Pollutant emission performances of improved solid fuel heating stoves and future implications in rural China

Abstract

Solid fuel combustion in traditional heating stoves leads to severe environmental pollution. Thus, improved solid fuel heating stoves have been introduced to replace traditional stoves, but their emission performances have rarely been evaluated. In this study, we measured the particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission performances of an anthracite coal briquette heating stove, a semi-coke heating stove, and a biomass pellet heating stove consuming wood, rice husk, and maize straw pellets during high and low firepower phases, and used a traditional bituminous coal chunk heating stove as comparison baseline. The results showed that these solid fuel heating stoves had lower PM2.5 and CO emissions and higher NOx and SO2 emissions during the high firepower phase than the low firepower phase. During the same phase, the biomass pellet heating stove consuming wood pellets had the lowest PM2.5, CO, and SO2 emission factors, and the semi-coke heating stove emitted the lowest NOx emission factors. After replacing the traditional stove, the improved coal heating stoves reduced PM2.5, CO, and NOx emission amounts by 18.0 %–73.9 %, 41.4 %–55.6 %, and 42.4 %–45.4 %, respectively, but increased SO2 emission amounts by 19.8 %–67.8 %, while the biomass pellet heating stove reduced PM2.5, CO, and SO2 emission amounts by 64.2 %–91.9 %, 72.8 %–87.0 %, and 58.0 %–100 %, respectively, but emitted more NOx emission amounts, except for this stove consuming wood pellets. Overall, the biomass pellet heating stove was more suitable for space heating. This study provides useful information regarding solid fuel heating stove selection for intervention projects in rural China.