Use of gas flux measurements to infer well capture effectiveness

Abstract

High variability in gas flux were measured at a crudely covered landfill in New Zealand conditions with measurements varying from <0.005 to 1.5 g CH₄/m²-min. Although too few conditions were sampled to accurately estimate the areally averaged flux, it appears to be around 0.02 g CH₄/m²-min. without pumping. At a distance of 38 m from a gas well, the pumping of the gas well led to an average 65% reduction in emissions over three controlled test. The use of surface emissions tests via flux chambers shows potential to assess the effectiveness of gas pumping systems.