Laserfiche WebLink
Corral Hollow LFG System Audit and Upgrade Report ' <br /> During our October field investigation, these newly installed wells were operating under vacuum <br /> conditions. Results of testing at perimeter migration monitoring wells (GW-1 through GW-9, all t <br /> probes), including those in the northern site perimeter near VOC-affected groundwater <br /> monitoring wells MW-5 and MW-8, showed no evidence of methane or elevated levels of carbon <br /> dioxide in soils outside the fill. Based on these findings we conclude that the recent measures <br /> implemented by The County have shown to be effective for LFG control at the Site. <br /> Effectiveness of Existing System ' <br /> The following summary takes into consideration SCS's review of GCCS performance and <br /> monitoring data provided by the County, and the findings from the Operations Review. In ' <br /> general, the Operations Review showed that with minor exceptions, the existing gas collection <br /> system components (i.e., extraction wells, collection system piping, condensate management <br /> system)appear to be in generally good operating condition with no apparent issues. <br /> Continued Vacuum and Flow Rate Adjustments. Theoretically, efficient LFG control <br /> is maintained by extracting the gas at a rate that is at or slightly greater than the rate being ' <br /> generated within the landfill. If the extraction rate is less that the generation rate, the excess <br /> uncollected gas may become a source for compliance issues (i.e., subsurface migration, VOCs in <br /> soils, odors, surface emissions, etc.). If the extraction rate is greater than the generation rate, ' <br /> then this may result in air intrusion into the individual well casings or the waste mass, or <br /> operational problems with combustion equipment. <br /> At landfill sites, the LFG generation rate generally peaks one year after waste deliveries cease, , <br /> and slowly declines with time. Based on operating data in early 2013 and the latest round of <br /> monitoring (October 2013), several individual extraction wells are being operated in an overpull <br /> condition, in which gas is be extracted at a rate faster than it is being generated. This finding is ' <br /> based upon the fact that methane levels at each extraction well are much less than 50% by <br /> volume. This is also supported by SCS's October 2013 site visit findings that methane quality to <br /> flare is approximately 20% by volume. We recognize that lower overall gas quality is the ' <br /> unavoidable result of County efforts to control impact to groundwater by extracting as much gas <br /> from the system as possible, particularly in the north and northeast portion of the site where <br /> impact to groundwater is indicated. LFG extraction wells in this area (EW-40 through -51) ' <br /> generally show lower methane content which is to be expected given the operational objective <br /> for those wells and their location at the periphery of refuse fill. <br /> Based on operating data for 2011 through 2013, the overall gas capture rate for the Site has ' <br /> averaged approximately 26 scfm methane. However, during our field investigation the collection <br /> rate of methane was 20 scfm (or 1.2 million BTU/hr), slightly above the minimum rated heat ' <br /> capacity of the flare (1 million BTU/hr). Operating under these conditions can be challenging; <br /> however, during 2012,the GCCS "up-time"was 96.4%(San Joaquin County, 2013). <br /> In the interim it appears that some operational vacuum and flow rate adjustments can be made to <br /> optimize gas capture and overall GCCS performance. This can be accomplished by continued <br /> "fine-tuning" adjustments according to the County adjustment protocol - throttling individual ' <br /> 10 December 201 3 <br />