Environmental Monitoring in Landfill

The impact of landfills on the local population convinced Pollution S.r.l. (Italy) to develop an analytical system for environmental pollution. Currently, surveys for environmental analysis are carried out discontinuously, air samples are taken at regular time intervals and canisters are analysed in the laboratory: the absence of continuous monitoring and the delayed response does not allow real time action and tracking of the pollutants.

To better identify substances released from landfill, a preventive screening was performed using a portable Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) system. The HAPSITE GC-MS system provides insights on the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in environmental hazardous waste treatment and industrial hygiene. On-site critical information can be achieved in a fast and reliable way.

The process of continuous monitoring was then performed using a portable micro gas-chromatographer "Vega-CG" and a multipoint sampler "Vega-MPS" produced and distributed by Pollution S.r.l..

Vega MPS has the function to send in sequence to the VEGA-GC the samples “sucked” at different points inside or on the neighbourhood of the landfill. This system consists in a network of pipes of inert material (PTFE) and the intake air is continuously pumped in each line to ensure fresh and not diluted samples. Between sampler and analyser a concentrator EDU-3 from Airsense Analytics (Germany) has been placed to increase the sensitivity of the monitoring system. Also the concentrator is directly controlled by the Vega-GC.

Using the MC-Plan Software integrated in the computer of the Vega-GC, it is possible to record the chemical composition of the sampling point at a specific sampling time and to compare the concentration of each component with the TLV level (the threshold limit value). If the threshold level is exceeded on one or several points, an alert message is sent by email or to the mobile phone of the operator of the landfill. It is also possible to connect to the Vega-GC through a remote PC to graphically display the concentration trend during the last hour in order to perform a deep analysis.