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SPECIATION OF GAS-PHASE AND FINE PARTICLE EMISSIONS FROM BURNING OF FOLIAR FUELS
Citation:
Hays**, M D., C D. Geron*, K J. Linna**, N D. Smith*, AND J. J. Schauer. SPECIATION OF GAS-PHASE AND FINE PARTICLE EMISSIONS FROM BURNING OF FOLIAR FUELS. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 36(11):2281-2295, (2002).
Description:
Particle size distributions (10-1000 nm aerodynamic diameter), physical and chemical properties of fine particle matter (PM2.5) with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 micrometers, and gas-phase emissions from controlled open burning of assorted taxa were measured. Chemical speciation of organic compounds, elements, and water-soluble ions in the PM2.5 and gas-phase emissions was achieved with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, ion chromatography (IC) techniques, and EPA Methods TO-
15 and TO- 11A. Data show unimodal PM2.5 distributions, indicative of an accumulation mode (xbar = 0.3 micrometers). Smoldering relative to flaming combustion is linked to smaller particle number and size distribution median. Emission factors for greater than 100 individual organic compounds in the primarily carbonaceous PM2.5 are expressed as milligrams of pollutant per kilogram of biofuel burned and classify n-alkane (30-278 mg/kg), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (3-68 mg/kg), n-alkanoic acid (310-830 mg/kg), n-alkanedioic acid (7-47 mg/kg), n-alkenoic acid (53-130 mg/kg), resin acid (50-2760 mg/kg), triterpenoid (31-127 mg/kg), and phytosterol (20-159 mg/kg) compounds. Identified compounds on average account for 17.8 +/- 2.8% of PM2.5 mass. Levoglucosan (333-1460 mg/kg) is consistently the most abundant molecular marker in the emissions and constitutes an especially narrow PM2.5 mass range (2.8-3.6%). Triterpenoids, alpha-amyrin and beta-amyrin, are discovered in emissions from burning taxa in the Palmae and Poaceae families (Aristida sp. and Sabal sp). Gas-phase C2-C13 hydrocarbon and C2-C9 carbonyl emissions comprise hazardous air pollutants and show low molecular mass compounds as most abundant. A cluster analysis with PM2.5 tracers as observations gives preliminary evidence of distinction between burning wood in a fireplace appliance and foliage in the open.