Applicability of a monitoring method for methane in the ambient air at landfill sites using a portable open path analyzer

Abstract

We have proposed a convenient monitoring method for CH4 concentration in the ambient air at the landfill sites and investigated its reliability and utility. A portable open path analyzer(POMA) was used, together with a retroreflector.The reliability of the proposed monitoring method is apparently similar to that using the the flame ionization detector hydrocarbon analyzer. The proposed method is both a convenient and practical way of monitoring the change of average CH4 concentration in ambient landfill site air in order to know the influence of landfill gas on working condition at illegal dumping sites and the degree of landfill stabilization.