LAUSR

This study evaluated the effects of addition of oil and gas exploration and production wastes (E&PW) on hydraulic behavior of municipal solid waste (MSW). A series of laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the impacts of vertical stress, waste composition, mixture ratio of MSW to E&PW based on total mass (e.g., 20% MSW + 80% E&PW), and mixing methods on hydraulic conductivity. Hydraulic conductivity (k) for MSW-E&PW mixtures with 20% and 40% E&PW contents reduced from 3 × 10-5 m/s to 10-7 m/s as vertical stress increased from 0 to 400 kPa. An increase in the mixture ratio above 60% resulted in an additional order-of-magnitude decrease in k to 10-8 m/s as vertical stress increased above 200 kPa. The addition of E&PW did not impact the available flow path, even though adding E&PW to MSW reduced the void spaces. This indicated that the waste matrix is capable of accepting E&PW while keeping the flow structure within the waste matrix. However, for vertical stress greater than 50 kPa, mixtures of MSW + 80% E&PW were observed to yield hydraulic conductivity < 10-9 m/s.