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Speciated VOC Emissions from an Outdoor Residential Pellet burning Hydronic Heater
Citation:
George, I., M. Hays, T. Yelverton, E. Thompson, C. Singer, Bill Linak, AND J. Kinsey. Speciated VOC Emissions from an Outdoor Residential Pellet burning Hydronic Heater. Emissions Inventory Conference, Baltimore, MD, August 15 - 18, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation summarizes preliminary results from a recently completed emissions study in AEMD where speciated emissions from a residential pellet burning hydronic heater were measured. The work improves the emissions data for these residential heating appliances so that their local air quality and health impacts can be accurately assessed. The presentation will be given at the Emissions Inventory Conference in Baltimore, MD on Aug 18th.
Description:
Outdoor hydronic heaters used for residential heating emit air pollutants such as particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can lead to deleterious impacts on local air quality and human health. Detailed speciated emissions measurements are required to accurately assess the environmental and health impacts of these appliances. However, few studies have quantified speciated emissions from hydronic heaters, particularly for those operating on non-woody biomass pellets. To address these data gaps, this work aims to characterize speciated VOC emissions from a commercially-available pellet-burning hydronic heater. The hydronic heater was operated under the Syracuse load cycle and under two steady-state load conditions (low load and full load) using two fuels, hardwood and switchgrass pellets. The hydronic heater emissions were sampled in a dilution duct and diluted with ambient air. VOC emissions from the hydronic heater were sampled from the dilution duct and analyzed according to EPA Methods TO-15 and TO-11A. The effect of load and fuel on the VOC emission profiles will be investigated in detail. VOC emission factors from this study will also be compared to literature values for other hydronic heaters and environmental implications will be discussed.