Characterizing biofuel combustion with patterns of real-time emission data (PaRTED).

Emission properties and quantities from combustion sources can vary significantly during operation, and this characteristic variability is hidden in the traditional presentation of emission test averages. As a complement to the emission test averages, we introduce the notion of statistical pattern analysis to characterize temporal fluctuations in emissions, using cluster analysis and frequency plots. We demonstrate this approach by comparing emissions from traditional and improved wood-burning cookstoves under in-field conditions, and also to contrast laboratory and in-field cookstove performance. Compared with traditional cookstoves, improved cookstoves eliminate emissions that occur at low combustion efficiency. For cookstoves where the only improvement is an insulated combustion chamber, this change results in emission of more light-absorbing (black) particles. When a chimney is added, the stoves produce more black particles but also have reduced emission factors. Laboratory tests give different results than in-field tests, because they fail to reproduce a significant fraction of low-efficiency events, spikes in particulate matter (PM) emissions, and less-absorbing particles. These conditions should be isolated and replicated in future laboratory testing protocols to ensure that stove designs are relevant to in-use operation.

Emission factors and real-time optical properties of particles emitted from traditional wood burning cookstoves.

It is estimated that the combustion of biofuel generates 20% of all carbonaceous aerosols, yet these particles are studied less than those of other common sources. We designed and built a portable battery-operated emission-sampling cart to measure the real-time optical properties and other emission characteristics of biofuel cookstoves. In a field study in Honduras, we measured emission factors averaging 8.5 g/kg, higher than those found in previous laboratory studies. Strong flaming events emitted very dark particles with the optical properties of black particles. The elemental carbon to total carbon ratios ranged from 0.07 to 0.64, confirming that high elemental carbon fractions can be emitted from biofuel combustion and may not be used to distinguish fossil-fuel from biofuel sources when cooking is the dominant usage. Absorption Angstrom exponents, representing the dependence of absorption on wavelength, ranged from 1 (black) to 5 (yellow). Strongly absorbing particles with absorption inversely dependent on wavelength were emitted separately from particles with weak absorption and strong wavelength dependence; the latter probably contained conjugated aromatic compounds. Because combustion occurs in distinct phases, different types of carbonaceous aerosols from biofuel combustion are externally mixed at emission and may have different atmospheric fates.