St. FX researchers build first-of-its-kind landfill simulator
CBC
St. Francis Xavier University researchers have built a first-of-its-kind simulation facility to test methane measurement technology for landfills.
Dave Risk, an emissions measurement researcher at the university, says the waste sector is looking for new ways to reduce and collect emissions, meaning it is also looking at new forms of measurement technology in the fight against global warming.
"We can't really manage it if we don't measure it," said Risk.
That's where StFX comes into play.
Risk leads the university's FluxLab, a methane gas detection and measurement science team of 25 environmental science researchers and students working to improve technology in the waste sector.
The team has been conducting experiments for just over a year at the simulation facility located in Ontario.
The site is called the Simulation Facility for Landfill Emission Experiments, or SIMFLEX. The experiments take place on a landfill that's been closed for the past six years.
Risk said the old landfill doesn't emit methane because the owners of the facility turned the gas into energy. The site has a gas-collection system.
Methane is an odourless, colourless and highly flammable gas. It can be converted into energy but it's also responsible for more than 25 per cent of global warming, according to the United Nations.
On the huge grassy hill, there are 10 remote-controlled release points that launch methane emissions through two kilometres of something like an irrigation hose placed in the ground. The methane is released from little holes in the hose.
The team is able to raise different levels of emissions and run experiments.
The experiments run in campaigns. FluxLab invites participants from around the world to test their measurement technology at the site.
Depending on the experiments, the campaigns can run a week to three weeks.
"We have tested everything from satellites to walking sensors, and we can actually see methane from space these days," said Risk.
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