicated by the results that, the component with the highest concentration of VOCs on the working plane of landfill was p+m-xylene (41.01μg/m3). The component with the highest concentration of VOCs on the surrounding area of the landfill was halohydrocarbon (111.20μg/m3~156.33μg/m3). The component with the greatest impact on the surrounding air was acetone, which accounts for 75%～87% of the corresponding substance concentration on the landfill. In summer, the surrounding area was affected most by NMHC from landfills, whose emissions contribute 9.5mg/m3 to the surrounding area. P+M-Xylene was the component making the largest contribution to O3 formation (8.26%～23.96%). Ethylbenzene was the component making the largest contribution to SOA formation (20%～24%).

Keywords: Landfill, air pollution, Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Pollution characterization, Formation potentials