Studies on Settlement Pattern, Gas Production and Rate of Degradation of Putrescible Via Primary Leachate Generation in Tropical Climate of Nigeria

The study on settlement pattern, gas production and rate of degradation of putrescibles was investigated in this study from a prototype landfill in Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi-Nigeria using proposed water balance model. Fresh putrescible were collected from the university community to fill the single celled prototype landfill and allowed to degrade under natural condition for 50 days. Principal leachate and gas generation were recorded in-situ while other parameters were obtained from the waste settlement. Moisture content and pH variation were observed in a typical cell/bed (depth 60cm) during phase I and phases II of the experiment. A uniform settlement was recorded as a drop in height of the substrate column and maximum settlement was attained after 40 days. Field capacity decreases with waste volume and time. TOC and Gcell values of 2.5 and 2.7 respectively were established insitu for determination of the time rate of degradation. The time rate of degradation of putrescibles from the study is described as first order polynomial function (R² = 0.9866) with respect to FC but expressed as an exponential function in terms of height and wet weight of substrate ( R² = 0.9505 and R² = 0.9943 respectively).