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Semivolatile and Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Wood-Fired Hydronic Heaters
Citation:
Aurell, J., B. Gullett, D. Tabor, A. Touati, AND L. Oudejans. Semivolatile and Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Wood-Fired Hydronic Heaters. David L. Sedlak (ed.), ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 46(14):7898–7904, (2012).
Impact/Purpose:
This paper provides the most comprehensive description of organic emissions from a wide variety of outdoor woood-fired hydronic heaters.
Description:
Four commercially available HH technologies were studied: a single-stage combustor with natural updraft, a three-stage downdraft combustion system, a bottom-fed pellet burner, and a two-stage heater with both a combustion and gasification chamber. The fuel consisted of three wood types (red oak, white pine, and white ash), one hardwood pellet brand, and one fuel mixture containing 95% red oak and 5% residential refuse by weight. The various HHs and fuel combinations were tested in a realistic homeowner fuel-charging scenario. Differences in emission levels were found between HH technologies and fuel types. PCDD/PCDF emissions ranged from 0.004-0.098 ng toxic equivalency/MJinput and PAHs from 0.49-54 mg/MJinput. The former was increased by the presence of 5% by weight refuse. The white pine fuel had the highest PAH emission factor, while the bottom fed pellet burner had the lowest. The major VOCs emitted were benzene, acetylene, and propylene. Our tests on these four units showed that most of the emissions could be reduced by 90% through use of a design that minimized damper cycling and maintained good combustion conditions.
