Particulate Matter Emission Factors Research Articles

Characterization of Burning Behaviors and Particulate Matter Emissions of Crop Straws Based on a Cone Calorimeter.

Crop residue burning is one of the major sources of particulate matter (PM) in the air. The burning behaviors and PM emissions of the three typical crop residues (rice straw, wheat straw, corn straw) in China were characterized by a cone calorimeter (CONE) coupled with a laser dust meter. The water-soluble compounds, carbonaceous content, and morphology of PM were measured by ion chromatography, elemental analyzer, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). The results showed that thermal stability of corn straw was the worst among the three crop straws. The heat release rate (HRR) curves of the three crop straws were the typical curves of thermally thick charring (residue forming) samples. Wheat straw had the highest smoke yield, which was 2.9 times that of rice straw. The PM emission factor of wheat straw was 180.91 µg/g, which was about three times that of rice straw. The contents of K+, Na+, and Cl− in PM were significantly higher than those of the other six water-soluble inorganic ions. The ratio of organic carbon and elemental carbon (OC/EC) ranged from 14.82 to 30.82, which was similar to the results of open burning. There were mainly three kinds of aggregates in the PM of crop straws: network, chain-like, and soot. Individual particles were mixtures of KCl and organic matters. Core-shell structures were found in PM of rice straw and corn straw. The results in this study were provided based on CONE, an ISO-standard apparatus, which could avoid data conflicts caused by the difference of combustion devices. The relationship between the burning behavior and PM emission characteristics of crop straws was established, which is helpful to understand emissions of crop straws and to find a novel way to solve the problems from the burning of crop residues.

Assessment of PM2.5 and PM10 Emissions in the Metallurgical Industry from Romania

The article focuses on the evaluation of PM2.5 and PM10, pollutants resulting from the metallurgical industry in Romania. The analysed period is 2008-2018 and the dataset was provided by the National Institute of Statistics. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of final energy consumption in the metallurgical industry on PM10 and PM2.5 emissions. We included in the study three fundamental factors: the final energy consumption in the metallurgical industry and the particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). The average of PM10 for reference period is 4026 Tone (Mg) while for the PM2.5 the average is 3645 Tone (Mg). The trend of final energy consumption in the metallurgical industry is identical to the trend of PM2.5 and PM10, which indicates that this factor has a major influence on the amount of PM2.5 and PM10 emissions. PM2.5 and PM10 emission factors represent primary emissions from the metallurgical industry activities and do not consider the formation of secondary aerosol from chemical reaction in the environment afterwards the discharge.

Properties and emission factors of cloud condensation nuclei from biomass cookstoves – observations of a strong dependency on potassium content in the fuel

Abstract. Residential biomass combustion is a significant source of aerosol particles on regional and global scales influencing climate and human health. The main objective of the current study was to investigate the properties of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) emitted from biomass burning of solid fuels in different cookstoves mostly of relevance to sub-Saharan east Africa. The traditional three-stone fire and a rocket stove were used for combustion of wood logs of Sesbania and Casuarina with birch used as a reference. A natural draft and a forced-draft pellet stove were used for combustion of pelletised Sesbania and pelletised Swedish softwood alone or in mixtures with pelletised coffee husk, rice husk or water hyacinth. The CCN activity and the effective density were measured for particles with mobility diameters of ∽65, ∽100 and ∽200 nm, respectively, and occasionally for 350 nm particles. Particle number size distributions were measured online with a fast particle analyser. The chemical composition of the fuel ash was measured by application of standard protocols. The average particle number size distributions were by number typically dominated by an ultrafine mode, and in most cases a soot mode was centred around a mobility diameter of ∽150 nm. The CCN activities decreased with increasing particle size for all experiments and ranged in terms of the hygroscopicity parameter, κ, from ∽0.1 to ∽0.8 for the ultrafine mode and from ∽0.001 to ∽0.15 for the soot mode. The CCN activity (κ) of the ultrafine mode increased (i) with increasing combustion temperature for a given fuel, and (ii) it typically increased with increasing potassium concentration in the investigated fuels. The primary CCN and the estimated particulate matter (PM) emission factors were typically found to increase significantly with increasing potassium concentration in the fuel for a given stove. In order to link CCN emission factors to PM emission factors, knowledge about stove technology, stove operation and the inorganic fuel ash composition is needed. This complicates the use of ambient PM levels alone for estimation of CCN concentrations in regions dominated by biomass combustion aerosol, with the relation turning even more complex when accounting for atmospheric ageing of the aerosol.

Source profiles and emission factors of organic and inorganic species in fine particles emitted from the ultra-low emission power plant and typical industries

Accurate source markers, source profiles and species-based emission factors (EFs) are currently the key limitations for source apportionment and emission inventory researches. Fine particles (PM2.5) were collected from stack gases of eight types of stationary sources with a dilution sampling system. The mass percentages and EFs of 89 kinds of chemical species in PM2.5 including water-soluble ions, elements, carbonaceous species and molecular organic species were obtained. Results showed that water-soluble ions (8%–54%) and elements (5%–45%) were the dominant chemical species. Palmitic acid (0.19%–0.62%) and stearic acid (0.21%–0.59%) were the most abundant organic species. PM2.5 source profiles of the eight sources were different from each other with the coefficient of divergence values all higher than 0.4. The addition of organic species could help to further distinguish them. The indicatory chemical components and specific species ratios were obtained by both a statistical equation and randomForest. These indicatory chemical components (e.g. F− for glass factory) and species ratios (e.g. K+/Mg2+ & OC/Mg for pharmaceutical factory) improved the current knowledges of their indicatory performance in source identification of ambient PM2.5. The EFs of PM2.5 from the eight stationary sources ranged from 0.019 to 51.6 kg t−1 of fuel used. The EFs of PM2.5 from the pharmaceutical factory were about 70–2600 times higher than other seven types of sources due to the lack of dust-removing devices. Certain EFs measured in this study were about 10–36,000 times lower than corresponding EFs estimated in previous studies which didn't perform field measurements, indicating the necessity for improving emission inventories continuously. This study contributes to identifying emission sources of PM2.5 especially for subtypes of stationary sources and to establishing species-based emission inventories.

Characteristics of Particulate Emissions from Co-Firing in An Industrial Boiler

Characteristics of Particulate Emissions from Co-Firing in An Industrial Boiler. PT. X is a textile industry that consumes a massive amount of coal for its boiler operation. It requires substantial costs to obtain coal from Sumatra and Kalimantan. An alternative solid biofuel (briquette) was developed to combine bottom ash and biomass made from municipal solid waste called Biomass Coal Fuel (BCF) briquette. The purpose of this study is to measure the total concentration of particulate matter and emission factor (PM) emitted from two burning experiments: only coal (100%) and mixed coal fuel with 10% of BCF (co-firing). Mixed coal and BCF burning are carried out in the fire-tube boiler where the PM emission is released through the stack. The Center for Pulp and Paper measured particulate emission with methodology referring to SNI 7117.17-2009. Particulate matter concentration emitted from only coal-burning was 12,1 mg/Nm3,but when mixed BCF and coal were used, the higher concentration was emitted 70,9 mg/Nm3. The addition of BCF briquettes affects the particulate matter emission, even though the emission does not exceed the regulated quality standard. The increase of particulate concentration is due to the BCF briquette characteristics, which have a low heating value and high ash content. The boiler has already been equipped with cyclone and wet scrubber; therefore, PM emissions presented here are treated emissions. The controlled PM emission factor of BCF was 4,46 g/kg, which is higher than only coal which was 0,51 g/kg. BCF briquette can still be used as co-fuel for the boiler, but further effort is still required to reduce the ash content of the BCF and increase the calorific value of the BCF.

Real-time PM10 emission rates from paved roads by measurement of concentrations in the vehicle's wake using on-board sensors Part 2. Comparison of SCAMPER, TRAKER™, flux measurements, and AP-42 silt sampling under controlled conditions

Representative soil was evenly applied to an 800-m section of road surface. The test area was of sufficient length to allow for measurement at constant speeds of up to 72 km hr−1. SCAMPER and TRAKER™ mobile measurement vehicles made repeated test runs while an instrumented tower measured upwind-downwind horizontal PM10 flux. AP-42 methods were used to collect silt samples and calculate PM10 emission factors. Both silt loadings and vehicle speeds were varied during the experiment. Street sweeping the as-found roadway showed an initial rise in PM10 emission rates. Both TRAKER and SCAMPER measured rapid decay of PM10 emission rates after depositing soil. Both the tower flux and AP-42 silt loading measurements were consistent with the mobile methods. Decaying particle suspension rates suggest emission rates are a function of both vehicle speed and silt loading. Mobile methods allow a cost-effective method of rapidly measuring PM10 emissions from roadways.

Effects of driving behavior on real-world emissions of particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and particle-bound PAHs for diesel trucks

This study employed a portable emissions measurement system to investigate the effects of vehicle attributes, driving behavior, and road grade on real-world emissions of particulate matter (PM), regulated gaseous pollutants, and particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for old-model diesel trucks (model year 1995–2006, 6.7–35.0 metric ton) with little to no tailpipe emission control. The rated power of engines was a major determinant of the distance-specific emission factors of PM, particle-bound PAHs, and most gaseous pollutants. However, the engine size was unrelated to the total hydrocarbon emission factor and the benzo[a]pyrene equivalent (BaPeq) emission factor of PAHs. Aggressive (AG) and normal (NR) driving behaviors were quantitatively defined with a relative positive acceleration. The emission factors of PM, CO2, and THC were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the AG and NR driving modes. AG driving caused an average increase in emissions of PM, CO2, NOx, and particle-bound PAHs by 122%, 56%, 15%, and 128%, respectively, compared to the respective emissions under the NR mode. The BaPeq emission factor of PAHs in the AG mode was more than 10 times that in the NR mode. The road gradient (ranging from −9.3% to 9.0% over the test route) had significant impacts on the emissions of PM, CO2, and NOx. PM, CO2, and NOx emission factors increased by 109%, 168%, and 160%, respectively, in the >6% grade bin and decreased by 95%, 91%, and 90%, respectively, in the equivalent negative-grade bin, implying that the decrease in emissions on negative road slopes may not compensate for the increase in emissions on the equivalent positive road slopes despite the road slope being compensated. The findings of this study will be valuable for developing air quality management strategies and furthering scientific knowledge on the complex interplay of different variables that affect real-world emissions of on-road vehicles.

An integrated assessment of the impacts of PM2.5 and black carbon particles on the air quality of a large Brazilian city

Data on airborne fine particle (PM2.5) emissions and concentrations in cities are valuable for traffic and air quality managers, urban planners, health practitioners, researchers, and ultimately for legislators and decision makers. Emissions and ambient concentrations of PM2.5 and black carbon (BC) were assessed in the city of Curitiba, southern Brazil. The methodology combined a month-long monitoring campaign with both fixed and mobile instruments, development of emission inventories, and dispersion model simulations on different scales. The mean urban background PM2.5 concentrations during the campaign were 7.3 μg m−3 in Curitiba city center, but three- to fourfold higher (25.3 μg m-3) in a residential area on the city’s outskirts, indicating the presence of local sources, possibly linked to biomass combustion. BC concentrations seemed to be more uniformly distributed over the city, with mean urban background concentrations around 2 μg m−3, half of which due to local traffic emissions. Higher mean BC concentrations (3–5 μg m-3) were found along busy roads. The dispersion modeling also showed high PM2.5 and BC concentrations along the heavily transited ring road. However, the lack of in situ data over these peripheral areas prevented the verification of the model output. The vehicular emission factors for PM2.5 and BC from the literature were found not to be suitable for Curitiba’s fleet and needed to be adjusted. The integrated approach of this study can be implemented in other cities, as long as an open data policy and a close cooperation among regional, municipal authorities and academia can be achieved.

Characteristics of Particulate Emissions from Co-Firing in An Industrial Boiler

Characteristics of Particulate Emissions from Co-Firing in An Industrial Boiler. PT. X is a textile industry that consumes a massive amount of coal for its boiler operation. It requires substantial costs to obtain coal from Sumatra and Kalimantan. An alternative solid biofuel (briquette) was developed to combine bottom ash and biomass made from municipal solid waste called Biomass Coal Fuel (BCF) briquette. The purpose of this study is to measure the total concentration of particulate matter and emission factor (PM) emitted from two burning experiments: only coal (100%) and mixed coal fuel with 10% of BCF (co-firing). Mixed coal and BCF burning are carried out in the fire-tube boiler where the PM emission is released through the stack. The Center for Pulp and Paper measured particulate emission with methodology referring to SNI 7117.17-2009. Particulate matter concentration emitted from only coal-burning was 12,1 mg/Nm3,but when mixed BCF and coal were used, the higher concentration was emitted 70,9 mg/Nm3. The addition of BCF briquettes affects the particulate matter emission, even though the emission does not exceed the regulated quality standard. The increase of particulate concentration is due to the BCF briquette characteristics, which have a low heating value and high ash content. The boiler has already been equipped with cyclone and wet scrubber; therefore, PM emissions presented here are treated emissions. The controlled PM emission factor of BCF was 4,46 g/kg, which is higher than only coal which was 0,51 g/kg. BCF briquette can still be used as co-fuel for the boiler, but further effort is still required to reduce the ash content of the BCF and increase the calorific value of the BCF.

Emissions of air pollutants from sintering flue gas in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and proposed reduction measures

Iron and steel manufacturing, especially the sintering process, is highly energy- and pollution-intensive, and is responsible for substantial emissions of major air pollutants in China, including particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which poses challenges to air quality improvement in the country. In this study, we carried out a comprehensive analysis of the temporal and spatial characteristic of SO2, NOx, and PM emission concentrations, quantified the standard-reaching rate and air pollutant emissions factors, as well as discussed the spatial distribution and potential reduction measures of emission amounts based on the hourly online monitoring data and basic information collected from sintering head process in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (BTH) in 2017. We found that there was a downward trend of monthly emission concentrations during September to December 2017, in response to the emission control policies. By comparing with the emission standard implemented in 2017, the standard-reaching rate of PM, NOx, and SO2 were 74.7%, 23.5%, and 62.5% respectively, higher relative to the ultra-low emission standard. The emission factors of PM, NOx, and SO2 were calculated at different sintering machine scales, and were found to be lower than previous estimates. The emissions of SO2, NOx, and PM from sintering machine heads in the BTH region amounted to 14.2 kt, 143.2 kt and 46.3 kt respectively, Tangshan and Handan accounted for over 60% of the total emission amounts. The most popular technologies applied for PM and SO2 removals are electrostatic precipitators and limestone-gypsum flue gas desulfurization with an average removal efficiency of 71.8% and 90.3%. The potential of NOx reduction is huge, more effective technical measures shall be adopted to further reduce the NOx emission amount during the sintering process.

Grid impact of non-residential distributed solar energy and reduced air emissions: Empirical evidence from individual-consumer-level smart meter data

Most existing assessments of the energy saving and environmental benefits from distributed solar panels assume that the entire amount of electricity generated by distributed solar panels goes to replace the same amount of electricity needed from the electric grid. However, such an assumption can overestimate the actual environmental benefits because it incorrectly ignores the existence of rebound effects – increases in energy service usage. We provide the first empirical evidence of the grid impact of non-residential distributed solar energy and the associated reduced air emissions. Using consumer-level high frequency electricity consumption and solar panel installation data from Arizona, United States, we estimate the actual hourly reduction in electricity needed from the grid of commercial and industrial consumers through an econometric analysis. We show that this reduction is much smaller than the actual solar electricity generation. We also show that business distributed solar consumers create a further challenge to the utilities by not reducing their monthly maximum demand in July and August. Lastly, we calculate the benefit of reduced air emissions by multiplying the measured hourly reduction in electricity purchased from the grid by the marginal emission factors of CO2, SO2, NOx, and particulate matter. We estimate that the annual benefit of reduced air emissions from an average-size business distributed panel system is $1147.

Comparison of particulate-matter emissions from liquid-fueled pool fires and fire whirls

Abstract In-situ burning (ISB) is one of the most effective means of removing oil spilled over open water. While current ISB practices can eliminate a large fraction of the spilled oil, they still result in significant airborne emissions of particulate matter. ISBs are classified as large, free-buoyant pool fires, from which black smoke consisting of particulate matter (PM, soot) emanates as a plume. An experimental investigation of soot emissions from pool fires (PF) and fire whirls (FW) was conducted using liquid hydrocarbon fuels, n-heptane and Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil, in fuel pools 10 − 70 cm in diameter. Burning attributes such as burning rate, fuel-consumption efficiency, and emissions of PM, unburned hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, and oxygen consumption were measured. For both fuels and all pool diameters, compared to PFs, FWs consumed fuel at a higher rate, had lower post-combustion residual mass and PM emission rates. Collectively, these resulted in consistently lower PM emission factors (EF PM ) for FWs at all scales. For FWs, EF PM decreased linearly with a nondimensional quantity defined as the ratio of inverse Rossby number to nondimensional heat-release rate. These results show that the addition of ambient circulation to free-burning PFs to form FWs can increase burning efficiency, reducing both burning duration and EF PM across length scales. The reduction in EF PM with increasing influence of circulation is attributed to a feedback loop of higher temperatures, heat feedback, burning rate and air-entrainment velocity, which in turn contributes to maintaining the structure of a FW. Boilover was observed for fires formed with ANS crude oil at the 70 cm scale, although the overall EF PM was not affected significantly. This investigation presents a foundation to evaluate the detailed mechanisms further, such that appropriate configurations can be developed help minimize the environmental impact of ISBs.

Determination of Particulate Matter Emission Factors of Common Pyrotechnic Articles

AbstractThe measurement of particulate matter (TSP, PM10, and PM2.5) emitted by pyrotechnic articles is described. For this purpose, pyrotechnic articles for entertainment purposes of category F2 (i. e. consumer fireworks according to European legislation) are examined exemplarily. The aim was to determine reliable emission factors (EF). Different types of pyrotechnic articles were used to obtain a more representative database. Commonly used analytical methods, like impactor technology, are accompanied by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy to obtain a better insight into the nature of the emissions. Specific emission factors are determined for each pyrotechnic article. In the absence of activity rates, an average specific emission factor can be used to assess emission inventories. The average emission factors for investigated articles are 253 g PM10 per kg net explosive content (NEC) and 200 g PM2.5 per kg NEC. The highest emission is found for a battery of shot tubes, the lowest emission of particulate matter is found for a fountain‐like pyrotechnic article. Furthermore, the hypothesis is assessed whether it makes a difference to determine emission data based on pyrotechnic mixtures or pyrotechnic articles. It is demonstrated that the combustion of pyrotechnic articles generates a higher amount of particulate matter than the combustion of pyrotechnic mixtures.

Real-world emissions of construction mobile machines and comparison to a non-road emission model

This study implemented real-world tests in Nanjing, China for measuring emission factors (EFs) of air pollutants, including Carbon Monoxide (CO), Hydrocarbon (HC), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), and Particulate Matter (PM) from ten construction machines in three operational modes (idling, moving, and working) with a Portable Emission Measurement System. The idling mode shows the least variation of EFs, and its average CO EFs can be higher than the moving and working modes by 43% and 34%, respectively. The working mode generates the highest emission for all other pollutants with the highest variation. The EFs suggested by the Guide (an official guidebook for developing emission inventory in China) are in general lower than the measured EFs, and the gap becomes larger for older machines. The EFs of CO, NOx, and PM of China Stage II machines are 24%, 120%, and 66% higher than those of the Guide, respectively. The differences go up as high as 126%, 1066%, and 559% for China Stage I machines, indicating the upgrade of engine technology from Stage I to Stage II, as well as the effect of machine deterioration. The result of this study reveals the effectiveness of stringent emission standards in controlling emissions from construction machines. High emissions from older machines emphasize the importance of a more rigorous machine replacement policy and a regulated maintenance strategy. The result also stresses the need to update the Guide with differentiated activity modes, region variations, and machine deterioration effects.

Emission factors of metals bound with PM2.5 and ashes from biomass burning simulated in an open-system combustion chamber for estimation of open burning emissions

Emission Factors (EFs) of metals bound with PM2.5 along with ashes from biomass burning were obtained using an open-system combustion chamber. The burning of agricultural residue (AR) (rice straw (RS) and maize residue (MR)) and forest leaf litter (FLL) collected from dry dipterocarp forests (DDF) and mixed deciduous forests (MDF) were performed. The EFs of PM2.5 of all biomass burning were 2.15–4.38 g kg−1. The order of the EFs of PM2.5-bound metals were K, Na, Mg, Cr and Zn. The EFs values were used to estimate the emissions of PM2.5 and the metals from open burning in Upper Northern Thailand (UNT) in 2019. About 66,990 km2 and 27,060 km2 of the UNT are covered by forests and agriculture areas, respectively. In 2019, 80% of the total burned area was identified in forest areas (8,344 km2) and only 16% (1,647 km2) was identified in agriculture areas. Emissions of PM2.5 recorded during the smoke haze episode of 2019 were from burnings of forests (11 kilotons) and agricultural fields (0.4 kilotons). The major metals present in ash samples were Ca, K, Mg, Al, Fe and Mn. About 0.86 kilotons of total metals were emitted into the atmosphere. Ash resulting from the burning of AR was rich in K, while that of FLL has high in Ca content. After the burning period, about 78 kilotons of metals remained on the ground and/or were found to have accumulated in the environment.

Study on the real-world emissions of rural vehicles on different road types.

To better understand the real-world emissions of rural vehicles (RVs) in China, 8 China II RVs and 18 China III RVs were tested on a provincial road, rural road and farm road using a portable emissions measurement system. The results are illustrated in contour maps of the speed, acceleration and emission rates and show that CO, HC, NOx and PM emissions differ for the three road types; however, the peak emission points all occur on the provincial road. The average CO, HC, NOx and PM emission factors based on distance for the China II RVs are 9.21, 4.05, 1.68 and 2.58 times higher, respectively, than those of the China III RVs. However, the average NOx emission factors of the China II and III RVs are 2.21 and 1.65 times higher than the corresponding recommended values of national emission inventory guideline, resulting in underestimation of overall RVs' emissions. Distance-based emission factors of four pollutants ranked from high to low are farm road>rural road>provincial road. In contrast to the average emission factors of the China II RVs on the three road types, those of the China III RVs are significantly less in terms of distance and fuel consumption. The results of other researchers differ from those in this study: the CO emission factor of the China II RVs is 2.12 times higher than that of the China II light-duty diesel vehicles (LDDVs). The PM emission factor of the China III RVs is 2.67 times higher than that of the China III LDDVs. The NOx emission factors of the China II and III RVs are similar to those of the corresponding China II and III LDDVs. Our research increases the understanding of real-world emissions of RVs and can act as great references for policy makers developing RV emission baselines.

ASSESSMENT OF STREET AIR POLLUTION THROUGH OSPM MODEL IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Traffic emissions are one of the main contributors in worsening the air quality of developing countries like Pakistan. The current research work is an effort to find out emission factor of different classes of vehicles as well as to model the certain air pollutants level on five different main streets of Lahore, Pakistan. The Town Hall air quality monitoring station at Mall road is taken as background station. The data of street configuration, background urban air pollution, meteorological conditions, diurnal traffic count and emission factor of vehicles was calculated to model the street air pollution. Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM) was used to model the street pollutants. PM2.5 levels exceed National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) during all months of calendar year, while SO2 and NO2 exceed NEQS during entrance of heavy traffic at night in the city. Diesel vehicles have high SO2, NOx, PM2.5 and PM10 emission factors; while gasoline vehicles have high CO emission factors. Industrial region has relatively high level of SO2 emissions; while roadside have relatively high level of CO emissions. A significant correlation (rvalue > 0.5) was observed between modeled and observed results for all the streets for the NOx, SO2 and CO levels, except for NOx level at Gulberg (r-value= 0.42). The better modeling results have been observed for those streets which are relatively polluted spots and are close to the background station.

Chemical Characterization of Water-soluble Ions and Metals in Particulate Matter Generated by a Portable Two-stroke Gasoline Engine

ABSTRACT To examine the characteristics of water-soluble ions and metals on the particulate matter (PM) in the exhausts, a P2SGE (portable two-stroke gasoline engine) was fueled by unleaded gasoline #92 blended with different two-stroke engine oil brands (CPC Super Low Smoke Two-Stork Engine Oil (SLS), CPC Low Smoke Two-Stroke Engine Oil (LS), and MERCURY STAR (MS)) and operated under idling, mid-load (1.5 kW), and high-load (1.9 kW), respectively. Experimental results reveal that the PM mass concentrations in the exhausts were in the order MS (avg. 1,934 mg Nm–3) > SLS (avg. 1,543 mg Nm–3) > LS (avg. 1,167 mg Nm–3) in all test conditions. The mass concentrations and emission factors (EFs) of PM decreased as the P2SGE load increased by adding each tested lubricant. Based on fuel consumption, EFs of ΣIons were the lowest when utilizing the LS additive (avg. 89.7 mg L-fuel–1), followed by the MS and SLS (165 and 168 mg L-fuel–1, in average, respectively); whereas the lowest levels of ΣMetals were observed by using MS additive (avg. 61.3 mg L–1), followed by using the LS (avg. 83.8 mg L–1) and SLS (avg. 85.2 mg L–1). The soluble ions on the PM were mostly Na+, Ca2+, NO3–, and SO42– among eight tested species, which accounted for only 0.05–0.19% (avg. 0.1%) of PM mass. The 21 analyzed metal components represented only 0.05% of the mass of the PM, and were dominated by Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Fe, and Zn, which represented 98.7% by mass of ΣMetals. Our finding for portable engine emission has been rarely considered in the literature but it is unneglectable for labors who are usually exposed to the ions and metals. Further health risk assessment research is suggested to include temporarily real-life exposures with high pollutant levels.

Emission factors for PM&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;10&amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt; and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from illegal burning of different types of municipal waste in households

Abstract. It is a common practice in developing countries and in some regions of Europe that solid wastes generated in households (e.g. plastic beverage packaging and other plastic wastes, textile wastes, fibreboards, furniture, tyres, and coloured-paper waste) are burned in wood- or coal-fired stoves during the winter months. In Europe, the types and volume of municipal waste burned in households is virtually unknown because these activities are illegal and not recorded, with the exception of a few media reports or court cases. Even though particulate emissions from illegal waste burning pose a significant hazard to human health due to the combination of excessive emission factors (EFs) and uncontrolled chemical composition, there is scarce information on the specific EFs for PM10 and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the scientific literature. In this work, controlled combustion tests were performed with 12 different types of municipal solid waste, and particulate emissions were measured and collected for chemical analysis. Absolute EFs for PM10 and PAHs as well as the benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) toxicity equivalent of the latter are reported for the first time for the indoor combustion of 12 common types of municipal solid waste that are frequently burned in households worldwide. It was found that the PM10 emission factors from the combustion of wood-based waste samples were about twice that of firewood, whereas EFs in the range of 11–82 mg g−1 (a factor of 5–40 times higher than that of dry firewood under the same conditions) were obtained for different types of plastic waste. The latter were also found to emit exceptionally high quantities of PAHs, by a factor of 50–750 more than upon the combustion of dry firewood under the same conditions. Since the more toxic 4–6 ring PAHs were predominant in the particulate emission from plastic waste burning, BaP equivalent toxicity was up to 4100 times higher than that from wood combustion.

Particulate matter emissions reduction from residential wood stove using inert porous material inside its combustion chamber

Residential wood stoves are the most important source of air pollution and particulate matter in southern regions of Chile, where the Eucalyptus globulus is the most consumed biomass. In this context, the main objective of this experimental investigation was to evaluate the effect of the use of inert ceramics foams (Silicon carbide) inside the combustion chamber of residential wood stoves on particulate matter emissions. The porous ceramics were disposed in three configurations (floor, walls, and roof) in a single-chamber, and biomass was burned. Preliminary wood stoves combustion test showed that porous ceramics increase firewood burning rates, exhaust gases and external surface temperatures, and carbon dioxide emissions. Final combustion test results showed that for all configurations the particulate matter emission factors decreased at least in 20%. Being the porous ceramics located at the combustion chamber walls the configuration with the highest improvement, achieving a 61% reduction. The positive effect, on biomass combustion, of adding porous ceramics inside the combustion chamber could be attributed to a higher rate of the volatile organic compounds being burned due to heat and mass transfer intensification. Thus, further studies are necessary to identify an optimal design for a combustion chamber incorporating porous ceramics.