Emission of oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from biomass pellet burning in a modern burner for cooking in China

Guofeng Shen, Siye Wei, Yanyan Zhang, Rong Wang, Bin Wang, Wei Li, Huizhong Shen, Ye Huang, Yuanchen Chen, Han Chen, Wen Wei, Shu Tao*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

Biomass pellets are undergoing fast deployment widely in the world, including China. To this stage, there were limited studies on the emissions of various organic pollutants from the burning of those pellets. In addition to parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, oxygenated PAHs (oPAHs) have been received increased concerns. In this study, emission factors of oPAHs (EF oPAHs) were measured for two types of pellets made from corn straw and pine wood, respectively. Two combustion modes with (mode II) and without (mode I) secondary side air supply in a modern pellet burner were investigated. For the purpose of comparison, EF oPAHs for raw fuels combusted in a traditional cooking stove were also measured. EF oPAHs were 348 ± 305 and 396 ± 387 μg kg -1 in the combustion mode II for pine wood and corn straw pellets, respectively. In mode I, measured EF oPAHs were 77.7 ± 49.4 and 189 ± 118 μg kg -1, respectively. EFs in mode II were higher (2-5 times) than those in mode I mainly due to the decreased combustion temperature under more excess air. Compared to EF oPAHs for raw corn straw and pine wood burned in a traditional cooking stove, total EF oPAHs for the pellets in mode I were significantly lower (p < 0.05), likely due to increased combustion efficiencies and change in fuel properties. However, the difference between raw biomass fuels and the pellets burned in mode II was not statistically significant. Taking both the increased thermal efficiencies and decreased EFs into consideration, substantial reduction in oPAH emission can be expected if the biomass pellets can be extensively used by rural residents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)234-237
Number of pages4
JournalAtmospheric Environment
Volume60
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Biomass pellets
  • Emission factor
  • Emission reduction
  • Oxygenated PAHs

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