A study of water balance components of sanitary landfill in a tropical region | |
| Author | Shrestha, Hira Das |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. WM-00-14 |
| Subject(s) | Water balance (Hydrology) Water balance (Hydrology) |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The main environmental problem of sanitary landfills is the potential risk of ground water pollution leaching from landfill due to rainfall. The generation of leachate depends on the water balance components and parameters in landfill cover layer. Water balance components such as runoff and evaporation were reviewed for soils cover layer in landfill in tropical country with theoretical sensitive analysis and field experiment. The different infiltration methods were used to estimate runoff for a given rainfall events. It was observed that the Green Ampt method overestimates the runoff value whereas the SCS curve method underestimates. One model that is used for estimation of water balance components is HELP. Similarly seven different methods were used for estimation of potential evapotranspiration and were compared with modified Penman method used in the HELP model to check the reliability of the HELP model. The modified Penman method is highly correlated with the combination method and less correlated with temperature method. The field experiment was carried out with two lysimeters with different value hydraulic conductivity and simulated rainfall in AIT. The runoff is major output of the rainfall in water balance component. The soil texture with hydraulic conductivity of 10-6 cm/s would be good enough, as no crack was developed during dried up though it gave less amount of percolation. HELP model is very sensitive to certain input parameters such as hydraulic conductivity, runoff curve number and evaporation zone depth with the result from critical review of HELP model. HELP model did not give reliable result by using the default value. HELP model underestimate the runoff since it uses the SCS curve number method. The HELP model can be used for only the initial phase study, alternative design and on long term basis. |
| Year | 2001 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology (SET) |
| Department | Department of Civil and Infrastucture Engineering (DCIE) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Water Engineering and Management (WM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Trankler, Josef |
| Examination Committee(s) | Gupta, Ashim Das ;Visvanathan, Chettiyappan ;Sutat Weesakul |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2001 |