ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards Dr. Ahmed Al Balushi, Acting Dean of our college, Caledonian College of Engineering for providing an excellent opportunity to study in this excellent environment. Firstly, I would like to thank Dr. Joseph Thankilal Head Of department of Built and Natural Environment to organize this trip and providing this opportunity to commence this report which helped me to gain knowledge and experience about environment. Secondly I would like to thank Dr. Sudheer Kumar Shukla for guiding me throughout in my assignment. I would also like to appreciate the efforts of Ms. Kadia Al Hinai and Mr. Riadh to guide us throughout the visit. In the end, I would like to thank my colleagues and my parents for helping me to finish this report successfully. Abstract Solid waste management is a concern with growing population in Muscat. This requires focus in order to keep it under control. This will help to avoid land pollution. This report nd is made based on the visit made to Be’Ah (Al Multaqa facility) in 2 May, 2017. It describes various aspects which include design and operational strategy of the company. It also explains contribution of Be’Ah towards maintenance of green environment of Oman particularly Muscat. At the end, there are few recommendation which can help in further developments in their services. ​ Table of Contents ​1 CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION TO THE SITE CHAPTER 2- DESIGN ASPECTS OF LANDFILL IN AL MULTAQA ​3 ​3 2.1. Introduction to Landfill: 2.2. Importance of primary studies including topography and land survey of Site 2.3. Construction of liners in Landfill site ​5 CHAPTER 3- OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF AL MULTAQA FACILITY 3.1. Collection of waste from various sources ​7 ​7 3.2. Analysing weight of truck which enter the landfill facility 3.3. Compaction of the solid waste received by the facility 3.4. Temporary Cover ​6 ​7 ​8 3.5. Treatment of the leachate which is disposed waste ​8 CHAPTER 4- CONTRIBUTION OF BE’AH TOWARDS ENVIRONMENT OF WILAYAT OF MUSCAT ​10 CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION References ​12 ​11 ​4 CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION TO THE SITE This report is based on a site visit to Be’ah Oman; the company was first introduced and organized in 2007 receiving its legal stand by the Royal Decree in 2009 that grants them authority to manage the produced solid waste in Oman. Be’ah states their vision is “To Conserve the Environment of our Beautiful Oman for our Future Generations”. The company plans on Strategies categorized in two distinct phases, Phase one starts in 2012 and ends in 2015 including infrastructure establishment, participation for their private sector and take over the waste sector managing it efficiently. Phase 2 begins from 2016 to 2020 and includes maintaining the sector based on the economic, environmental, financial and social situations at the time, complete closure for the dumpsites and landfills take over the sector and complete the MSW and ISW infrastructure (Beah.om, 2017). Both phases contain certain activities common such as public awareness towards the importance on managing the waste and keeping the environment unpolluted, the loss in waste to be recovered commercially. Figure 1: Vision and goals of Be'ah Oman (Source: Beah.om, 2017) Multaqa landfills considered to be the first ever built sanitary land fill in the Sultanate of Oman worked on by STRABAG LLC in the year 2005 for cell 1, the designs and tender were produced by the consultancy company FICHTNER. Cell 2 was separated into five distinct zones and land fill construction for the same was done by SUZE Environment ending in July 2016. The preparation to connect these two cells had already begun in July 2015. Be’ah provides their holding structure details that include a set of subsidiaries mainly categorized in industrial waste which contains hazardous, chemical, healthcare and electronic and electrical waste (Beah.om, 2017). Municipal solid waste includes green, municipal, construction and demolitions wastes. The visit to the site contained landfill and leachate plant management details, led by Mr. Sudheer Shukla, the module tutor along with the project manager Mr. Kadia al Hinai, and supervising the leachate plant Mr. Riadh. CHAPTER 2- DESIGN ASPECTS OF LANDFILL IN AL MULTAQA This facility has been constructed as well as designed based on USEPA code which is mentioned in federal regulation. Facility has two cells, first is constructed by using asphalt whereas as second one is constructed using liners. Main reason of liners has been explained later in this section. 2.1. Introduction to Landfill: A landfill is a site where solid wastes are disposed finally. These wastes are collected from various sources disposed in a large designed pit. This has been the most common way to treat solid waste from very ancient period. They are also used as a temporary storage of waste or an area where waste can be processed easily (Ramakrishnan et al. 2015). Main advantage of Landfilling is that it is a cheap yet efficient method to treat solid waste. It is a common treatment method in countries with huge areas such as USA. Moreover, it is easy to monitor and control the conditions of disposal area and sometimes wastes are recycled to conserve energy. Main disadvantage of this method is that there is huge production of leachate which is a by-product of Landfilling (figure 2). In case if untreated leachate is released to groundwater, then it will pollute drinking water. Along with this, this method release huge amount of hazardous gases such as methane and hydrogen sulphide which can pollute air. Figure 2: Principle of Landfilling As mentioned by Abdallah et al. (2014), it is very crucial to design a landfill site so that it can be sued for at least 10 to 15 years. An ideal landfill site should be able to manage leachate which is produced from the dumped solid waste. In addition to this, they should avoid release of harmful gases in order to prevent air pollution. Therefore, an ideal landfill system should have liners, extraction systems for gas, monitor pollution of ground water and leachate treatment plant which will treat leachate produced. 2.2. Importance of primary studies including topography and land survey of Site First step in construction and designing of landfill is the land survey of the site. This survey can help in gaining knowledge about various solid waste sources and content of these wastes which dumped in the site. In addition to this, survey can help in knowing expected waste quantity which can be received by al Multaqa facility. According to Riadh (2017), survey gave them an idea that a yearly production of solid waste in Wilayat of Muscat is approximately 1.5 million tons. This data helped them in deciding area of landfill. Hinai (2017), had mentioned that area of cell 1 is around 1 million cubic meter where size of cell 2 is around 2 million cubic meter. Figure 3: Topography of Al Multaqa facility (Source: Clicked by Author) Second step which is essential in designing capacity of landfill is understanding topography of the site. Al Multaqa facility is located constitutes a small gravel. In addition to this, it is covered by sand plain on its East, Northeast and West directions whereas, it is surrounded by hills of height 10 to 20 m on its North side. Hinai (2017) has mentioned that topography which is studied suggested that the wadi which was located on west side had a breadth of 100m and it was approximately 6m deep. However, wadi which was located on east direction was little bit contracted and it was 10 m deep. It is very crucial to select a disposal or landfill site based on its topography. This is done to make sure that landfill site does not harm residential as well as commercial areas. Engineers should also make sure that landfill or disposal site is not constructed in a fertile area. Other things which should be kept in mind that the site of landfill should not be constructed in an area where there are huge rainfall (Riadh, 2017). Rainfall will generate more moisture which will favour production of leachate. These all criteria can be followed by doing a proper land survey. Survey can help in efficient monitoring of ground and different pipelines which help in collecting leachate. 2.3. Construction of liners in Landfill site After performing land survey and understanding topography of surrounding, land has been unearthed. This unearthing or excavation depends totally on soil profile of the site. It has been mentioned before, it is important to control or treat leachate in order to increase sustainability of a solid waste treatment plant. In order to prevent leakage of leachate, soil which lies just above ground water is compacted efficiently so that it can form an impermeable layer. In addition to this, cell 2 for Al Multaqa facility has installed liners in sub grade or sub levels of site (Hinai, 2017). These liners are mainly used as a strategy to protect or control pollution of ground water (figure ). In addition to this, there is 400m thick layer of sand just before each liner. This layer of sand helps in absorption of any leachate which is leaked. Figure 4: Details of liners installed in the site (Source : Hinai, 2017) CHAPTER 3OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF AL MULTAQA FACILITY 3.1. Collection of waste from various sources As per the survey conducted by Be’ah Oman, they are expected to receive approximately 1000 tons of solid waste in one day. These wastes are collected from residential as well as commercial areas of Muscat by utilizing trucks. These trucks work in different shifts in order to transport waste in the landfill facility for further treatment. In addition to this, they are managed by companies which are directly or indirectly connected to Be’ah Oman. Table 1- Approximate deliveries of waste which are received in a day Types of Vehicles Number of Shipments / day Municipality Collection trucks 2467 Municipality Bulk transport trailers 490 Private companies trucks 2214 Total 5171 (Source: Hinai, 2017) 3.2. Analysing weight of truck which enter the landfill facility Weights of Trucks, which are involved in transport of waste, are measured before they come into the landfill facility. This is crucial as it can help in keeping a record of waste quantity which is received by the facility. This is done by weighing the truck full of waste against a similar empty truck. 3.3. Compaction of the solid waste received by the facility After receiving solid waste, they are compacted in order to decrease their volume to some extent. This can help in increasing the lifetime of the facility. Better compaction of the solid waste means that efficient decrease in the volume of waste. Therefore, more and more waste can be treated in the same plant. According to Riadh (2017), density of 3 solid waste after compaction is 500-750 kg/m . In addition to this, they have mentioned that after compaction, volume of waste reduces by 45-60%. 3.4. Temporary Cover Generally, waste is received by facility after the day end i.e. after office working hours. Therefore, it is necessary to have a cover on a temporary basis which will help in preventing different hazardous gas release which can cause air pollution. This temporary cover can also prevent spreading of different infectious disease which can be caused by different types of vectors present in the waste. 3.5. Treatment of the leachate which is disposed waste Leachate, a fluid which is produced in landfill as a result of disposal of solid waste, needs to be treated in order to increase the lifetime and sustainability of the facility. This fluid consists of both dissolved and suspended particles. In this particular facility, leachate is gathered in lagoon by using pipelines which are located near liners. This fluid is usually collected in tank and later it is sent to lagoon for further action. There are 3 two separate lagoons in this plant with an individual capacity of 4500 m (Guerrero et al. 2013). This treatment procedure has both chemical as well as biological reactions. Main steps which are involved in leachate treatment are as mentioned below: ➢ Nitrification ➢ Cooling ➢ Denitrification ➢ Defoaming ➢ Ultra filtration ➢ Reverse Osmosis This particular treatment section consists of three plants which are used for nitrification as well as defoaming. It is known that nitrification of waste is an exothermic process i.e. it releases waste. As a result of this, pressure and temperature in the tank can increase uncontrollably. Therefore, cooling system has been installed which can control temperature and pressure created in the tank (figure ). Figure 5: Leachate Treatment plant (Source: Hinai, 2017) Biological treatment of leachate involves addition of activated sludge to leachate. This activated sludge contains bacteria which react on organic matter in leachate which helps in reduction of COD as well as BOD of the leachate. Nitrification is promoted by installing blowers which helps in increasing concentration of oxygen. In this reaction, ammonia present in the waste reacts with oxygen to form nitrate and nitrites. However, Denitrification involves reactions of the nitrates and nitrites with the organic matter in waste to release carbon dioxide and nitrogen (Marshall and Farahbakhsh, 2013). According to Riadh (2017), foam is an obstacle in the leachate treatment process. Therefore in order to remove it, defoaming reagents are added. Later on, ultra filtration is performed where are treated leachate is passed through the membrane with an approximate pore size of 0.01µm. After this process, reverse osmosis is being performed which produces water which is as pure as drinking water. CHAPTER 4- CONTRIBUTION OF BE’AH TOWARDS ENVIRONMENT OF WILAYAT OF MUSCAT Be’ah Oman manages solid waste in a cost effective way which is socially and environmentally accepted. Be’ah Oman has facilities all over Oman from more than 20 years and has successfully incorporated new and advanced techniques which can help in increasing the sustainability. They have operating their facility in Al Multaqa from more than 10 years. Main significance of this landfill facility is that they observe their different activities which are related to management and treatment of solid waste which significantly protects Oman environment from different kinds of pollution. Second main environmental significance of this plant is that it receives approximately 700 tons of waste from Muscat which is around 30 percent of the total waste produced in Oman. In addition to this, they prevent pollution of ground water by treating leachate which is produced by solid disposal. This treatment process involves both biological and chemical process which helps in significant reduction of BOD and COD of leachate. Water produced after treatment can be used for other recycling uses. Moreover, they have planned to extract methane gas which can be recycled to produce energy. As stated by Hinai (2017), Be’ah significantly contributes towards maintenance of a sustainable and green environment by managing solid waste efficiently. This is possible due to use of effective advance techniques which helps them in reduction as well as recycling of waste. This in turn helps in creating various reusable energy sources and reduces the amount of carbon which is released in the atmosphere. They believe that sustainability can also be developed by increasing the awareness of waste among the citizens of Oman. CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Visit to Be’ah Oman, al Multaqa was an excellent opportunity to know and gain knowledge of various techniques which are used in solid waste management. This visit also gave us knowledge about design as well as operational aspects of the facility. Presently, it is the only company which is responsible to manage solid waste in Oman according to international standards. They have a plan to involve advance technologies which can help them in improving their standards. However, it would be beneficial for them to segregate solid waste received in their plant which can help them application of different of treatment according to nature of waste. Along with this, it can be recommended that company should install gas extraction in order to absorb methane and use it for production renewable sources. These are the few recommendations which can help Be’ah Oman to develop further and give them a proper sustainable look. References Abdallah, M., Kennedy, K., Narbaitz, R. and Warith, M., 2014. A new computational control strategy for leachate management in bioreactor landfills. Environmental technology, 35(3), pp.300-312. Beah.om. (2017). Beah. [online] Available at: http://www.beah.om/ [Accessed 13 May 2017]. Guerrero, L.A., Maas, G. and Hogland, W., 2013. Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste management, 33(1), pp.220-232. Hinai, K.A. (2017). Site to Be’ah Oman [Interview] (2 May 2017) Marshall, R.E. and Farahbakhsh, K., 2013. Systems approaches to integrated solid waste management in developing countries. Waste Management, 33(4), pp.988-1003. Ramakrishnan, A., Blaney, L., Kao, J., Tyagi, R.D., Zhang, T.C. and Surampalli, R.Y., 2015. Emerging contaminants in landfill leachate and their sustainable management. Environmental Earth Sciences, 73(3), pp.1357-1368. Riadh., 2017. Site to Be’ah Oman [Interview] (2 May 2017) 11
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