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18-Env-A6 Solid Waste Engineering and Management · May 2013

Question 12 of 17: Naming Lists

Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)

Notes on this paper

National Examination, May 2013 — 04-Env-A6 / 18-Env-A6, Solid Waste Engineering and Management. 3 hours duration, closed book, one letter-sized aid sheet permitted. All 17 questions constitute a complete paper (100 marks total).

Reference texts: Tchobanoglous, Theisen & Vigil, Integrated Solid Waste Management: Engineering Principles and Management Issues; Vesilind, Worrell & Reinhart, Solid Waste Engineering; Davis & Cornwell, Introduction to Environmental Engineering (6th ed.); CCME, Guidance Document on Landfill Gas Management.

Check: several questions on this paper (Q1, Q13, Q14, Q17) supply an incomplete data set and explicitly invite the candidate to "make and state" assumptions. Every assumed value below is called out where it is introduced and is chosen from standard solid-waste-engineering practice; the governing METHOD, not the specific assumed number, is what the exam is testing.

Question 12: Naming Lists (27 marks)

Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.

12.1 Solid waste conversion processes (4): combustion/mass-burn incineration; pyrolysis; gasification; anaerobic digestion (biological conversion).

12.2 Factors in collection-system design (3): collection route layout and frequency; vehicle type, size and crew configuration; storage/container type and set-out location at the generator.

12.3 Criteria in composting-operation design (3): carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio of the feedstock blend; moisture content (target ~50–60%); aeration/turning frequency (oxygen supply and temperature control).

12.4 Basic considerations in landfill design (4): site geology and hydrogeology (natural attenuation, groundwater separation); liner and leachate collection system; landfill gas collection and control system; final cover and closure/post-closure plan.

12.5 Problems from landfilling MSW (4): leachate generation and groundwater contamination risk; landfill gas generation (explosion hazard, GHG emissions); long-term settlement (differential settlement damaging cover/cap integrity); siting difficulty and community opposition.

12.6 Factors in leachate control (3): composite liner system (limits downward migration); final/interim cover and surface-water diversion (limits infiltration reaching the waste); leachate collection and removal system (active pumping/drainage layer above the liner).

12.7 Leachate treatment processes (3): biological treatment (aerated lagoon/SBR); co-treatment at a municipal WWTP; membrane treatment (reverse osmosis).

12.8 Variables governing landfill gas production (3): moisture content of the refuse; waste composition (biodegradable organic fraction); temperature within the landfill.