Long-term performance and bacterial community dynamics in biocovers for mitigating methane and malodorous gases

- Lab-scale biocovers were operated to simulate engineered landfill cover soils for 134 days.
- The systems achieved stable removal performance of landfill gases (methane and odorous gases).
- The biocovers converted methane and odorous gases to CO2, nitrite, nitrate, and sulfate.
- The bacterial and methanotrophic community varied along the depth of the biocovers.
- The odorous gases strongly influenced both the bacterial and methanotrophic community compositions.

The long-term performance of lab-scale biocovers for the simulation of engineered landfill cover soils was evaluated. Methane (CH4), trimethylamine (TMA), and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) were introduced into the biocovers as landfill gases for 134 days and the removal performance was evaluated. The biocover systems were capable of simultaneously removing methane, TMA, and DMS. Methane was mostly eliminated in the top layer of the systems, while TMA and DMS were removed in the bottom layer. Overall, the methane removal capacity and efficiency were 224.8 ± 55.6 g-CH4 m−2 d−1 and 66.6 ± 12.8%, respectively, whereas 100% removal efficiencies of both TMA and DMS were achieved. Using quantitative PCR and pyrosequencing assay, the bacterial and methanotrophic communities in the top and bottom layers were analyzed along with the removal performance of landfill gases in the biocovers. The top and bottom soil layers possessed distinct communities from the original inoculum, but their structure dynamics were different from each other. While the structures of the bacterial and methanotrophic communities showed little change in the top layer, both communities in the bottom layer were considerably shifted by adding TMA and DMA. These findings provide information that can extend the understanding of full-scale biocover performance in landfills.