Aerobic and anaerobic waste management systems and methods for landfills
AssigneeCasella Waste Systems, Inc.
InventorJohn Schwalbe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention provides systems and methods for creating, managing and staging aerobic and/or anaerobic landfills. The invention provides systems and methods for collecting liquids from and recirculating liquids into landfills and systems and methods for collecting gases from and introducing gases into landfills. The invention also provides a novel conduit for conveying liquids and gases which comprises a first pipe coaxially disposed within a second pipe.
Claims23
A landfill comprising:
- (i) waste;
- (ii) a plurality of interconnected flux units distributed in a relatively horizontal matrix and/or a relatively vertical matrix;
- wherein each flux unit comprises at least two pipes, each of which comprise perforations;
- wherein each pipe is surrounded by a filler material;
- wherein each flux unit is located at least 10 feet away from an adjacent flux unit in the relatively horizontal and/or relatively vertical direction;
- and
- (iii) a plurality of non-perforated pipes connected to the perforated pipes in the flux units;
- wherein the plurality of non-perforated pipes connect at least a first flux unit and a second flux unit in the relatively horizontal and/or relatively vertical matrix, and relatively vertical pipes extending from the flux units are capable of removing liquids from the landfill.
A waste management system for a landfill comprising a relatively vertical pipe that extends at least 2 feet above the top of the landfill and that passes through at least:
- (a) a first layer of waste;
- (b) a first area located beneath the first layer of waste;
- wherein the first area comprises at least one filler material;
- (c) a second layer of waste beneath the first area;
- and
- (d) a second area beneath the second layer of waste;
- wherein the second area comprises at least one filler material;
- wherein the relatively vertical pipe extends to the second area;
- and wherein the relatively vertical pipe comprises an inner tube for adding liquids to or removing liquids from the landfill, and an outer tube for adding gases to or removing gases from the landfill and substantially concentric with respect to the inner tube, the outer tube comprising perforations in the first area and the second area.
A waste management system for a landfill comprising:
- (a) a first layer of waste;
- (b) a flux unit positioned in a second layer of waste, the flux unit comprising at least two relatively horizontal pipes, and at least two relatively vertical pipes capable of removing liquid from the landfill;
- wherein one or more portions of the relatively horizontal pipe and one or more portions of the relatively vertical pipe is surrounded by a filler material that has a higher permeability than the waste;
- and wherein the one or more portions of the relatively horizontal pipe and the one or more portions of the relatively vertical pipe comprise perforations when surrounded by the filler material;
- (c) a third layer of waste;
- (d) wherein the at least one relatively horizontal pipe extends near the edge of the landfill and is connected to a first pipe that exits at the side of the landfill.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.