Laboratory test to study waste moisture from resistivity
Résumé
To improve confidence in the use of electrical resistivity measurements to study the leachate distribution in a landfill managed as a bioreactor, a series of laboratory tests has been performed. The tests investigated the effects of waste density, volumetric water content and waste composition on the electrical resistivity. Three waste samples with different electrical resistivities as measured in the field were collected from a landfill site. Laboratory tests were performed in 0.2 m3test cell with a number of resistivity probes in horizontal and vertical arrays to observe variations in resistivity within the waste mass. Increasing waste compaction was associated with a decrease of resistivity heterogeneity, but laboratory resistivities were higher than those observed in the field. Anisotropy is apparent in laboratory test, with a ratio of vertical to horizontal resistivity of about 1.5. Resistivity differences recorded in the landfill are explained by waste biodegradation and leachate resistivity for the test conditions considered, rather than by variations in the gravimetric water content of the waste.