Real-Time Chemical Composition Analysis of Particulate Emissions from Woodchip Combustion

Residential wood combustion is one of the major sources of fine particles. The chemical composition of the particles plays a key role in both adverse health and environmental effects. It is important to understand how chemical composition of particulate emissions varies during different combustion processes and conditions. In this work, combustion of wood chips was studied in a moving step-grate burner in different combustion conditions (efficient, intermediate, and smoldering) in the laboratory. The particulate emissions were measured with an Aerodyne high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-TOF-AMS). It was found that two phases were occurring frequently in the intermediate and smoldering combustion. Phase 1 took place when gaseous carbon monoxide (CO) was rapidly increasing after the new fuel addition. Phase 2 was a stable, burn-out period with low CO emissions until the new fuel addition and automatic removal of fuel leftovers from the grate. The analysis on the organic aerosol by ...