Estimation of primary and secondary waste field capacity in an arid and semi-arid region: a case study of Aradkouh, Tehran

In this study, a developed model is established to estimate the landfill leachate quantity in arid and semi-arid regions. Based on a similar model that has been developed in Germany, a new model is proposed with regards to the weather conditions and waste characteristics in Iran. The calculated values were compared with real data that is obtained by the construction of two anaerobic test cells (32 x 50 m(2)) in Aradkouh landfill (longitude = 51(degrees)20 ' , latitude = 35(degrees)27 ' degrees). In the northern cell, there was no leachate recirculation, whereas, in the southern cell, 430 m(3) leachate was injected that lead to 16 m3 leachate production due to recirculation. The results show that although both cells have the same area and waste characteristics, the waste field capacity of each cell differed, due to the secondary waste field capacity which emerges thanks to recirculation, and was calculated at 32.5% and 45% in southern and northern cells, respectively.