[1] Throughout South Asia biomass is commonly used as a fuel source for cooking and heating homes. The smoke from domestic use of these fuels is expected to be a major source of atmospheric particulate matter in the region and needs to be characterized for input in regional source apportionment models and global climate models. Biomass fuel samples including coconut leaves, rice straw, jackfrui...

Agricultural producers are interested in using biomass available on farms to substitute fossil fuels for heat production. However, energy crops like reed canary grass contain high nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), potassium (K) and other ash-forming elements which lead to increased emissions of gases and particulate matter (PM) and ash-related operational problems (e.g., melting) during combustion. To ...

A new organic aerosol module has been implemented into the EMEP chemical transport model. Four different volatility basis set (VBS) schemes have been tested in long-term simulations for Europe, covering the six years 2002–2007. Different assumptions regarding partitioning of primary organic aerosol and aging of primary semi-volatile and intermediate volatility organic carbon (S/IVOC) species an...

A calorific value of various biomass samples (waste of wood, paper, textile, agricultural plants) and liquid biofuels (bioethanol, biodiesel) has been studied in this paper. In addition, a specific combustion heat of the biomass samples was calculated, which almost was coincided with the experimental heating value. It was established that the specific combustion heat of the investigated solid p...

Several studies have attempted to determine the lower limit of atmospheric oxygen under which combustion can occur; however, none have been conducted within a fully controlled and realistic atmospheric environment. We performed experimental burns (using pine wood, moss, matches, paper, and a candle) at 20 degrees C in O2 concentrations ranging from 9 to 21% and at ambient and high CO2 (2000 par...

We have utilized a range of manufactured or commercial nanoparticulate materials, including surrogate carbon nano-PM along with combustion-generated carbonaceous (soot) nano-PM characteristic of environmental nano- PM (both indoor and outdoor) to investigate and compare their cytotoxic response in vitro with an immortalized human epithelial (lung model) cell line (A549). These have included nan...

[1] The wavelength dependence of light absorption by aerosols collected on filters is investigated throughout the near-ultraviolet to near-infrared spectral region. Measurements were made using an optical transmission method. Aerosols produced by biomass combustion, including wood and savanna burning, and by motor vehicles, including diesel trucks, are included in the analysis. These aerosol ty...

Black liquor is the residue from the kraft paper pulp process and consists, mainly, of water, lignin, organic residues from cellulose and hemicelluloses and inorganic matter (mostly sodium, potassium and sulfur). Before any combustion or gasification, the dry content of the black liquor is increased, typically from 14-18% to 75-80%, to permit autogenous combustion and high conversion efficiency...

Though the high prevalence of biomass fuel use in the developing world is widely known, the use of burning biomass for cooking and heating in the developed world is under-recognized. Combustion materials including coal and wood are also used for heating in some areas of the United States. We conducted a pilot study to assess the feasibility of conducting indoor environmental monitoring in rural...