Patent Application
20100074688
The present invention pertains to a system of panels for temporarily covering the active area of an operational landfill, in order to prevent and/or minimize litter, odors, leachate production, fires, and the prevalence of flies and vectors.
Many jurisdictions require that a cover be placed on the “active face” of an operational landfill on a daily basis. This is done for many reasons, including: to prevent wind-blown litter, to minimize odors and leachate production, and to reduce the risk of landfill fires. The cover also prevents flies from laying eggs in the refuse and isolates the refuse from vectors such as birds, rodents and small carnivores.
Historically, mineral soil has been used for daily cover. Typically, regulations require that the active face be covered with 150 mm (6″) of soil at the end of each working day. For small landfills, placement of soil cover often results in waste to cover ratios (on a volume basis) that are 2:1 or less. Some landfills have ratios of less than 1:1. This means that more soil cover is going into the landfill than refuse, wasting valuable “air space” (space that could otherwise be filled with refuse).
Other problems with using soil as the cover include the cost of replacing the soil daily. Often contractors or landfill operators will spend more than 30 minutes each day replacing soil cover. As well, the “borrow pits” that are dug in order to extract the soil increase the size of the disturbed footprint of a landfill. This ultimately increases the costs of land reclamation during closure of the landfill.
Over the past 15 years, many landfill operators have used some form of alternate daily cover (ADC). The most common form of ADC is a re-usable tarp. Although the use of reusable tarps meets a number of operational objectives, it presents a number of problems. Tarps can get caught on refuse and rip easily. Typically, tarps last less than one year due to damage. Birds, particularly ravens, can peck holes and pull refuse through many of the tarp materials. Further, after heavy snow fall, tarps can be difficult to remove. In heavy winds they can be difficult to place and can easily be blown off the active face of the landfill.
Other ADC systems have been developed, but each presents its own problems. For convenience, non-reusable plastic tarps have been introduced. For example, one US patent which describes a complicated system for deploying a “film” as an ADC tarp is U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,080, which issued on 6 May, 2003 to Kozak. However, these systems present the issues of high cost, wasting of non-renewable resources, and jamming of the soil cover ballast deployment system that is used to weight down the ADC. Spray-on systems have been used to facilitate application, but these are generally less effective at controlling vectors and at reducing risk of fire. A semi-rigid reusable system comprised of plastic pipes has been introduced in at least one landfill. However, this system apparently presents challenges with deployment and manufacture of the pipes.
There is still a need to provide an ADC system that fulfills the objectives of litter and fire prevention, erosion and leachate minimization, and fly and vector diversion without presenting the problems of the prior art ADC systems.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.
The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tools and methods which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope. In various embodiments, one or more of the above-described problems have been reduced or eliminated, while other embodiments are directed to other improvements.
The invention provides an alternate daily cover (ADC) system for covering the active face of an operational landfill. The ADC system provides a series of panels that are placed on the landfill active face, in what might be conveniently called “shingle” fashion. Although as many panels are used as necessary depending on the area of the active face, typically four to eight panels might be required.
Each panel comprises a plate, brackets and optionally, one or more flaps. The brackets are attached to the top face of the plate. These brackets may have arms which can be engaged by the blade of a compactor, loader or other machinery to lift and hold the panel while it is being transported by the compactor.
To engage and transport a panel, the compactor operator positions the bucket of the compactor so that the blade of the bucket slides in between the plate and the bracket arms. The bucket is then lifted, bringing the engaged panel with it, and moved to a desired portion of the active face of the operational landfill. Once the compactor has reached the space on the active face of the operational landfill where the panel is to be deployed, the bucket is lowered so that the panel rests on the surface of the active face. The bucket is then retracted, which disengages the panel from the bucket. These steps are repeated with other panels until the active area of the operational landfill is covered with panels. Each panel tends to overlap the edge of another, providing a generally gap-free cover over the active face.
This ADC system of the present invention is advantageous over the prior art in that the panels are: easy to engage and transport; are made from durable materials and are therefore long-lasting; and, can be transported and manoeuvered in a variety of weather conditions.
In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by study of the following detailed description.
Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures of the drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.
a and 2b are schematic perspective views of prior art ADC systems.
a and 4b are perspective views of a panel being engaged and carried by a compactor.
Throughout the following description specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding to persons skilled in the art. However, well known elements may not have been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense.
a and 2b are perspective views of operational landfill 100 covered with prior art cover systems.
Plate 20 has a top face 22 and a bottom face 24. As previously stated, in the shown embodiment, plate 20 is made from one material, namely steel. However, those skilled in the art will readily see that plate 20 can be made from more than one material if desired. Optionally, top face 22 and/or bottom face 24 may be overlaid with a different material. Alternatively, the majority or entirety of plate 20 may be overlaid with a flexible material, for example, a material that will protect it from moisture.
Brackets 40 are attached to the top face 22 of plate 20. In the illustrated embodiment, there are two brackets 40. However, there may be any useful number of brackets 40. In a preferred embodiment brackets 40 each comprise an elbow 42 and an arm 44. Brackets 40 may be welded to plate 20 if both are made of steel. However they are affixed onto plate, 20, the purpose of brackets 40 is to allow an operator of machinery to pick up and move and otherwise manipulate the position of plate 20.
Plate 20 will typically have four or more edges. In the embodiment shown, plate 20 has a rear edge 26, a front edge 28 and side edges 30a and 30b. In the illustrated embodiment, edges 26 and 28 are parallel. Side edges 30a and 30b are also parallel, such that plate 20 has a rectangular shape. However, plate 20 may take on a variety of different shapes. For example, plate 20 may be trapezoidal or rhombus-shaped. Or the shape of plate 20 may be irregular, but for most uses a rectangular-shaped plate will suffice, and a plate of rectangular shape will continue to be described herein just for clarity.
In the embodiment shown, brackets 40 are located near the center of plate 20, and are equidistant from side edges 30a and 30b. However, those skilled in the art will readily see that brackets 40 need not be located in the center of the plate. Alternatively, brackets 40 may be located closer to one edge of the plate and/or may be spaced further apart than they are in the shown embodiment.
Optionally, one or more flaps may be attached to plate 20. In the illustrated embodiment, flap 60 is attached to plate 20 near front edge 28. Flap 60 may be adhered to plate 20 by an adhesive, or may be attached mechanically, for example, by way of screws or bolts passing through the flap 60 and into or through the plate 20. In one embodiment of the invention (shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, flap 60 extends the full length L of front edge 28. However, flap 60 does not have to extend over the entire length L, nor is it necessarily confined to length L.
In the shown embodiment, flap 60 is made from a relatively flexible material, such as rubber. In one particular embodiment, flap 60 is conveniently fashioned from rubber conveyor belting. However, flap 60 may be made from one or more of a variety of materials. In another embodiment, flap 60 is made from the same material that plate 20 is overlaid with and is contiguous with that material.
a and 4b show panel 10 being engaged and transported by compactor 200. In
As show in
As shown in
The plates themselves of adjacent panels can be placed partially atop one another so that they overlap one another if they do not include flaps 60. However, as shown, the plates 20 of panels 10 may have flaps 60 along one or more edges and in that instance the plate edges may be placed adjacent to one another (abutting one another, or even simply quite near one another) so that it is only the flap 60 of one panel which overlaps the plate 20 of the next panel. This overlap ensures nearly complete coverage of active face 102 and prevents it from being exposed to rain, wind, vectors, and the like. The flexibility of the flap 60 causes the flap to conform more closely to the top surface of an adjoining plate where the plates might be askew or otherwise not completely flush with one another, minimizing gaps. Flaps 60 can also be attached to one or more side edges of plates 20 as shown in
Once the system has been put into place, it remains so until removed by the compactor operator (usually the next day). To remove panels 10, the operator of compactor 200 simply follows the reverse of the procedure that was used to place panels 10 on active face 102. Again, although item 200 has been referred to a compactor, other types of heavy equipment may be used to engage and transport panels 10.
The system of placing the panels of the present invention in shingle-fashion on the active face of an operational landfill has many advantages over other forms of ADC. Firstly, the panels are very durable, are fireproof, and are expected to last for many years. Secondly, the panels may easily be recovered, even in high winds or after a heavy snowfall. Third, a set of panels can be engaged and transported easily, typically in less than 15 minutes. Furthermore, since the panels are re-useable, they present a lesser environmental impact than disposable ADC systems.
While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations thereof. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their true spirit and scope.
