Organic Combustion Fingerprints of Three Common Home Heating Fuels

Abstract

The chemical structures of three common home heating fuels are discussed: wood, coal and No. 2 fuel oil. GC and GC/MS data are then presented which demonstrate how the thermal destruction of each of these fuels results in the production of a characteristic group of organic compounds. In the case of wood, where the chief structural element is the lignin polymer, these are the methoxy phenols, the methoxy benzenes, and the alkyl benzenes. In the case of coal, where the polymer contains more fused-ring structures, the chief products are fused-ring aromatics with structures of 3- rings or more, the benzothiophenes, and to a lesser extent the methyl-substituted phenols. In the case of oil, the chief byproducts are shown to be unburned droplets of the oil itself. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of how these “fingerprints” might be used as apportionment guides in complex airsheds.