Mathematical modeling and numerical simulation of a bioreactor landfill using Feel

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Dollé, Guillaume, Duran, Omar, Nelson Feyeux, Frénod, Emmanuel, Giacomini, Matteo, Prud'homme, Christophe
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 19.11.2016
• Subjects: Advection; Advection-diffusion equation; Biodegradability; Biodegradable materials; Bioreactors; Carbon dioxide; Chemical reactions; Computer simulation; Landfill; Landfill gas; Mathematical models; Mathematics - Numerical Analysis; Methane; Organic carbon; Organic chemistry; Partial differential equations; Thermodynamics; Waste management
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1601.05556

In this paper, we propose a mathematical model to describe the functioning of a bioreactor landfill, that is a waste management facility in which biodegradable waste is used to generate methane. The simulation of a bioreactor landfill is a very complex multiphysics problem in which bacteria catalyze a chemical reaction that starting from organic carbon leads to the production of methane, carbon dioxide and water. The resulting model features a heat equation coupled with a non-linear reaction equation describing the chemical phenomena under analysis and several advection and advection-diffusion equations modeling multiphase flows inside a porous environment representing the biodegradable waste. A framework for the approximation of the model is implemented using Feel++, a C++ open-source library to solve Partial Differential Equations. Some heuristic considerations on the quantitative values of the parameters in the model are discussed and preliminary numerical simulations are presented.