Sorption of organic compounds to solid waste

Abstract

The emissions of organic compounds from landfills are dependent on several different processes occurring inside the landfills. One important process is the sorption of organic compounds onto the waste. In this study the processes of sorption of organic compounds to fresh and degraded waste samples were investigated at concentrations previously determined in actual landfill leachates. The results showed that the time required to reach equilibrium varied from hours to days depending on the hydrophobicities of the compounds. The sorption could generally be described as linear, but indications of non-linearity were found. The logarithm of the linear sorption partitioning coefficient, Kp, was linearly correlated with the logarithm of the partition coefficient between octanol and water, K_ow. No correlation was found between Kp and the amount of organic carbon nor the hydrophobicity of the waste. It was concluded that the sorption capacity of the waste varies locally inside landfills.