Prof. Keith Knox
Visiting Professor
Prof. Keith Knox is Visiting Professor within Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton.
Keith Knox is Principal of Knox Associates (UK) Ltd, an independent consultancy providing advice on landfill and waste treatment. His main professional interests are in the areas of leachate management and landfill processes, particularly those affecting long term stabilization and sustainability. Keith’s work on leachate management has included many projects on the design and operation of a wide variety of leachate treatment plants and processes, both UK and worldwide. He has been at the forefront of technical developments in leachate treatment, including ammonia nitrification, single tank SBR denitrification, use of activated carbon, and high temperature stripping of ammonia. His interests also include leachate quality and he has undertaken several Environment Agency funded projects on, for example, trace organics in landfill leachates, and on the anticipated leachate quality from hazardous wastes, MSW incinerator residues and mechanical-biological treatment residues. In the area of Water Balance methods and prediction of leachate generation, Keith has a particular interest in the prediction of leachate generation in tropical countries that experience very high wet season rainfall, and the effect this has on the sizing of leachate treatment plants and seasonal storage facilities. Keith’s interests and work on landfill processes have included:
- Attenuation processes in co-disposal landfills, acting to immobilise polluting constituents.
- The time profile for the decomposition of organic wastes, particularly the scope for its acceleration and the nature/duration of the final part of the gas curve.
- The characterization of degraded wastes to assess their progress towards Final Storage Quality.
- The timescales and practical difficulties for the flushing of soluble contaminants from landfills.
- The factors affecting H2S generation and vinyl chloride generation in landfills.
- Attenuation of leachate components in landfill liner materials and in the surrounding geological materials