Particulate Matter measurement of a Two-Stage Boiler

The goal of this project is to develop an technique to measure the PM produced by a two-stage wood based boiler in an inexpensive manner while still preserving high degree of accuracy. The general idea involved in the process involves sampling of the exhaust gas using a vacuum pump. A filter paper with a permeability of 2μm is used to capture PM2.5 present in the exhaust. The sampled data is measured and PM content is presented in per million parts of the exhaust, at different intervals during the operation of the boiler. The results demonstrate the high water content of the flue gas, as is evident by the water dominates the mass of the residue immediately after the sampling. From dry samples, it can be inferred from that the highest PM production takes place during the initial few minutes of the exhaust while the least amount of PM is generated near the mid-point of the boiler run time.