Tire-Derived Steel for Hydrogen Sulfide Removal in Landfill Cover

Abstract

The use of tire-derived steel, a by-product of tire recycling, for removal of H2S in landfill cover systems was examined through a laboratory study. Experiments under both static and dynamic conditions were conducted. Results demonstrated that tire-derived steel removed H2S to a greater extent relative to a control landfill cover material consisting of sandy soil. In batch experiments, over 98% H2S [550 parts per million (ppm) initial concentration] was removed in 2 min by 20 g of tire-derived steel, compared to only 50% H2S removal in 60 min by the same amount of soil. In column experiments using 100 ppm inlet H2S gas concentrations, after 24-h continuous operation, the outlet H2S concentration increased to over 90 ppm in the sandy soil columns, while it was less than 1 ppm in the tire-derived steel columns. The experimental results showed that the outlet H2S concentrations from the closed columns were higher than that from the open columns, indicating a potential role of oxygen in creating or regenerating reactive surfaces for H2S removal.