Emission of nanoparticles from coal and diesel fired power plants on Svalbard: An electron microscopy study

Sub-micrometer aerosol particles were collected at the stack of two coal power plants (Barentsburg, Longyearbyen), two diesel power plants (Pyramiden, Sveagruva) and one small-scale coal-burning boiler (Pyramiden) on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (Norway). Primary particles (n = 5752) in the size range of 100–1000 nm were investigated by operator-controlled high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX). Based on morphology and chemical composition primary particles were assigned to one of the following groups: soot, carbonaceous, fly ash spheres, Hg-containing particles, and mineral particles. Soot is the dominating particle group in most samples with a relative number abundance between 69 and 98%. Two coal burning samples have significantly lower soot contents of about 12 and 31%. The relative number abundance of the other particle groups is highly variable.