Air quality and residential wood combustion - application of the model system SIMAIRrwc for some Swedish municipalities; Luftkvalitet och smaaskalig biobraensleeldning. Tillaempningar av SIMAIRved foer naagra kommuner

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Omstedt, Gunnar; Andersson, Stefan; Johansson, Christer; Loefgren, Bengt-Erik

2008-11-15

SIMAIRrwc is a Web based evaluation tool for meeting the EU directive on air pollution limits in residential areas using wood combustion. The background is a four-year research program (2001-2004) called Biomass Combustion Health and Environment. Some conclusions from this program were that emissions from small scale wood combustion can influence human health mainly due to high emitting old wood stoves during cold weather conditions and that the air quality in such areas can improve significantly if old wood stoves were replaced by modern wood boilers attached to a storage tank or with a pellet boiler. SIMAIRrwc is based on the same principles as SIMAIRroad, which is a Web based evaluation tool for road traffic i.e. coupled model system using different models on local, urban and regional geographical scales, best available emission data, but at the same time presented in a very simplified way. In this project SIMAIRrwc has been applied in five different Swedish municipalities. The aim has been to apply and improve the model in cooperation with the municipalities. The conclusions from the project are: Small scale wood combustions in residential areas are local problems which sometimes include only a few houses and/or wood-burners. Air quality problems related to the EU directive are mainly due to particles. Combinations of residential areas with wood combustion and emissions from nearby dense traffic roads might give rise to bad air quality. Actions require knowledge about individual equipment which needs information from the local chimney sweeps. The best way to identify problem areas is to use model calculations. If model calculations indicate risks of exceeding air quality limits, then new calculations should be made with improved input data taking into account for example information of district heating or other installations that can effect the emissions. Before actions are taken it may also be useful to make measurements. The measurement site can then be

Analytical electron microscopy of combustion particles: a comparison of vehicle exhaust and residential wood smoke

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kocbach, A.; Johansen, B.V.; Schwarze, P.E.; Namork, E.

2005-01-01

Particulate matter has been associated with a number of adverse health effects. Since combustion particles from vehicle exhaust and wood smoke are common constituents of ambient air, the morphology and elemental composition of particles from these two sources were analysed and compared using single particle analysis. Ambient air particles were collected in locations dominated by vehicle exhaust or residential wood smoke. To verify the source contributions to the ambient air samples, particles were collected directly from the combustion sources. All particulate samples were analysed on carbon extraction replica by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray microanalysis (XRMA). The particles were classified into four groups based on morphology and elemental composition. Carbon aggregates were the only particles identified to originate from combustion sources and accounted for more than 88% of the particle numbers in the ambient air samples from both sources. The carbon aggregates were therefore further analysed with respect to morphology and elemental composition on germanium extraction replica. Carbon aggregates from vehicle exhaust were characterised by higher levels of Si and Ca compared to wood smoke aggregates that contained higher levels of K. The S content in aggregates from both sources was probably caused by interaction with gases in the air. Furthermore, the diameters of primary particles from vehicle exhaust were significantly smaller (27±7 nm) than the diameters for wood smoke (38±11 nm). The observed differences in elemental profiles and primary particle diameters for vehicle exhaust and wood smoke may influence the health effects caused by these particles

Combustion Gases And Heat Release Analysis During Flame And Flameless Combustion Of Wood Pellets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Horváth Jozef

2015-06-01

Full Text Available With the growing prices of fossil fuels, alternative fuels produced of biomass come to the fore. They are made of waste materials derived from the processing of wood and wood materials. The main objective of this study was to analyse the fire-technical characteristics of wood pellets. The study analysed three dust samples acquired from wood pellets made of various types of wood biomass. Wood pellet dust is produced when manipulating with pellets. During this process a potentially hazardous situations may occur. Biomass is chemically composed mostly of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. During straining of the biomass by heat flux, combustion initiation occurs. Also, there was a change in the composition of material throughout combustion gases production, and the amount of heat generated by a flame or flameless combustion. Measurement of fire characteristics was conducted according to ISO 5660-1 standard using a cone calorimeter. Two samples of wood pellet dust were tested under the heat flux of 35 kW.m−2 and 50 kW.m−2. The process of combustion, the time to ignition, the carbon monoxide concentration and the amount of released heat were observed.

The environmental assessment of the wood combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinca, Cristian; Badea, Adrian; Apostol, Tiberiu

2007-01-01

In this paper, the authors analysed the emissions from residential boilers burning wood logs, bark pellets, wood briquettes and wood pellets. Three boilers, selected with respect to age, design, connection to heat storage tank, and type of biofuel, were included in the study. The emissions captured comprised carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), oxygen (O 2 ), total organic carbons (TOC), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAC) and 33 volatile organic compounds (VOC). We have used the Life Cycle Inventory method in order to identify the main stressors generated by the wood combustion stage. In this purpose, we have analysed one type of old boiler, one type of modern boiler and a multi-fuel boiler, which can burn wood logs, bark pellets, wood briquettes and wood pellets. In this article, we selected only the wood combustion stage because it is the most important according to the emissions produced. (authors)

Comparison of neighborhood-scale residential wood smoke emissions inventories using limited and intensive survey data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baxter, T.E.

1998-01-01

Emission inventory based estimations of pollutants resulting from residential combustion of wood are typically determined by collecting survey data that represent a single but relatively large area. While the pollutants in wood smoke emissions may represent a relatively low fraction (<10%) of an area's total annual emissions mass inventory, they can concentrate within the specific neighborhood areas where emitted. Thus, while the representativeness of a large-area survey approach is valid and useful, its application for estimating wood smoke pollutant levels within any particular neighborhood may be limited. The ability to obtain a better estimation of pollutant levels for evaluating potential health-related impacts within neighborhoods where wood smoke pollutants can concentrate requires survey data more representative of the particular area. This study compares residential wood combustion survey data collected from six residential neighborhoods in the metropolitan area of Flagstaff, Arizona. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the ability of data collected from a limited neighborhood-scale survey effort to represent that neighborhood's wood fuel consumption characteristics and wood smoke emissions. In addition, the variation that occurs between different neighborhoods regarding residential consumption of wood is also evaluated. Residential wood combustion survey data were collected compare wood burning device distribution, wood types and quantities burned, and emission rates. One neighborhood was surveyed once at approximately a 10% distribution rate and again at a 100% distribution rate providing data for evaluating the ability of a limited-effort survey to represent a more intensive survey. Survey methodology, results and recommendations are presented

Formation of dioxins and furans during combustion of treated wood

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tame, Nigel W.; Dlugogorski, Bogdan Z.; Kennedy, Eric M. [Process Safety and Environment Protection Research Group, School of Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308 (Australia)

2007-08-15

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/F, dioxin) are produced in combustion of wood treated with copper-based preservatives. This review summarises and analyses the pertinent literature on the role of preservatives in the formation of dioxin in the low-temperature, vitiated environment that exists in the domestic combustion of wood, and in large-scale fires. Until recently, the role of preservatives was not thoroughly examined in the literature with respect to fires, as incineration attracted most of the research focus. However, latest studies have demonstrated that some current and emerging wood preservatives significantly increase dioxin formation during combustion in domestic stoves and in fires. The following pathways are identified: (i) copper, a common biocide that is chemically bound to the wood, is an important dioxin catalyst, (ii) preservative metals promote smouldering of wood char following cessation of flaming, providing the required temperature environment for dioxin formation, and (iii) chlorinated organics added as secondary preservative components yield dioxin precursors upon thermal decomposition. These conclusions indicate that it remains hazardous to dispose of preservative impregnated timber via domestic combustion even if arsenic is not present. (author)

Using monosaccharide anhydrides to estimate the impact of wood combustion on fine particles in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saarnio, K.; Saarikoski, S. [Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki (Finland); Niemi, J.V. [HSY Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority, Helsinki (Finland)

2012-11-01

The spatiotemporal variation of ambient particles under the influence of biomass burning emissions was studied in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA) in selected periods during 2005-2009. Monosaccharide anhydrides (MAs; levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan), commonly known biomass burning tracers, were used to estimate the wood combustion contribution to local particulate matter (PM) concentration levels at three urban background sites close to the city centre, and at three suburban sites influenced by local small-scale wood combustion. In the cold season (October-March), the mean MAs concentrations were 115-225 ng m{sup -3} and 83-98 ng m{sup -} {sup 3}at the suburban and urban sites, respectively. In the warm season, the mean MAs concentrations were low (19-78 ng m{sup -3}), excluding open land fire smoke episodes (222-378 ng m{sup -}3{sup )}. Regionally distributed wood combustion particles raised the levels over the whole HMA while particles from local wood combustion sources raised the level at suburban sites only. The estimated average contribution of wood combustion to fine particles (PM{sub 2.5}) ranged from 18% to 29% at the urban sites and from 31% to 66% at the suburban sites in the cold season. The PM measurements from ambient air and combustion experiments showed that the proportions of the three MAs can be utilised to separate the wildfire particles from residential wood combustion particles. (orig.)

COMBUSTION PROPERTIES OF EUCALYPTUS WOOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yalçın ÖRS

1999-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, the combustion properties of some impregnation materials (abiotic and biotic factors used for eucalyptus wood in interior or exterior environments were investigated. The experimental samples were prepared from Eucalyptus wood based on ASTM-D-1413-76 Tanalith-CBC, boric acid, borax, vacsol-WR, immersol-WR, polyethylen glycole-400 and ammonium sulphate were used as an impregnation material. The results indicated that, vacuum treatment on Eucalyptus gave the lowest retention value of salts. Compounds containing boron+salt increased fire resistance however water repellents decreased the wood flammability.

Impact of Coal Fly Ash Addition on Combustion Aerosols (PM2.5) from Full-Scale Suspension-Firing of Pulverized Wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damø, Anne Juul; Wu, Hao; Frandsen, Flemming

2014-01-01

The formation of combustion aerosols was studied in an 800 MWth suspension-fired power plant boiler, during combustion of pulverized wood pellets with and without addition of coal fly ash as alkali capture additive. The aerosol particles were sampled and characterized by a low-pressure cascade im...

Wood combustion and NOx formation control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tewksbury, C.

1991-01-01

The control of wood combustion on stoker fed grates for optimum efficiency and the limiting of NO x (oxides of nitrogen) formation are not necessarily contradictory. This paper presents a matrix of air/fuel ratio control options, then discusses simple on-line monitoring techniques and the importance of operator training and alertness. The significance of uniform fuel feed and air distribution is emphasized. The relationships between combustion control and NO x formation are outlined both in theory and as tested. The experience of the McNeil Generating Station (the largest wood-fired, single boiler, stoker grate, utility electric generating station in the world) is used to demonstrate the theoretical principles. It has been observed that NO x emissions firing 100% whole tree chips with moisture contents as low as 40% by weight can be as low as 0.13 lb/MMBtu (MMBtu = 10 6 Btu) while still achieving a boiler efficiency in the range of 68% to 73% (in the high end of the design range) without the use of post-combustion treatment or flue gas recirculation (FGR). Problems of combustion and emissions control at steaming rates other than normal full-load are also examined. 2 figs., 4 tabs

Chemical speciation of PM2.5 emissions from residential wood combustion and meat cooking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonald, J.; Zielinska, B.; Fujita, E.; Chow, J.; Watson, J.; Sagebiel, J.; Sheetz, L.; Batie, S.

1998-01-01

Residential wood combustion and meat cooking emissions were each analyzed to develop a chemical emissions profile. Samples were collected using a DRI-constructed dilution stack sampler equipped with a 2.5 mm particle selective cyclone. Emissions were diluted 30-100 times, cooled to ambient temperature, and were allowed 80 seconds for condensation prior to collection. Fireplace and wood-stove emissions testing was conducted at the DRI facilities. Wood type, wood moisture, burn rate, and fuel load were varied for different experiments. Meat emissions testing was conducted at the CE-CERT stationary emissions lab in Riverside, California. Meat type, fat content, and the cooking appliance used were changed in different tests. Fine particle and semi-volatile organic compounds were collected on filter/PUF/XAD/PUF cartridges. Inorganic samples were collected on Teflon and quartz filters, which were analyzed for mass by gravimetry, elements by x-ray fluorescence, ammonium by automated colorimetry, organic and elemental carbon by thermal/optical reflectance, as well as chloride, nitrate, and sulfate by ion chromatography. Analysis of organic species was conducted by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). These data have been utilized for constructing specific profiles for use in the Chemical Mass Balance model for apportionment of fine particle sources in the Denver, Colorado, region

A novel field measurement method for determining fine particle and gas emissions from residential wood combustion

Science.gov (United States)

Tissari, Jarkko; Hytönen, Kati; Lyyränen, Jussi; Jokiniemi, Jorma

Emission data from residential wood combustion are usually obtained on test stands in the laboratory but these measurements do not correspond to the operational conditions in the field because of the technological boundary conditions (e.g. testing protocol, environmental and draught conditions). The field measurements take into account the habitual practice of the operators and provide the more reliable results needed for emission inventories. In this study, a workable and compact method for measuring emissions from residential wood combustion in winter conditions was developed. The emissions for fine particle, gaseous and PAH compounds as well as particle composition in real operational conditions were measured from seven different appliances. The measurement technique worked well and was evidently suitable for winter conditions. It was easy and fast to use, and no construction scaffold was needed. The dilution of the sample with the combination of a porous tube diluter and an ejector diluter was well suited to field measurement. The results indicate that the emissions of total volatile organic carbon (TVOC) (17 g kg -1 (of dry wood burned)), carbon monoxide (CO) (120 g kg -1) and fine particle mass (PM 1) (2.7 g kg -1) from the sauna stove were higher than in the other measured appliances. In the masonry heaters, baking oven and stove, the emissions were 2.9-9 g kg -1 TVOC, 28-68 g kg -1 CO and 0.6-1.6 g kg -1 PM 1. The emission of 12 PAHs (PAH 12) from the sauna stove was 164 mg kg -1 and consisted mainly of PAHs with four benzene rings in their structure. PAH 12 emission from other appliances was, on average, 21 mg kg -1 and was dominated by 2-ring PAHs. These results indicate that despite the non-optimal operational practices in the field, the emissions did not differ markedly from the laboratory measurements.

Effect of combustion condition on cytotoxic and inflammatory activity of residential wood combustion particles

Science.gov (United States)

Jalava, Pasi I.; Salonen, Raimo O.; Nuutinen, Kati; Pennanen, Arto S.; Happo, Mikko S.; Tissari, Jarkko; Frey, Anna; Hillamo, Risto; Jokiniemi, Jorma; Hirvonen, Maija-Riitta

2010-05-01

Residential heating is an important local source of fine particles and may cause significant exposure and health effects in populations. We investigated the cytotoxic and inflammatory activity of particulate emissions from normal (NC) and smouldering (SC) combustion in one masonry heater. The PM 1-0.2 and PM 0.2 samples were collected from the dilution tunnel with a high-volume cascade impactor (HVCI). Mouse RAW 264.7 macrophages were exposed to the PM-samples for 24 h. Inflammatory mediators, (IL-6, TNFα and MIP-2), and cytotoxicity (MTT-test), were measured. Furthermore, apoptosis and cell cycle of macrophages were analyzed. The HVCI particulate samples were characterized for ions, elements and PAH compounds. Assays of elemental and organic carbon were conducted from parallel low volume samples. All the samples displayed mostly dose-dependent inflammatory and cytotoxic activity. SC samples were more potent than NC samples at inducing cytotoxicity and MIP-2 production, while the order of potency was reversed in TNFα production. SC-PM 1-0.2 sample was a significantly more potent inducer of apoptosis than the respective NC sample. After adjustment for the relative toxicity with emission factor (mg MJ -1), the SC-PM emissions had clearly higher inflammatory and cytotoxic potential than the NC-PM emissions. Thus, operational practice in batch burning of wood and the resultant combustion condition clearly affect the toxic potential of particulate emissions.

Combustion Aerosols from Full-Scale Suspension-Firing of Wood Pellets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damø, Anne Juul; Wu, Hao; Frandsen, Flemming

2012-01-01

The objectives of the present work were to investigate the aerosol formation mechanisms during full-scale suspension firing of wood, and, to evaluate the effect of coal fly ash addition on the formation of aerosols under different ash load conditions. Tests with suspension firing of 100 % wood...

Residential wood heating: The forest, the atmosphere and the public consciousness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulland, J.F.; Hendrickson, O.Q.

1993-01-01

It is generally agreed by both energy and forestry scientists that, provided harvesting is conducted in a sustainable manner, the combustion of wood for energy production is essentially carbon dioxide neutral when the normal forest regeneration period is considered. When wood combustion replaces the consumption of fossil fuels, however, the net reduction in carbon dioxide release is almost immediate. In addition to the requirement of sustainable forestry practices, the maintenance of site biodiversity must also be considered. A preliminary review of the literature reveals that periodic selective harvesting can actually have a positive impact on the biodiversity of the forest. Despite the fact that the harvesting, processing and transportation of wood fuel invariably consumes fossil fuels, it has been shown in case studies that the energy return on investment can easily exceed a ratio of 25:1. Approximately 20 percent of the single family dwellings in Canada are heated to some extent with wood and the potential exists for an increasing contribution of wood fuel to residential energy requirements. However, there is evidence of confusion among the public regarding the environmental impact of woodburning, particularly as it relates to CO 2 emissions and carbon storage in forests. The confusion could impede the increased use of wood for residential heating because it calls into question the appropriateness of using wood for energy purposes. The forms of residential wood energy use that have evolved in rural North America provide important but neglected models of sustainable development. This could serve as the central theme of public information program to clarify the role of wood energy in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

Study of PAH emission from the solid fuels combustion in residential furnaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kakareka, Sergey V.; Kukharchyk, Tamara I.; Khomich, Valery S.

2005-01-01

The procedure for and results of a test study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission from a few types of solid fuels combustion in residential furnaces of various designs typical for Belarus are discussed. Greatest levels of PAH emission were detected from domestic wastes and wood waste combustion. Lowest levels of PAH emission are from peat briquette combustion. It was found that PAH concentration in off-gases from firewood combustion also varies significantly depending on the type of wood: the highest values of PAH are typical for waste gases from birch firewood combustion in comparison with pine firewood combustion. Draft PAH emission factors are proposed with intended application for emission inventory of such installations

Hazardous emissions, operating practices, and air regulations at industrial wood-fired facilities in Wisconsin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hubbard, A.J.

1993-01-01

Since October of 1988 the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has regulated over four hundred substances as hazardous air pollutants. The rule regulates new as well as existing sources of air pollution in Wisconsin. Consequently, all permits to operate an air pollution source in Wisconsin must address the hazardous air emissions potential of the source. While widely perceived as a clean-burning fuel, wood is often burned in a manner which clearly results in significant emissions of very hazardous air pollutants. Research conducted on a 20 million BTU per hour wood-fired spreader stoker boiler in northern Wisconsin showed that this boiler has the potential to emit 0.022 pound of benzene and 0.012 pound of formaldehyde per ton (lb/ton) of wood fired. Recent stack tests at more than a dozen other small industrial wood-fired facilities in Wisconsin show a range of formaldehyde emissions of 0.0007--0.1950 lb/ton. Work at Birchwood Lumber ampersand Veneer showed that the benzene and formaldehyde emission rates under good firing conditions are an order of magnitude lower than the benzene and formaldehyde emission rates under poor firing conditions. This finding has supported Wisconsin's regulatory approach of encouraging wood-fired facilities to enhance the quality of the combustion process as a technique to minimize the hazardous air pollution potential of industrial wood combustion. The Wisconsin strategy is to define open-quotes good combustion technologyclose quotes through easily measurable combustion parameters rather than emission standards. This paper presents several techniques in use in Wisconsin to comply with open-quotes good combustion technologyclose quotes for industrial wood-fired furnaces. These techniques include fuel blending overfire air, furnace insulation, and proper grate design

Combined particle emission reduction and heat recovery from combustion exhaust-A novel approach for small wood-fired appliances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Messerer, A.; Schmatloch, V.; Poeschl, U.; Niessner, R.

2007-01-01

Replacing fossil fuels by renewable sources of energy is one approach to address the problem of global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Wood combustion can help to replace fuel oil or gas. It is advisable, however, to use modern technology for combustion and exhaust gas after-treatment in order to achieve best efficiency and avoid air quality problems due to high emission levels often related to small scale wood combustion. In this study, simultaneous combustion particle deposition and heat recovery from the exhaust of two commercially available wood-fired appliances has been investigated. The experiments were performed with a miniature pipe bundle heat exchanger operating in the exhaust gas lines of a fully automated pellet burner or a closed fireplace. The system has been characterised for a wide range of aerosol inlet temperatures (135-295 deg. C) and flow velocities (0.13-1.0ms -1 ), and particle deposition efficiencies up to 95% have been achieved. Deposition was dominated by thermophoresis and diffusion and increased with the average temperature difference and retention time in the heat exchanger. The aerosols from the two different appliances exhibited different deposition characteristics, which can be attributed to enhanced deposition of the nucleation mode particles generated in the closed fire place. The measured deposition efficiencies can be described by simple linear parameterisations derived from laboratory studies. The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of thermophoretic particle removal from biomass burning flue gas and support the development of modified heat exchanger systems with enhanced capability for simultaneous heat recovery and particle deposition

Evaluation of various fire retardants for use in wood flour--polyethylene composites

Science.gov (United States)

Nicole M. Stark; Robert H. White; Scott A. Mueller; Tim A. Osswald

2010-01-01

Wood-plastic composites represent a growing class of materials used by the residential construction industry and the furniture industry. For some applications in these industries, the fire performance of the material must be known, and in some cases improved. However, the fire performance of wood-plastic composites is not well understood, and there is little...

Chemical composition and speciation of particulate organic matter from modern residential small-scale wood combustion appliances.

Science.gov (United States)

Czech, Hendryk; Miersch, Toni; Orasche, Jürgen; Abbaszade, Gülcin; Sippula, Olli; Tissari, Jarkko; Michalke, Bernhard; Schnelle-Kreis, Jürgen; Streibel, Thorsten; Jokiniemi, Jorma; Zimmermann, Ralf

2018-01-15

Combustion technologies of small-scale wood combustion appliances are continuously developed decrease emissions of various pollutants and increase energy conversion. One strategy to reduce emissions is the implementation of air staging technology in secondary air supply, which became an established technique for modern wood combustion appliances. On that account, emissions from a modern masonry heater fuelled with three types of common logwood (beech, birch and spruce) and a modern pellet boiler fuelled with commercial softwood pellets were investigated, which refer to representative combustion appliances in northern Europe In particular, emphasis was put on the organic constituents of PM2.5, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs) and phenolic species, by targeted and non-targeted mass spectrometric analysis techniques. Compared to conventional wood stoves and pellet boilers, organic emissions from the modern appliances were reduced by at least one order of magnitude, but to a different extent for single species. Hence, characteristic ratios of emission constituents and emission profiles for wood combustion identification and speciation do not hold for this type of advanced combustion technology. Additionally, an overall substantial reduction of typical wood combustion markers, such as phenolic species and anhydrous sugars, were observed. Finally, it was found that slow ignition of log woods changes the distribution of characteristic resin acids and phytosterols as well as their thermal alteration products, which are used as markers for specific wood types. Our results should be considered for wood combustion identification in positive matrix factorisation or chemical mass balance in northern Europe. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Retene Emission from Residential Solid Fuels in China and Evaluation of Retene as a Unique Marker for Soft Wood Combustion

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Guofeng; Tao, Shu; Wei, Siye; Zhang, Yanyan; Wang, Rong; Wang, Bin; Li, Wei; Shen, Huizhong; Huang, Ye; Yang, Yifeng; Wang, Wei; Wang, Xilong; Massey Simonich, Staci L.

2012-01-01

Retene (1-methyl-7-isopropylphenanthrene) is often used as a marker for softwood combustion and for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) source apportionment. The emission factors of retene (EFRET) from 11 crop residues, 27 firewood and 5 coals were measured using traditional rural Chinese stoves. Retene was measured in combustion emissions from all of the residential fuels tested and EFRET varied significantly among the fuels due to the differences in fuel properties and combustion conditions. EFRET for pine (0.34±0.08 mg/kg) and larch (0.29±0.22 mg/kg) were significantly higher than those of other wood types, including fir and cypress (0.081±0.058 mg/kg). However, EFRET for crop residues varied from 0.048±0.008 to 0.37±0.14 mg/kg and were not significantly lower than those for softwood (0.074±0.026 to 0.34±0.08 mg/kg). The EFRET for coal were very high and ranged from 2.2±1.5 (anthracite briquette) to 187±113 mg/kg (raw bituminous chunk). EFRET was positively correlated with EFs of co-emitted particulate matter (EFPM) and phenanthrene (EFPHE) for crop residue and coal, but not for wood. In addition, the ratios of EFPHE/EFRET and EFPM/EFRET for coals were much lower than those for crop residues and wood. These data suggest that retene is not a unique PAH marker for softwood combustion and that coal combustion, in particular, should be taken into account when retene is used for PAH source apportionment. PMID:22452486

A combustion model of vegetation burning in "Tiger" fire propagation tool

Science.gov (United States)

Giannino, F.; Ascoli, D.; Sirignano, M.; Mazzoleni, S.; Russo, L.; Rego, F.

2017-11-01

In this paper, we propose a semi-physical model for the burning of vegetation in a wildland fire. The main physical-chemical processes involved in fire spreading are modelled through a set of ordinary differential equations, which describe the combustion process as linearly related to the consumption of fuel. The water evaporation process from leaves and wood is also considered. Mass and energy balance equations are written for fuel (leaves and wood) assuming that combustion process is homogeneous in space. The model is developed with the final aim of simulating large-scale wildland fires which spread on heterogeneous landscape while keeping the computation cost very low.

Catalytic combustion in small wood burning appliances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oravainen, H [VTT Energy, Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

1997-12-31

There is over a million hand fired small heating appliances in Finland where about 5,4 million cubic meters of wood fuel is used. Combustion in such heating appliances is a batch-type process. In early stages of combustion when volatiles are burned, the formation of carbon monoxide (CO) and other combustible gases are difficult to avoid when using fuels that have high volatile matter content. Harmful emissions are formed mostly after each fuel adding but also during char burnout period. When the CO-content in flue gases is, say over 0.5 %, also other harmful emissions will be formed. Methane (CH{sub 4}) and other hydrocarbons are released and the amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)-compounds can be remarkable. Some PAH-compounds are very carcinogenic. It has been estimated that in Finland even more than 90 % of hydrocarbon and PAH emissions are due to small scale wood combustion. Emissions from transportation is excluded from these figures. That is why wood combustion has a net effect on greenhouse gas phenomena. For example carbon monoxide emissions from small scale wood combustion are two fold compared to that of energy production in power plants. Methane emission is of the same order as emission from transportation and seven fold compared with those of energy production. Emissions from small heating appliances can be reduced by developing the combustion techniques, but also by using other means, for example catalytic converters. In certain stages of the batch combustion, temperature is not high enough, gas mixing is not good enough and residence time is too short for complete combustion. When placed to a suitable place inside a heating appliance, a catalytic converter can oxidize unburned gases in the flue gas into compounds that are not harmful to the environment. (3 refs.)

Catalytic combustion in small wood burning appliances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oravainen, H. [VTT Energy, Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

1996-12-31

There is over a million hand fired small heating appliances in Finland where about 5,4 million cubic meters of wood fuel is used. Combustion in such heating appliances is a batch-type process. In early stages of combustion when volatiles are burned, the formation of carbon monoxide (CO) and other combustible gases are difficult to avoid when using fuels that have high volatile matter content. Harmful emissions are formed mostly after each fuel adding but also during char burnout period. When the CO-content in flue gases is, say over 0.5 %, also other harmful emissions will be formed. Methane (CH{sub 4}) and other hydrocarbons are released and the amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)-compounds can be remarkable. Some PAH-compounds are very carcinogenic. It has been estimated that in Finland even more than 90 % of hydrocarbon and PAH emissions are due to small scale wood combustion. Emissions from transportation is excluded from these figures. That is why wood combustion has a net effect on greenhouse gas phenomena. For example carbon monoxide emissions from small scale wood combustion are two fold compared to that of energy production in power plants. Methane emission is of the same order as emission from transportation and seven fold compared with those of energy production. Emissions from small heating appliances can be reduced by developing the combustion techniques, but also by using other means, for example catalytic converters. In certain stages of the batch combustion, temperature is not high enough, gas mixing is not good enough and residence time is too short for complete combustion. When placed to a suitable place inside a heating appliance, a catalytic converter can oxidize unburned gases in the flue gas into compounds that are not harmful to the environment. (3 refs.)

Hazardous air emissions potential from a wood-fired furnace

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hubbard, A.J.

1995-01-01

During the first week of April, 1991 the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) conducted a series of air emissions tests of a small industrial wood-fired boiler in northern Wisconsin. The boiler was firing a virgin hogged wood/wood waste fuel with a moisture content of about 35 percent. The pollutants measured were particulates, nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (GO), total hydrocarbons (THC), benzene, formaldehyde (CHOH), polycyclic organic matter (POM, e.g. Benzo (a) pyrene), aldehydes, and trace metals (As, Ba, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, K, Se, Na, and Zn). For two and a half days continuous emissions data were recorded by laboratory-certified continuous emissions monitors for CO, NOx, 0-2, THC, and COq2 while the EPA reference method stack tests were being conducted for the other pollutants. In addition, a WDNR test team measured CO, 0-2, and flue gas temperature with a Rosemount portable combustion analyzer for several hours over the course of those two and a half days. The principal purpose behind the study was to evaluate the hazardous air emissions potential of a small industrial furnace firing a virgin wood fuel. To that end, it was hoped that a surrogate pollutant could be identified which would represent the levels of hazardous air emissions (e.g., benzene) present in the wood-fired furnace flue gases. If a readily monitorable pollutant could be identified, then a regulatory strategy of measuring one representative pollutant could be put in place to continually assess the hazardous emissions potential of virgin wood combustion. (UK)

Statistical assessment of fire safety in multi-residential buildings in Slovenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domen Kušar

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Nearly a third of residential units in Slovenia are located in multi-residential buildings. The majority of such buildings were built after WW2, when the need for suitable accommodation buildings was at its peak. They were built using the construction possibilities and requirements of the time. Every year there are over 200 fires in these buildings, resulting in fatalities and vast material damage. Due to the great efforts over the past centuries, which were all mainly aimed at replacing combustible construction materials with non-combustible ones, and with advancements in fire service equipment and techniques, the number of fires and their scope has decreased significantly but they were not entirely put out. New and greater advances in the field of fire safety of multi-residential buildings became obvious within the last few years, when stricter regulations regarding the construction of such objects came into force. Developments in science and within the industry itself brought about several new solutions in improving the situation in this field, which has been confirmed by experiences from abroad. Unfortunately in Slovenia, the establishment of safety principles still depends mainly on an occupants’ perception, financial means, and at the same time, certain implementation procedures that are much more complicated due to new property ownership. With the aid of the statistical results from the 2002 Census and contemporary fire safety requirements, this article attempts to show the present-day situation of the problem at both the state and municipality level and will propose solutions to improve this situation. The authors established that not even one single older, multi-residential building meets complies with modern requirements. Fortunately, the situation is improved by the fact that most buildings in Slovenia are built from non-combustible materials (concrete, brick, which limit the spread of fire.

Development and evaluation of a new depressurization spillage test for residential gas-fired combustion appliances : final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, P.

2005-07-01

This paper presented a newly developed combustion depressurization spillage test for residential combustion appliances. The test uses carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) that is produced in the fuel combustion process as a tracer gas. The test accurately measures the amount of combustion spillage from residential combustion appliances and their venting systems when they operate at certain levels of depressurization. Seven commonly used gas-fired appliances were used to evaluate the new test as well as the appliances. These included 2 power-vented storage-tank water heaters, 1 mid-efficiency furnace, 2 high-efficiency condensing furnaces, and 2 direct-vent gas fireplaces. Tests were performed for each unit with the test room initially depressurized by 50 Pa compared with the pressure outside the room. If the combustion spillage exceeded 2 per cent, the test was repeated with the room depressurized by 20 Pa, and then by 5 Pa. Each appliance was operated for 5 minutes of burner operation during which time the burner fuel consumption, the concentration of CO 2 and the exhaust fan flow rate were monitored. Measurements were taken for 2 minutes following burner shut off. The amount of CO 2 that was released into the test room from the appliance and its venting system was determined from the measurements and then compared with the amount of CO 2 that would be produced by combustion of the fuel that was consumed during the test. The ratio of the 2 provided a direct measure of the combustion spillage of the appliance and its venting system. The study revealed that 3 products had undetectable levels of combustion spillage, 3 products had low, but measurable combustion spillage, and 1 product had significant combustion spillage. refs., tabs., figs

Firing with wood chips in heating and cogeneration plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kofman, P.D.

1992-01-01

The document was produced for use as detailed teaching material aimed at spreading information on the use of wood chips as fuel for heating and cogeneration plants. It includes information and articles on wood fuels generally, combustion values, chopping machines, suppliers, occupational health hazards connected with the handling of wood chips, measuring amounts, the selection of types, prices, ash, environmental aspects and information on the establishment of a wood-chip fired district heating plant. (AB)

Yearbook 1998. TULISIJA Research Programme for Wood Firing Technology; Vuosikirja - Aarsbok 1997. TULISIJA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ljung, M.; Kilpinen, P. [eds.

1999-11-01

TULISIJA is the 3-year national research programme for small scale wood firing technology with the aim to assist manufacturers in their efforts to develop the most emission-free, yet efficient, wood firing equipment in the world. The following ten projects have been in progress during the year 1998: The behaviour of fuel; Computational fluid dynamics simulation of combustion in small scale wood ovens; computational fluid dynamics simulation of combustion in small scale wood ovens and modelling of emission chemistry; Modelling of heat transfer in fireplace walls and constructions; Detailed emission and temperature measurements in the TULISIJA test oven; Measurement environment for fireplace testing; Reduction of emissions from soapstone fireplaces; Development of a new modular method for fireplace manufacture; Replacement of energy intensive raw material with recycled industrial waste and further development of combustion processes in fireplaces and Instructions for dimensioning and design of fireplaces for optimum living atmosphere in residences

In situ high-temperature gas sensors: continuous monitoring of the combustion quality of different wood combustion systems and optimization of combustion process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Kohler

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The sensing characteristics and long-term stability of different kinds of CO ∕ HC gas sensors (non-Nernstian mixed potential type during in situ operation in flue gas from different types of low-power combustion systems (wood-log- and wood-chip-fuelled were investigated. The sensors showed representative but individual sensing behaviour with respect to characteristically varying flue gas composition over the combustion process. The long-term sensor signal stability evaluated by repeated exposure to CO ∕ H2 ∕ N2 ∕ synthetic air mixtures showed no sensitivity loss after operation in the flue gas. Particularly for one of the sensors (Heraeus GmbH, this high signal stability was observed in a field test experiment even during continuous operation in the flue gas of the wood-chip firing system over 4 months. Furthermore, it was experimentally shown that the signals of these CO ∕ HC sensing elements yield important additional information about the wood combustion process. This was demonstrated by the adaptation of an advanced combustion airstream control algorithm on a wood-log-fed fireplace and by the development of a combustion quality monitoring system for wood-chip-fed central heaters.

Morphology, composition, and mixing state of primary particles from combustion sources ? crop residue, wood, and solid waste

OpenAIRE

Liu, Lei; Kong, Shaofei; Zhang, Yinxiao; Wang, Yuanyuan; Xu, Liang; Yan, Qin; Lingaswamy, A. P.; Shi, Zongbo; Lv, Senlin; Niu, Hongya; Shao, Longyi; Hu, Min; Zhang, Daizhou; Chen, Jianmin; Zhang, Xiaoye

2017-01-01

Morphology, composition, and mixing state of individual particles emitted from crop residue, wood, and solid waste combustion in a residential stove were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our study showed that particles from crop residue and apple wood combustion were mainly organic matter (OM) in smoldering phase, whereas soot-OM internally mixed with K in flaming phase. Wild grass combustion in flaming phase released some Cl-rich-OM/soot particles and cardboard combusti...

Fire extinguishing strength of the combustion product of wood saw ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Forty saw dust samples from four mature hard wood plants grown in southwestern part of Nigeria were analyzed for their ash contents, moisture contents, metallic contents and hence the fire extinguishing strength of the saw dust ash by classical and instrumental methods of analyses. Mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) wood saw ...

A NOVEL FIRE RETARDANT AFFECTS FIRE PERFORMANCE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD FLOUR-HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE COMPOSITES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingzhu Pan,

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Wood flour-high density polyethylene (HDPE composites were prepared to investigate the effects of ammonium polyphosphate based fire retardant content (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10-wt%, on the flammability, mechanical, and morphological properties of the wood flour-HDPE composites in this study. Cone calorimetry analysis showed that the addition of fire retardant could decrease the heat release rate (HRR and total smoke release of wood flour-HDPE composites, while it had no obviously effects on effective heat of combustion. Most of the decrease of the HRR occurred with the concentration of the fire retardant up to 4-wt%. With addition of fire retardant, the composites showed a decrease in tensile elongation at break and impact strength, and had no obvious effect on tensile and flexural strength. The scanning electron microscopy observation on the fracture surface of the composites indicated that fire retardant had a uniform dispersion in the wood flour-HDPE composites. However, interfacial bonding would be suggested to improve in wood flour-HDPE composites with ammonium polyphosphate based fire retardant.

FIRE RESISTANCE OF DOUGLAS FIR [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb. Franco] WOOD TREATED WITH SOME CHEMICALS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Kemal YALINKILIÇ

1998-02-01

Full Text Available Combustible properties of treated douglas wood specimens and fire-retardancy of some preservatives were tested in this study. Crib test of ASTM E 160-150 was followed. Results indicated that, aqueous solutions of boric acid (BA, borax (Bx (Na2BO7 10H2O or BA + Bx mixture (7: 3, w: w had fire retardant efficacy (FRE over untreated wood and reduced the combustibility of vinil monomers (Styrene and methylmetacrylate which were applied as secondary treatment.

Emission factors of particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and levoglucosan from wood combustion in south-central Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Jimenez, Jorge; Farias, Oscar; Quiroz, Roberto; Yañez, Jorge

2017-07-01

In south-central Chile, wood stoves have been identified as an important source of air pollution in populated areas. Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), Chilean oak (Nothofagus oblique), and mimosa (Acacia dealbata) were burned in a single-chamber slow-combustion wood stove at a controlled testing facility located at the University of Concepción, Chile. In each experiment, 2.7-3.1 kg of firewood were combusted while continuously monitoring temperature, exhaust gases, burn rate, and collecting particulate matter samples in Teflon filters under isokinetic conditions for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and levoglucosan analyses. Mean particulate matter emission factors were 2.03, 4.06, and 3.84 g/kg dry wood for eucalyptus, oak, and mimosa, respectively. The emission factors were inversely correlated with combustion efficiency. The mean emission factors of the sums of 12 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particle phases were 1472.5, 2134.0, and 747.5 μg/kg for eucalyptus, oak, and mimosa, respectively. Fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, and chrysene were present in the particle phase in higher proportions compared with other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that were analyzed. Mean levoglucosan emission factors were 854.9, 202.3, and 328.0 mg/kg for eucalyptus, oak, and mimosa, respectively. Since the emissions of particulate matter and other pollutants were inversely correlated with combustion efficiency, implementing more efficient technologies would help to reduce air pollutant emissions from wood combustion. Residential wood burning has been identified as a significant source of air pollution in populated areas. Local wood species are combusted for home cooking and heating, which releases several toxic air pollutants, including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Air pollutant emissions depend on the type of wood and the technology and operational conditions of the wood stove. A better understanding of emissions from

Full-scale Milling Tests of Wood Pellets for Combustion in a Suspension-Fired Power Plant Boiler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Masche, Marvin; Puig Arnavat, Maria; Wadenbäck, Johan

The size reduction of pelletized wood is crucial in suspension-fired power plants, and hence its milling characteristics are of interest to optimize the milling and combustion process. The objective of the study was to compare the size and shape of pellets disintegrated in hot water with that from......), and analyzing the comminuted particle shape and particle size distribution (PSD). Large-scale pellet comminution produced finer and wider PSDs than pellet disintegration in hot water, but only slightly altered the particle shape. The mill pressure loss, absorbed mill power, and hence SGEC depended on the pellet...

An overview of particulate emissions from residential biomass combustion

Science.gov (United States)

Vicente, E. D.; Alves, C. A.

2018-01-01

Residential biomass burning has been pointed out as one of the largest sources of fine particles in the global troposphere with serious impacts on air quality, climate and human health. Quantitative estimations of the contribution of this source to the atmospheric particulate matter levels are hard to obtain, because emission factors vary greatly with wood type, combustion equipment and operating conditions. Updated information should improve not only regional and global biomass burning emission inventories, but also the input for atmospheric models. In this work, an extensive tabulation of particulate matter emission factors obtained worldwide is presented and critically evaluated. Existing quantifications and the suitability of specific organic markers to assign the input of residential biomass combustion to the ambient carbonaceous aerosol are also discussed. Based on these organic markers or other tracers, estimates of the contribution of this sector to observed particulate levels by receptor models for different regions around the world are compiled. Key areas requiring future research are highlighted and briefly discussed.

The impact of co-combustion of polyethylene plastics and wood in a small residential boiler on emissions of gaseous pollutants, particulate matter, PAHs and 1,3,5- triphenylbenzene.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomsej, Tomas; Horak, Jiri; Tomsejova, Sarka; Krpec, Kamil; Klanova, Jana; Dej, Milan; Hopan, Frantisek

2018-04-01

The aim of this study was to simulate a banned but widely spread practice of co-combustion of plastic with wood in a small residential boiler and to quantify its impact on emissions of gaseous pollutants, particulate matter (PM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene (135TPB), a new tracer of polyethylene plastic combustion. Supermarket polyethylene shopping bags (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate bottles (PET) were burnt as supplementary fuels with beech logs (BL) in an old-type 20 kW over-fire boiler both at a nominal and reduced heat output. An impact of co-combustion was more pronounced at the nominal heat output: an increase in emissions of PM, total organic carbon (TOC), toxic equivalent (TEQ) of 7 carcinogenic PAHs (c-PAHs) and a higher ratio of c-PAHs TEQ in particulate phase was observed during co-combustion of both plastics. 135TPB was found in emissions from both plastics both at a nominal and reduced output. In contrast to findings reported in the literature, 135TPB was a dominant compound detected by mass spectrometry on m/z 306 exclusively in emissions from co-combustion of PE. Surprisingly, six other even more abundant compounds of unknown identity were found on this m/z in emissions from co-combustion of PET. One of these unknown compounds was identified as p-quaterphenyl (pQ). Principal component analysis revealed strong correlation among 135TPB, pQ and five unknown compounds. pQ seems to be suitable tracers of polyethylene terephthalate plastic co-combustion, while 135TPB proved its suitability to be an all-purpose tracer of polyethylene plastics combustion. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interactive wood combustion for botanical tree models

KAUST Repository

Pirk, Sören

2017-11-22

We present a novel method for the combustion of botanical tree models. Tree models are represented as connected particles for the branching structure and a polygonal surface mesh for the combustion. Each particle stores biological and physical attributes that drive the kinetic behavior of a plant and the exothermic reaction of the combustion. Coupled with realistic physics for rods, the particles enable dynamic branch motions. We model material properties, such as moisture and charring behavior, and associate them with individual particles. The combustion is efficiently processed in the surface domain of the tree model on a polygonal mesh. A user can dynamically interact with the model by initiating fires and by inducing stress on branches. The flames realistically propagate through the tree model by consuming the available resources. Our method runs at interactive rates and supports multiple tree instances in parallel. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through numerous examples and evaluate its plausibility against the combustion of real wood samples.

Heat Release Rate of an Open Kitchen Fire of Small Residential Units in Tall Buildings

OpenAIRE

Chow, W.K.

2014-01-01

Many small units of area less than 30 m2 in residential buildings over 200 m tall are equipped with open kitchens in Asia, including Hong Kong. Fire safety provisions of these kitchens are determined by performance-based design (PBD). In most PBD projects, only the spread of smoke from the kitchen on fire to the outside was commonly studied. However, a fire load survey in Hong Kong indicated large quantities of combustibles are stored in residential units. Cooking oil was found to be ignited ...

Morphology, composition, and mixing state of primary particles from combustion sources - crop residue, wood, and solid waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lei; Kong, Shaofei; Zhang, Yinxiao; Wang, Yuanyuan; Xu, Liang; Yan, Qin; Lingaswamy, A P; Shi, Zongbo; Lv, Senlin; Niu, Hongya; Shao, Longyi; Hu, Min; Zhang, Daizhou; Chen, Jianmin; Zhang, Xiaoye; Li, Weijun

2017-07-11

Morphology, composition, and mixing state of individual particles emitted from crop residue, wood, and solid waste combustion in a residential stove were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our study showed that particles from crop residue and apple wood combustion were mainly organic matter (OM) in smoldering phase, whereas soot-OM internally mixed with K in flaming phase. Wild grass combustion in flaming phase released some Cl-rich-OM/soot particles and cardboard combustion released OM and S-rich particles. Interestingly, particles from hardwood (pear wood and bamboo) and softwood (cypress and pine wood) combustion were mainly soot and OM in the flaming phase, respectively. The combustion of foam boxes, rubber tires, and plastic bottles/bags in the flaming phase released large amounts of soot internally mixed with a small amount of OM, whereas the combustion of printed circuit boards and copper-core cables emitted large amounts of OM with Br-rich inclusions. In addition, the printed circuit board combustion released toxic metals containing Pb, Zn, Sn, and Sb. The results are important to document properties of primary particles from combustion sources, which can be used to trace the sources of ambient particles and to know their potential impacts in human health and radiative forcing in the air.

Characterisation of wood combustion ashes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maresca, Alberto

The combustion of wood chips and wood pellets for the production of renewable energy in Denmark increased from 5.7 PJ to 16 PJ during the period 2000-2015, and further increases are expected to occur within the coming years. In 2012, about 22,300 tonnes of wood ashes were generated in Denmark....... Currently, these ashes are mainly landfilled, despite Danish legislation allowing their application onto forest and agricultural soils for fertilising and/or liming purposes. During this PhD work, 16 wood ash samples generated at ten different Danish combustion plants were collected and characterised...... for their composition and leaching properties. Despite the relatively large variations in the contents of nutrients and trace metals, the overall levels were comparable to typical ranges reported in the literature for other wood combustion ashes, as well as with regards to leaching. In general, the composition...

Inventory of usage pattern for wood burning appliances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, David; Joeborn, Inger; Sjoedin, Aake; Munkhammar, Inger; Gustavsson, Lennart

2005-02-01

The Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL) in co-operation with the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute (SP) and Statistics Sweden (SCB) have investigated the use of domestic wood burning for wood stoves and open fireplaces. The results from a closer examination of existing national energy statistics for residential heating has enabled a division of the average consumption of firewood for each house by the category 'fireplace for open fire' and 'tiled stove/heating stove/fireplace for wood'. The estimation of emissions can therefore be improved by differentiating emission factors for different wood stoves and open fireplaces. Today, only one emission factor is used. An insight into general firing procedures, wood storage routines etc. was investigated using a questionnaire for the Teleborg area of the city Vaexjoe. The results of this study provide a foundation for further work, which will subsequently enable improvements for emission inventories on small-scale biomass combustion from household appliances

Combustion of Waste Wood. Second phase of the collaboration project on waste wood combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, Annika; Andersson, Christer; Eriksson, Jan; Hemstroem, Bengt; Jungstedt, Jenny; Kling, Aasa; Bahr, Bo von; Ekvall, Annika; Eskilsson, David; Tullin, Claes; Harnevie, Henrik; Sieurin, Jan; Keihaes, Juha; Mueller, Christian; Berg, Magnus; Wikman, Karin

2003-08-01

Combustion of waste wood has during the last decade increased dramatically and this has resulted in a number of Swedish plants using this fuel, e.g. Handeloe P11 (Norrkoeping) and ldbaecken P3 (Nykoeping), and yet other plants that are under construction (e.g. Nynaeshamn). The experience from these plants are that waste wood combustion results in a number of operational problems. To some extent these problems are different compared with the problems related to combustion of other biofuels but the situation is not directly comparable to waste incinerators. The problems are mainly related to slagging and fouling of heat exchanger surfaces and accelerated corrosion at relatively low temperature compared to the situation for ordinary biofuels. In some cases an increase in the emissions of specific substances can also result in difficulties to fulfil the EC-directive on waste combustion. Within previous projects the main problems related to combustion of waste wood have been identified and to some extent the cause of these problems has been clarified. One result of this reported investigation is a deeper understanding of the actual causes of these problems. However, the most important result is a number of recommendations for different measures on how to achieve disturbance-free combustion of waste wood. These recommendations actually summarises the most important possible solutions on how to achieve a disturbance-free operation and a lower maintenance cost for boilers combusting waste wood and can thereby be regarded as a short summery of the whole project: 1) Improving fuel quality by Improved sorting at the source and Sieving of the fuel -> Reducing the amount of metals and chlorine and Separation of fines and thereby reducing the amount of metals. 2) Combustion modifications by Avoiding reducing conditions at the heat exchanger surfaces -> Minimising slagging, fouling and corrosion. 3) Additives or co-combustion by Addition of sulphur with the fuel; Injection of

Lump wood combustion process

Science.gov (United States)

Kubesa, Petr; Horák, Jiří; Branc, Michal; Krpec, Kamil; Hopan, František; Koloničný, Jan; Ochodek, Tadeáš; Drastichová, Vendula; Martiník, Lubomír; Malcho, Milan

2014-08-01

The article deals with the combustion process for lump wood in low-power fireplaces (units to dozens of kW). Such a combustion process is cyclical in its nature, and what combustion facility users are most interested in is the frequency, at which fuel needs to be stoked to the fireplace. The paper defines the basic terms such as burnout curve and burning rate curve, which are closely related to the stocking frequency. The fuel burning rate is directly dependent on the immediate thermal power of the fireplace. This is also related to the temperature achieved in the fireplace, magnitude of flue gas losses and the ability to generate conditions favouring the full burnout of the fuel's combustible component, which, at once ensures the minimum production of combustible pollutants. Another part of the paper describes experiments conducted in traditional fireplaces with a grate, at which well-dried lump wood was combusted.

Engineering economic assessment of residential wood heating in NY

Science.gov (United States)

We provide insight into the recent resurgence in residential wood heating in New York by: (i) examining the lifetime costs of outdoor wood hydronic heaters (OWHHs) and other whole-house residential wood heat devices,(ii) comparing these lifetime costs with those of competing tech...

Model development for spatial variation of PM2.5 emissions from residential wood burning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yong Q, Tian; Peng Gong; Qian Yu; Radke, John D.

2004-01-01

This paper presents a preliminary research result of spatially quantifying and allocating the potential activity of residential wood burning (RWB) by using demographic, hypsographic, climatic and topographic information as independent variables. We also introduce the method for calculating PM 2.5 emission from residential wood combustion with the potential activity as primary variable. A linear regression model was generated to describe spatial and temporal distribution of the potential activity of wood burning as primary heating source. In order to improve the estimation, the classifications of urban, suburban and rural were redefined to meet the specifications of this application. Also, a unique way of defining forest accessibility is found useful in estimating the activity potential of RWB. The results suggest that the potential activity of wood burning is mostly determined by elevation of a location, forest accessibility, urban/non-urban position, climatic conditions and several demographic variables. The analysis results were validated using survey data collected through face-to-face and telephone interviews over the study area in central California. The linear regression model can explain approximately 86% of the variation of surveyed wood burning activity potential. The total PM 2.5 emitted from woodstoves and fireplaces is analyzed for the study region at county level. (Author)

Danish emission inventories for stationary combustion plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Malene; Nielsen, Ole-Kenneth; Plejdrup, Marlene Schmidt

Emission inventories for stationary combustion plants are presented and the methodologies and assumptions used for the inventories are described. The pollutants considered are SO2, NOx, NMVOC, CH4, CO, CO2, N2O, NH3, particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins, HCB and PAH. The CO2 emission in 2008...... incineration plants. The combustion of wood in residential plants has increased considerably in recent years resulting in increased emission of PAH, particulate matter and CO. The emission of NMVOC has increased since 1990 as a result of both the increased combustion of wood in residential plants...... and the increased emission from lean-burn gas engines. The dioxin emission decreased since 1990 due to flue gas cleaning on waste incineration plants. However in recent years the emission has increased as a result of the increased combustion of wood in residential plants....

Danish emission inventories for stationary combustion plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Malene; Nielsen, Ole-Kenneth; Plejdrup, Marlene Schmidt

Emission inventories for stationary combustion plants are presented and the methodologies and assumptions used for the inventories are described. The pollutants considered are SO2, NOx, NMVOC, CH4, CO, CO2, N2O, particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins, HCB and PAH. The CO2 emission in 2007 was 10...... incineration plants. The combustion of wood in residential plants has increased considerably in recent years resulting in increased emission of PAH, particulate matter and CO. The emission of NMVOC has increased since 1990 as a result of both the increased combustion of wood in residential plants...... and the increased emission from lean-burn gas engines. The dioxin emission decreased since 1990 due to flue gas cleaning on waste incineration plants. However in recent years the emission has increased as a result of the increased combustion of wood in residential plants....

Ashes from straw and wood-chip fired plants for agricultural usage. Pilot project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morsing, M.; Westborg, S.

1994-08-01

The content of nutrients and heavy metals in ashes from the combustion of straw and wood chips at district heating plants is studied, on the basis of results of analyses from Danish municipalities, to determine whether such ashes are suitable for use as fertilizers. Results of the analysis of ashes from 9 wood-chip fired and 26 straw-fired plants are presented. They show significant variations in nutrient and heavy metal content which could be caused by combustion and operational conditions and/or testing methods. On condition that the phosphorous content of straw and wood-chip ashes amount to 1% of the dry matter, 50%-75% of the straw ashes and under 50% of wood chip ashes analyses are within the limit for cadmium stipulated in the Danish Ministry of the Environment's Executive Order no. 736 on the use of wastes for agricultural purposes. This is found to be unsatisfactory. It is suggested that a closer investigation should be undertaken in order to determine which amount of straw and wood-chip ashes can be accepted for use as fertilizers in consideration of the stipulated limits for cadmium content of wastes to be used for agricultural purposes. In addition the technological and economic potentials of dosing of these ashes for this use should be investigated. Fly ash and slag were also included in the analysis results studied and it was found that the cadmium content of slag did not prevent its use as fertilizer, but that the distribution of cadmium in slag, in fly ash and in slam from flue gas cleaning systems related to the combustion of wood chips should be further investigated. (AB)

Advanced CFD modelling of air and recycled flue gas staging in a waste wood-fired grate boiler for higher combustion efficiency and greater environmental benefits.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajh, Boštjan; Yin, Chungen; Samec, Niko; Hriberšek, Matjaž; Kokalj, Filip; Zadravec, Matej

2018-07-15

Grate-fired boilers are commonly used to burn biomass/wastes for heat and power production. In spite of the recent breakthrough in integration of advanced secondary air systems in grate boilers, grate-firing technology needs to be advanced for higher efficiency and lower emissions. In this paper, innovative staging of combustion air and recycled flue gas in a 13 MW th waste wood-fired grate boiler is comprehensively studied based on a numerical model that has been previously validated. In particular, the effects of the jet momentum, position and orientation of the combustion air and recycled flue gas streams on in-furnace mixing, combustion and pollutant emissions from the boiler are examined. It is found that the optimized air and recycled flue gas jets remarkably enhance mixing and heat transfer, result in a more uniform temperature and velocity distribution, extend the residence time of the combustibles in the hot zone and improve burnout in the boiler. Optimizing the air and recycled flue gas jet configuration can reduce carbon monoxide emission from the boiler by up to 86%, from the current 41.0 ppm to 5.7 ppm. The findings of this study can serve as useful guidelines for novel design and optimization of the combustion air supply and flue gas recycling for grate boilers of this type. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fire Safety Design of Wood Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hertz, Kristian Dahl

2006-01-01

Lecture Notes on Fire Safety Design of Wood Structures including charring of wood and load bearing capacity of beams, columns, and connections.......Lecture Notes on Fire Safety Design of Wood Structures including charring of wood and load bearing capacity of beams, columns, and connections....

Emission of PCDD/F, PCB, and HCB from combustion of firewood and pellets in residential stoves and boilers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedman, Björn; Naslund, Morgan; Marklund, Stellan

2006-08-15

To assess potential emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) from residential combustion of biofuels, experiments were performed in which various types of pellets and firewood were combusted in four types of stoves and boilers, with both full and reduced rates of air supply. Intermittent combustion of wood pellets resulted in emissions of 11 ng-(WHO-TEQ)/kg combusted fuel (dry weight). A modern, environmentally certified boiler yielded somewhat lower emissions of PCCD/F and PCB than a wood stove. Both gave <0.1 ng(WHO-TEQ)/m3n (1.3-6.5 ng(WHO-TEQ)/kg) and considerably lower emissions than an old boiler (7.0-13 ng(WHO-TEQ)/kg). No positive effect on emissions could be observed in full air combustion (simulating the use of a heat storage tank) compared to combustion with reduced air. Two of the wood combustion experiments included paper and plastic waste fuels. Chlorine-containing plastic waste gave rise to high emissions: ca. 310 ng(WHO-TEQ)/ kg over the whole combustion cycle. The homologue profiles of PCDD/Fs show characteristic differences between ashes and flue gas from combustions with different levels of air supply. These differences do not, however, seem to have any correlation to the relative amount of toxic congeners.

Fire Situations and Prevention Measures of residential building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhou Baixia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The proportion of residential building is the largest in all buildings. With the development of urbanization, residential building fires are at high momentum. The paper lists the residential building fires and the number of casualties’ proportion to total fires from 2011 to 2014, analyzing the high incidence causes of the fires and casualties and putting forward suggestions and countermeasures including carrying out fire safety education to improve the fire safety awareness of residents, fulfilling responsibility to enhancing fire safety management capabilities, perfecting fire apparatus to develop fire safety environment and enhancing public awareness of fire safety, equipping evacuation equipments to promote response ability to deal with disasters etc.

FIRE INSURANCE AND WOOD SCHOOL BUILDINGS.

Science.gov (United States)

PURCELL, FRANK X.

A COMPARISON OF FIRE INSURANCE COSTS OF WOOD, MASONRY, STEEL AND CONCRETE STRUCTURES SHOWS FIRE INSURANCE PREMIMUMS ON WOOD STRUCTURES TEND TO BE HIGHER THAN PREMIUMS ON MASONRY, STEEL AND CONCRETE BUILDINGS, HOWEVER, THE INITIAL COST OF THE WOOD BUILDINGS IS LOWER. DATA SHOW THAT THE SAVINGS ACHIEVED IN THE INITIAL COST OF WOOD STRUCTURES OFFSET…

Thermochemical Modeling and Experimental Validation of Wood Pyrolysis Occurring During Pre-ignition Combustion

Science.gov (United States)

Fawaz, M.; Lautenberger, C.; Bond, T. C.

2017-12-01

The use of wood as a solid fuel for cooking and heating is associated with high particle emission which largely contribute to the dispersion of particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere. The majority of those particles are released during the "pre-ignition" phase, i.e., before flaming of the wood occurs. In this work, we investigate the factors that influence the emission of PM during pre-ignition and lead to high particle emission to the atmosphere. During this combustion phase, at elevated temperature, pyrolysis is responsible for wood degradation and the production of gaseous materials that travel and exit the wood. We model the thermal degradation using Gpyro, an open source finite volume method numerical model to simulate heat, mass, and momentum transfer in the wood. In our analysis, we study factors that vary during combustion and that influence emission of PM: wood sample size and boundary conditions. In a fire the boundary conditions represent the thermal energy a piece of wood receives from the surrounding in the form of heat flux. We find that heat transfer is the limiting process governing the production and transport of gas from the wood, and that the amount of emitted PM is dependent on the size of the wood. The dependence of heat transfer from the boundaries on PM emission becomes more important with increasing wood log size. The model shows that a small log of wood (6cm by 2cm) emits close values of total mass of gas at low and high heat fluxes. For a large log of wood (20cm by 5cm) the total mass of gas emitted increases by 30% between low and high heat flux. We validate the model results with a controlled-temperature reactor that accommodates centimeter scale wood samples. The size of the wood used, indicates the abundance of wood in the region where wood is used a solid fuel. Understanding those factors will allow for defining conditions that result in reducing particle emissions during combustion.

Elemental and organic carbon in flue gas particles of various wood combustion systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaegauf, C.; Schmid, M.; Guentert, P.

2005-12-15

The airborne particulate matter (PM) in the environment is of ever increasing concern to authorities and the public. The major fractions of particles in wood combustion processes are in the size less than 1 micron, typically in the range of 30 to 300 nm. Of specific interest is the content of the elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) in the particles since these substances are known for its particular potential as carcinogens. Various wood combustion systems have been analysed (wood chip boiler, pellet boiler, wood log boiler, wood stove and open fire). The sampling of the particles was done by mean of a multi-stage particle sizing sampler cascade impactor. The impactor classifies the particles collected according to their size. The 7 stages classify the particles between 0.4 and 9 microns aerodynamic diameter. The analytical method for determining the content of EC and OC in the particles is based on coulometry. The coulometer measures the conductivity of CO{sub 2} released by oxidation of EC in the samples at 650 {sup o}C. The OC content is determined by pyrolysis of the particle samples in helium atmosphere.

Volatile organic compound analysis in wood combustion and meat cooking emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zielinska, B.; McDonald, J.

1999-01-01

Residential wood combustion and meat cooking emissions were each analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOC). Emissions were diluted 60--100 times, cooled to ambient temperature, and allowed 80 seconds for condensation prior to collection with the aid of a DRI-constructed dilution stack sampler. Fireplace and wood-stove emissions testing was conducted at the DRI facilities. Wood type, wood moisture, burn rate, and fuel load were varied for different experiments. Meat emissions testing was conducted at the CE-CERT stationary emissions lab, University of California, Riverside. Meat type, fat content, and cooking appliance were changed in different tests. VOCs were collected using stainless-steel 6 L canisters and Tenax cartridges, whereas for carbonyl compound collection 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH)-impregnated C 18 SepPack cartridges were used. Analysis of VOC collected with canisters and Tenax cartridges was conducted by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) and by GC/FID/ECD (flame ionization detection/electron capture detection). DNPH-impregnated cartridges were analyzed for fourteen C 1 --C 7 carbonyl compounds, using the HPLC method. The results of these measurements are discussed

Energy balance of a wood biomass combustion process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baggio, P.; Cemin, A.; Grigiante, M.; Ragazzi, M.

2001-01-01

This article reports the results of a project developed at the University of Trent dealing with some wood biomass combustion processes. The project has been particularly dedicated to the study of the energetic analysis of the combustion processes that occur on a gasified wood stove of advanced combustion technologies. A considerable number of experimental tests has been carried out making use of different type of wood widely in use in Trentino region. The wood stove is a part of a pilot plant providing an hydraulic circuit equipped with a specific apparatus to measure all the necessary data to determine the energy balance required and specifically the thermal efficiency of the plant [it

Quantitative data on the fire behavior of combustible materials found in nuclear power plants: A literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowlen, S.P.

1987-02-01

This report presents the findings of a task in which currently available fire research literature was reviewed for quantitative data on the burning characteristics of combustible materials that are found in nuclear power plants. The materials considered for which quantitative data were available include cable insulation materials, flammable liquids, furniture, trash and general refuse, and wood and wood products. A total of 90 figures and tables, taken primarily from the referenced works, which summarize the available quantitative fire characterization information for these materials is presented

Recycling of impregnated wood and impregnating agents - combustion plant technology; Kyllaestetyn puutavaran ja kyllaestysaineiden kierraetys - polttolaitostekniikka

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Syrjaenen, T.; Kangas, E. [Kestopuu Oy, Helsinki (Finland)

2000-07-01

purification systems cause extra investments. The emissions limits for combustion of impregnated wood are given in EU's Waste Incineration Directive. The amount of collected impregnated wood is sufficient for a 25 MW plant. Solid fuels fired gasification, grate firing and fluidized bed boilers suit best fir combustion of impregnated wood waste, gasification and fluidized beds being the best, because of the efficient combustion and low ash formation. Flue gas purification system is essential for incineration of impregnated wood. Chromium and copper, released in combustion, remain mainly in ash, but 60-90% of arsenic migrates in flue gases as small particles. By combining different technologies it is possible to obtain better recovery of impurities. One of the best methods is based on spraying of fluid in pre-cooling system into flue gases in order to cool the gases rapidly and to stop the reactions in the flue gases. After this the flue gases are pre-cleaned and cooled in a venturi scrubber. Fiber filters are recommended for dedusting of the flue gases. The formed ashes are recycled in Outokumpu Harjavalta metals copper smelter as raw material, which requires that the sintered material content of ash is low. The condensing waters of flue gas scrubbing can be used for preparation of copper/chromium/arsenic (CCA) concentrate.

Catalysts for cleaner combustion of coal, wood and briquettes sulfur dioxide reduction options for low emission sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, P.V. [Global Environmental Solutions, Inc., Morton Grove, IL (United States)

1995-12-31

Coal fired, low emission sources are a major factor in the air quality problems facing eastern European cities. These sources include: stoker-fired boilers which feed district heating systems and also meet local industrial steam demand, hand-fired boilers which provide heat for one building or a small group of buildings, and masonary tile stoves which heat individual rooms. Global Environmental Systems is marketing through Global Environmental Systems of Polane, Inc. catalysts to improve the combustion of coal, wood or fuel oils in these combustion systems. PCCL-II Combustion Catalysts promotes more complete combustion, reduces or eliminates slag formations, soot, corrosion and some air pollution emissions and is especially effective on high sulfur-high vanadium residual oils. Glo-Klen is a semi-dry powder continuous acting catalyst that is injected directly into the furnace of boilers by operating personnel. It is a multi-purpose catalyst that is a furnace combustion catalyst that saves fuel by increasing combustion efficiency, a cleaner of heat transfer surfaces that saves additional fuel by increasing the absorption of heat, a corrosion-inhibiting catalyst that reduces costly corrosion damage and an air pollution reducing catalyst that reduces air pollution type stack emissions. The reduction of sulfur dioxides from coal or oil-fired boilers of the hand fired stoker design and larger, can be controlled by the induction of the Glo-Klen combustion catalyst and either hydrated lime or pulverized limestone.

Emissions from small-scale combustion of biomass fuels - extensive quantification and characterization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boman, Christoffer; Nordin, Anders; Oehman, Marcus; Bostroem, Dan [Umeaa Univ. (Sweden). Energy Technology and Thermal Process Chemistry; Westerholm, Roger [Stockholm Univ., Arrhenius Laboratory (Sweden). Analytical Chemistry

2005-02-01

This work was a part of the Swedish national research program concerning emissions and air quality with the sub-programme concerning biomass, health and environment - BHM. The main objective of the work was to systematically determine the quantities and characteristics of gaseous and particulate emissions from combustion in residential wood log and biomass fuel pellet appliances and report emission factors for the most important emission components. The specific focus was on present commercial wood and pellet stoves as well as to illustrate the potentials for future technology development. The work was divided in different subprojects; 1) a literature review of health effects of ambient wood smoke, 2) design and evaluation of an emission dilution sampling set-up, 3) a study of the effects of combustion conditions on the emission formation and characteristics and illustrate the potential for emission minimization during pellets combustion, 4) a study of the inorganic characteristics of particulate matter during combustion of different pelletized woody raw materials and finally 5) an extensive experimental characterization and quantification of gaseous and particulate emissions from residential wood log and pellet stoves. From the initial literature search, nine relevant health studies were identified, all focused on effects of short-term exposure. Substantial quantitative information was only found for acute asthma in relation to PM10. In comparison with the general estimations for ambient PM and adverse health effects, the relative risks were even stronger in the studies where residential wood combustion was considered as a major PM source. However, the importance of other particle properties than mass concentration, like chemical composition, particle size and number concentration remain to be elucidated. A whole flow dilution sampling set-up for residential biomass fired appliances was designed, constructed and evaluated concerning the effects of sampling

Emissions from small-scale combustion of biomass fuels - extensive quantification and characterization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boman, Christoffer; Nordin, Anders; Oehman, Marcus; Bostroem, Dan [Umeaa Univ. (Sweden). Energy Technology and Thermal Process Chemistry; Westerholm, Roger [Stockholm Univ., Arrhenius Laboratory (Sweden). Analytical Chemistry

2005-02-01

This work was a part of the Swedish national research program concerning emissions and air quality with the sub-programme concerning biomass, health and environment - BHM. The main objective of the work was to systematically determine the quantities and characteristics of gaseous and particulate emissions from combustion in residential wood log and biomass fuel pellet appliances and report emission factors for the most important emission components. The specific focus was on present commercial wood and pellet stoves as well as to illustrate the potentials for future technology development. The work was divided in different subprojects; 1) a literature review of health effects of ambient wood smoke, 2) design and evaluation of an emission dilution sampling set-up, 3) a study of the effects of combustion conditions on the emission formation and characteristics and illustrate the potential for emission minimization during pellets combustion, 4) a study of the inorganic characteristics of particulate matter during combustion of different pelletized woody raw materials and finally 5) an extensive experimental characterization and quantification of gaseous and particulate emissions from residential wood log and pellet stoves. From the initial literature search, nine relevant health studies were identified, all focused on effects of short-term exposure. Substantial quantitative information was only found for acute asthma in relation to PM10. In comparison with the general estimations for ambient PM and adverse health effects, the relative risks were even stronger in the studies where residential wood combustion was considered as a major PM source. However, the importance of other particle properties than mass concentration, like chemical composition, particle size and number concentration remain to be elucidated. A whole flow dilution sampling set-up for residential biomass fired appliances was designed, constructed and evaluated concerning the effects of sampling

Test Firing of chunk wood - Is it possible to automate the fuel supply?; Proveldning av knubbved - Aer det moejligt att automatisera braenslematningen?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Persson, Tomas; Danielsson, Bengt-Olof

2013-05-15

Chunk wood is a wood fuel with a fuel particle length typically between 50 and 150 mm. The ad-vantage of chunk wood compared to wood chips is that the fuel dry as fast as fuel wood, but can be produced and handled as wood chip. Technologies for efficient producing, drying and distribution of Chunk wood have been developed since the 1970:s and machines for manufacturing the fuel is available on the market, but still there is no small-scale heating equipment in operation to burn the fuel automatically. The aim of the study was to investigate how the feeding and firing of chunk wood works in a standard 200 kW biomass boiler for various types of biofuels. The main focus was on studying how the fuel feeding system works using chunk wood and if the combustion and emissions are satisfactory. The boiler have a main fuel feeding auger screw connected to the bottom of the fuel storage, followed by a cell feeder and another auger screw that is feeding the fuel into the combustion chamber. The power consumption for the fuel feeding auger screws and the CO-emissions were measured during the firing period. In order to obtain reference values for the stresses in the fuel feeding system and the CO-emissions, regular wood chips were initially fired followed by the chunk wood firing. During the chunk wood firing period several interruptions in the fuel feeding occurred, as the trigger mechanism for the motor protection stopped the fuel supply. Most of the interruptions, however, could be resolved through manual reversing of the fuel feeding auger screw. Only at two occasions the entrance to the auger screw were manually cleared from large fuel pieces. The cell feeder and the auger screw feeding the fuel into the combustion chamber were stopped twice, and to continue operating the boiler it was enough to restart the feeding system. However, as they are both operated by the same motor we do not know whether the two shutdowns that occurred were caused by feeding problems in the auger

Residential Electrostatic Precipitator - Performance at efficient and poor combustion conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baefver, Linda; Yngvesson, Johan; Niklasson, Fredrik

2012-07-01

The performance of a pilot residential electrostatic precipitator R{sub E}SP (Applied Plasma Physics AS), was investigated at laboratory. Measurements of TSP (Total Suspended Particles), content of organic and elemental carbon, and mass size distribution of particles upstream and downstream of ESP were performed. Values for PM1 (particles < 1 {mu}m) were calculated from the particle size distributions. Concentrations and size distributions with respect to particle numbers were measured in separate tests. Gas concentrations, temperatures and boiler parameters were also measured. The TSP concentrations upstream of the R{sub E}SP were varied in range of 15-390 mg/m{sub N}{sup 3}. Up to concentrations of about 300 mg/m{sub N}{sup 3}, the TSP-concentrations out from the ESP were less than 20 mg/m{sub N}{sup 3}, which is well below the German emission limit for wood stoves. The removal efficiencies with respect to mass were about 87% at efficient combustion and 93% at poor combustion. Corresponding values with respect to number concentrations were about 97% at efficient combustion and almost 99% at poor combustion. The better performance at poor combustion may be explained by lower flue gas temperature, leading to longer residence time in the ESP. High removal efficiencies were also found with respect to particulate organic and elemental carbon.

30 CFR 77.1913 - Fire-resistant wood.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fire-resistant wood. 77.1913 Section 77.1913 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH... Shaft Sinking § 77.1913 Fire-resistant wood. Except for crossties, timbers, and other wood products...

Chapter 6: Fire damage of wood structures

Science.gov (United States)

B. Kukay; R.H. White; F. Woeste

2012-01-01

Depending on the severity, fire damage can compromise the structural integrity of wood structures such as buildings or residences. Fire damage of wood structures can incorporate several models that address (1) the type, cause, and spread of the fire, (2) the thermal gradients and fire-resistance ratings, and (3) the residual load capacity (Figure 6.1). If there is a...

Theoretical and experimental studies on emissions from wood combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skreiberg, Oeyvind

1997-12-31

This thesis discusses experiments on emissions from wood log combustion and single wood particle combustion, both caused by incomplete combustion and emissions of nitric and nitrous oxide, together with empirical and kinetic NO{sub x} modelling. Experiments were performed in three different wood stoves: a traditional stove, a staged air stove and a stove equipped with a catalytic afterburner. Ideally, biomass fuel does not give a net contribution to the greenhouse effect. However, incomplete combustion was found to result in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Empirical modelling showed the excess air ratio and the combustion chamber temperature to be the most important input variables controlling the total fuel-N to NO{sub x} conversion factor. As the result of an international round robin test of a wood stove equipped with a catalytic afterburner, particle emission measurements were found to be the best method to evaluate the environmental acceptability of the tested stove, since the particle emission level was least dependent of the national standards, test procedures and calculation procedures used. In batch single wood particle combustion experiments on an electrically heated small-scale fixed bed reactor the fuel-N to NO conversion factor varied between 0.11-0.86 depending on wood species and operating conditions. A parameter study and homogeneous kinetic modelling on a plug flow reactor showed that, depending on the combustion compliance in question, there is an optimum combination of primary excess air ratio, temperature and residence time that gives a maximum conversion of fuel-N to N{sub 2}. 70 refs., 100 figs., 26 tabs.

Disentangling effects of key coarse woody debris fuel properties on its combustion, consumption and carbon gas emissions during experimental laboratory fire

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhao, Weiwei; van Logtestijn, Richard S.P.; van der Werf, Guido R.; van Hal, Jurgen R.; Cornelissen, Johannes H.C.

2018-01-01

Coarse woody debris is a key terrestrial carbon pool, and its turnover through fire plays a fundamental role in global carbon cycling. Coarse dead wood fuel properties, which vary between tree species and wood decay stages, might affect its combustion, consumption and carbon gas emissions during

Energy wood. Part 2b: Wood pellets and pellet space-heating systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nussbaumer, T.

2002-01-01

The paper gives an overview on pellet utilization including all relevant process steps: Potential and properties of saw dust as raw material, pellet production with drying and pelletizing, standardization of wood pellets, storage and handling of pellets, combustion of wood pellets in stoves and boilers and applications for residential heating. In comparison to other wood fuels, wood pellets show several advantages: Low water content and high heating value, high energy density, and homogeneous properties thus enabling stationary combustion conditions. However, quality control is needed to ensure constant properties of the pellets and to avoid the utilization of contaminated raw materials for the pellet production. Typical data of efficiencies and emissions of pellet stoves and boilers are given and a life cycle analysis (LCA) of wood pellets in comparison to log wood and wood chips is described. The LCA shows that wood pellets are advantageous thanks to relatively low emissions. Hence, the utilization of wood pellet is proposed as a complementary technology to the combustion of wood chips and log wood. Finally, typical fuel cost of wood pellets in Switzerland are given and compared with light fuel oil. (author)

Low-NO{sub x}, wood chip combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saastamoinen, J.; Oravainen, H.; Haemaelaeinen, J.; Paakkinen, K. [VTT Energy, Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

1997-10-01

The regulations for nitrogen oxide emissions vary in different countries, but the general trend in the future will probably be that the emissions limits will be lowered also for wood combustion plants, which are small or medium size units. Thus, the development of wood chip burning furnaces (grate furnaces, fluidized bed combustors, stoker furnaces) with lower nitrogen oxide emissions, is important. The wood used in the combustor, its particle size, moisture and fuel properties (nitrogen content) affect the nitrogen emissions. The nitrogen oxide release is also much affected by the design and operation of the combustor (air staging, fuel air preheat, flue gas circulation, air to fuel mass ratio). The fate of nitrogen compounds originally in the virgin wood depends much on the design of the combustor system and by proper planning it is possible to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides. Basic knowledge of the release of nitrogen compounds from single wood particles is attained. The release of gaseous nitrogen compounds from wood particles during pyrolysis and combustion is studied experimentally and by modelling. Nitrogen release is studied experimentally by two ways, by analysing the gas and by quenching the particle and analysing the char residue. Formation of nitrogen oxide emissions in a fuel bed is studied by modelling and by combustion experiments with a pot furnace. This research gives general information of nitrogen oxide formation in wood bunting especially in fixed beds. The development of a horizontal stoker burner for wood chips with low emissions is the practical aim of the research. (orig.)

Development of a Smart Residential Fire Protection System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juhwan Oh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Embedded system is applied for the development of smart residential fire detection and extinguishing system. Wireless communication capability is integrated into various fire sensors and alarm devices. The system activates the fire alarm to warn occupants, executes emergency and rescue calls to remote residents and fire-fighting facility in an intelligent way. The effective location of extra-sprinklers within the space of interest for the fire extinguishing system is also investigated. Actual fire test suggests that the developed wireless system for the smart residential fire protection system is reliable in terms of sensors and their communication linkage.

Municipal solid waste combustion: Fuel testing and characterization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bushnell, D.J.; Canova, J.H.; Dadkhah-Nikoo, A.

1990-10-01

The objective of this study is to screen and characterize potential biomass fuels from waste streams. This will be accomplished by determining the types of pollutants produced while burning selected municipal waste, i.e., commercial mixed waste paper residential (curbside) mixed waste paper, and refuse derived fuel. These materials will be fired alone and in combination with wood, equal parts by weight. The data from these experiments could be utilized to size pollution control equipment required to meet emission standards. This document provides detailed descriptions of the testing methods and evaluation procedures used in the combustion testing and characterization project. The fuel samples will be examined thoroughly from the raw form to the exhaust emissions produced during the combustion test of a densified sample.

Compilation of air pollutant emission factors. Volume 1. Stationary point and area sources. Supplement E

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-10-01

In the Supplement to the Fourth Edition of AP-42 Volume I, new or revised emissions data are presented for Anthracite Coal Combustion; Natural Gas Combustion; Liquified Petroleum Gas Combustion; Wood Waste Combustion In Boilers; Bagasse Combustion In Sugar Mills; Residential Fireplaces; Residential Wood Stoves; Waste Oil Combustion; Automobile Body Incineration; Conical Burners; Open Burning; Stationary Gas Turbines for Electricity Generation; Heavy Duty Natural Gas Fired Pipeline Compressor Engines; Gasoline and Diesel Industrial Engines; Large Stationary Diesel and All Stationary Dual Fuel Engines; Soap and Detergents; and Storage of Organic Liquids

The analysis of fire losses and characteristics of residential fires based on investigation data in Selangor, 2012-2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan Yi Rong

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This is a research in progress where authors seek to investigate the factors of residential fires. As part of the research, this paper aims to analyse the fire problems faced by the community of Malaysia. Data regarding residential fires between 2012 and 2014 was collected from fire investigation reports prepared by the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department. Descriptive analysis is conducted to summarize the data collected and describe the common phenomenon of residential fires. The distributions of the fire characteristics suggested that residential fires are commonly occurred during daytime, confined within the room of fire origin, caused by electrical failure and cooking negligence, started from kitchen, and occurred in multi-units housing. Further analysis will be conducted in order to investigate the relationships between the characteristics and residential fires.

Development of a coal fired pulse combustor for residential space heating. Phase I, Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1988-04-01

This report presents the results of the first phase of a program for the development of a coal-fired residential combustion system. This phase consisted of the design, fabrication, testing, and evaluation of an advanced pulse combustor sized for residential space heating requirements. The objective was to develop an advanced pulse coal combustor at the {approximately} 100,000 Btu/hr scale that can be integrated into a packaged space heating system for small residential applications. The strategy for the development effort included the scale down of the feasibility unit from 1-2 MMBtu/hr to 100,000 Btu/hr to establish a baseline for isolating the effect of scale-down and new chamber configurations separately. Initial focus at the residential scale was concentrated on methods of fuel injection and atomization in a bare metal unit. This was followed by incorporating changes to the advanced chamber designs and testing of refractory-lined units. Multi-fuel capability for firing oil or gas as a secondary fuel was also established. Upon completion of the configuration and component testing, an optimum configuration would be selected for integrated testing of the pulse combustor unit. The strategy also defined the use of Dry Ultrafine Coal (DUC) for Phases 1 and 2 of the development program with CWM firing to be a product improvement activity for a later phase of the program.

WOOD STOVE EMISSIONS: PARTICLE SIZE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Science.gov (United States)

The report summarizes wood stove particle size and chemical composition data gathered to date. [NOTE: In 1995, EPA estimated that residential wood combustion (RWC), including fireplaces, accounted for a significant fraction of national particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter...

Combustion and extinction of magnesium fires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malet, J.C.; Duverger de Cuy, G.

1988-01-01

The studies made in France on magnesium combustion and extinguishing means are associated at the nuclear fuel of the graphite-gas reactor. Safety studies are made for ameliorate our knowledge on: - magnesium combustion - magnesium fire propagation - magnesium fire extinguishing [fr

Development of a residential wood smoke reduction plan in a wood burning community: A case study in Libby, Montana

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fox, R.J.; Manderino, L.; Lyons, C.E.; Morris, A.L.; Anderson, R.L.

1992-01-01

Libby, Montana depends on wood as a heating fuel. Libby exceeded the 24-hour federal PM10 ambient air quality standard every year since monitoring began in 1987. Residential wood smoke significantly contributes to its air pollution. To decrease residential wood smoke's contribution to air pollution, residents have to modify their heating habits. County officials sponsored the development of a comprehensive community-oriented plan to reduce wood smoke. This paper describes how the plan was developed and the components of the air pollution reduction strategies. The plan was developed using community input and tailored to local conditions. Four specific strategies were developed to reduce residential wood smoke pollution. Development of strategies required analysis of home heating habits and potential alternatives. Economic conditions were also considered. Expensive control strategies would be worthless unless alternative funding methods were provided. Thus, the plan included an array of funding sources to facilitate implementation. The development and implementation techniques are applicable to other communities with similar air pollution challenges

Wood-fired electricity generation in Eastern Ontario

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1978-07-01

The feasibility of using large areas of currently unproductive rural land in Ontario for poplar plantations which would supply fuel for wood-fired power plants was examined. Information is included on the productive potential of such poplar plantations, the technology of wood-fired steam-electric plants, costs of wood and water supplies, location of plants, cost of power generation, and socio-economic effects. It was concluded that approximately 1.7 million acres of unused land are available which could produce 7 to 10 million tons of wood fuel per year which in turn could be converted to 1600 MW/yr over the next 10 yr. No adverse environmental effects are expected. The project would economically benefit an area of high unemployment. It is recommended that a more detailed feasibility study be undertaken to establish land availability and acquisition, cost of power generation in wood-fired plants, and the economic impact of such a project. (LCL)

Combustion performance of pyrolysis oil/ethanol blends in a residential-scale oil-fired boiler

Science.gov (United States)

A 40 kWth oil-fired commercial boiler was fueled with blends of biomass pyrolysis oil (py-oil) and ethanol to determine the feasibility of using these blends as a replacement for fuel oil in home heating applications. An optimal set of test parameters was determined for the combustion of these blend...

Health effects assessment of exposure to particles from wood smoke

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nielsen, Elsa; Dybdahl, M [Technical Univ. of Denmark, National Food Institute, Dept. of Toxicology and Risk Assessment, Soeborg (Denmark); Larsen, Poul Bo [Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Copenhagen (Denmark)

2008-07-01

The number of residential wood burning devices has increased in Denmark during the latest years and it has been estimated that there in 2005 were about 551,000 wood stoves and about 48,000 wood boilers in Denmark. This has resulted in an increased exposure of the general Danish population to pollutants associated with residential wood smoke. New Danish monitoring results on particulate matter (PM) in ambient air have shown elevated PM levels in areas with many wood stoves, particularly during wintertime when wood burning is common. Due to the size distribution of wood smoke particles essentially all will be contained in the PM{sub 2.5} fraction. It has been estimated that about 17,665 tonnes PM{sub 2.5} per year (2005) in Denmark come from residential wood combustion. Therefore, there is an increasing concern that adverse human health effects might be associated with the increased exposure to residential wood smoke. This project has been set up in order to review the scientific literature concerning adverse health effects of pollutants associated with residential wood smoke with the main focus on particulate matter and to quantify and evaluate, if possible, the impact on human health of the increased exposure to particles in residential wood smoke. (au)

Identifying vulnerable populations to death and injuries from residential fires.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Stanley W; Butry, David T

2017-08-03

This study proposes and evaluates the theory that people who are susceptible to injury in residential fires are not susceptible to death in residential fires and vice versa. It is proposed that the population vulnerable to death in residential fires can be proxied by 'frailty', which is measured as age-gender adjusted fatality rates due to natural causes. This study uses an ecological approach and controls for exposure to estimate the vulnerability of different population groups to death and injury in residential fires. It allows fatalities and injuries to be estimated by different models. Frailty explains fire-related death in adults while not explaining injuries, which is consistent with the idea that deaths and injuries affect disjoint populations. Deaths and injuries in fire are drawn from different populations. People who are susceptible to dying in fires are unlikely to be injured in fires, and the people who are susceptible to injury are unlikely to die in fires. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Particle-bound reactive oxygen species (PB-ROS) emissions and formation pathways in residential wood smoke under different combustion and aging conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jun; Zotter, Peter; Bruns, Emily A.; Stefenelli, Giulia; Bhattu, Deepika; Brown, Samuel; Bertrand, Amelie; Marchand, Nicolas; Lamkaddam, Houssni; Slowik, Jay G.; Prévôt, André S. H.; Baltensperger, Urs; Nussbaumer, Thomas; El-Haddad, Imad; Dommen, Josef

2018-05-01

Wood combustion emissions can induce oxidative stress in the human respiratory tract by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the aerosol particles, which are emitted either directly or formed through oxidation in the atmosphere. To improve our understanding of the particle-bound ROS (PB-ROS) generation potential of wood combustion emissions, a suite of smog chamber (SC) and potential aerosol mass (PAM) chamber experiments were conducted under well-determined conditions for different combustion devices and technologies, different fuel types, operation methods, combustion regimes, combustion phases, and aging conditions. The PB-ROS content and the chemical properties of the aerosols were quantified by a novel ROS analyzer using the DCFH (2',7'-dichlorofluorescin) assay and a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS). For all eight combustion devices tested, primary PB-ROS concentrations substantially increased upon aging. The level of primary and aged PB-ROS emission factors (EFROS) were dominated by the combustion device (within different combustion technologies) and to a greater extent by the combustion regimes: the variability within one device was much higher than the variability of EFROS from different devices. Aged EFROS under bad combustion conditions were ˜ 2-80 times higher than under optimum combustion conditions. EFROS from automatically operated combustion devices were on average 1 order of magnitude lower than those from manually operated devices, which indicates that automatic combustion devices operated at optimum conditions to achieve near-complete combustion should be employed to minimize PB-ROS emissions. The use of an electrostatic precipitator decreased the primary and aged ROS emissions by a factor of ˜ 1.5 which is however still within the burn-to-burn variability. The parameters controlling the PB-ROS formation in secondary organic aerosol were investigated by employing a regression model, including the fractions of

Danish emission inventories for stationary combustion plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Malene; Nielsen, Ole-Kenneth; Plejdrup, Marlene Schmidt

Emission inventories for stationary combustion plants are presented and the methodologies and assumptions used for the inventories are described. The pollutants considered are SO2, NOx, NMVOC, CH4, CO, CO2, N2O, NH3, particulate matter, heavy metals, PCDD/F, HCB and PAH. The CO2 emission in 2011...... of decreased emissions from large power plants and waste incineration plants. The combustion of wood in residential plants has increased considerably until 2007 resulting in increased emission of PAH and particulate matter. The emission of NMVOC has increased since 1990 as a result of both the increased...... combustion of wood in residential plants and the increased emission from lean-burn gas engines. The PCDD/F emission decreased since 1990 due to flue gas cleaning on waste incineration plants....

Co-combustion of gasified contaminated waste wood in a coal fired power plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

This project demonstrates the technical and economical feasibility of the producing and cofiring of product gas from demolition waste wood. For this purpose LCV product gas is generated in an atmospheric circulating fluidized bed (CFB) gasification plant, cooled and cleaned and transported to the boiler of a 600 MWe pulverized coal fired power plant. Gas cooling and cleaning takes place in a waste heat boiler and a multi stage wet gas cleaning train. Steam raised in the waste heat boiler is exported to the power plant. On an annual basis 70,000 tons of steam coal are substituted by 150,000 tons of contaminated demolition waste wood (50,000 tons oil equivalent), resulting in a net CO2 emission reduction of 170,000 tons per year, while concurrently generating 205 GWh of electrical power. The wood gasification plant was built by NV EPZ (now incorporated in Essent Energi BV) for Amergas BV, now a 100% subsidiary of Essent Energie BV. The gasification plant is located at the Amer Power Station of NV EPZ Production (now Essent Generation) at Geertruidenberg, The Netherlands. Demonstrating several important design features in wood gasification, the plant started hot service in the Spring of 2000, with first gasification accomplished in the Summer of 2000 and is currently being optimized. (au)

Wood products in the waste stream: Characterization and combustion emissions. Volume 1. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-11-01

Waste wood is wood separated from the solid-waste stream and processed into a uniform-sized product that is reused for other purposes such as fuel. As an alternative to the combustion of fossil fuels, it has raised concerns that if it is 'contaminated' with paints, resins, preservatives, etc., unacceptable environmental impacts may be generated during combustion. Given the difficulty of separating contaminated materials from waste wood and the large energy potential existing in the resource, it is important to identify possible problems associated with contaminated waste wood combustion. The study describes research about technical, public policy, and regulatory issues that affect the processing and combustion of waste wood for fuel. The project's purpose was to provide environmental regulators, project developers, and others with data to make informed decisions on the use of waste wood materials as a combustion resource. Potential environmental problems and solutions were identified. A specific project result was the identification of combustion system operation parameters and air pollution control technologies that can minimize emissions of identified air and solid waste contaminants from combustion of wood waste

Weathering methods for preservative treated wood and their applicability for fire retarded wood

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voss, A.

1999-01-01

preservative treated wood. The aim of the presentation is to inform you about current testing methods and to discuss their applicability to test fire retarded wood in outdoor use. Assuming that fire retardants will only be used in out of ground contact, only those methods are mentioned, which fit

Emissions from three wood-fired domestic central heating boilers - heat load dependence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karlsson, M.L.

1992-01-01

The flue gases from three wood-fired domestic central heating boilers have been characterized. Measurements were made at three part loads; 3, 7 and 15 kW. Two of the boilers were modern multi-fuel boilers, with inverse firing and natural draught. The third boiler was a single-fuel wood boiler, with inverse firing and combustion air supply through a fan. All boilers were environmentally approved; the tar emissions were below 30 mg/MJ at nominal heat load. The following parameters were measured: - CO, CO 2 , NO x , total hydrocarbons (THC), - tar and particulates, - twelve volatile organic compounds (VOC). The limit value for tar emission was heavily exceeded for all three boilers at the part loads at which they were tested. For the two multi-fuel boilers the tar emissions decreased with increasing load level, while the opposite was found for the wood boiler with a fan. The NO x emissions varied between 20 and 120 mg/MJ. The multi-fuel boilers showed increasing NO x emissions with increasing heat load. The single-fuel wood boiler showed NO x emissions at about 60 mg/MJ, independent of load level. The CO and THC levels in general were high. The CO levels varied between 1000 and 2000 mg/MJ. While the THC levels varied between 300 and 4000 mg/MJ. Broadly speaking, the CO and THC levels decreased with increasing load levels for the multi-fuel boilers. For the single-fuel wood boiler the CO and THC levels were roughly the same at all load levels. Out of the twelve VOC compounds which were measured, the following could be detected and quantified. With FTIR analysis: Methane, ethylene, propene and acetylene. With GC analysis: Methanol, phenol and acetic acid. (1 ref., 31 figs., 7 tabs.)

Rat inhalation test with particles from biomass combustion and biomass co-firing exhaust

Science.gov (United States)

Bellmann, B.; Creutzenberg, O.; Ernst, H.; Muhle, H.

2009-02-01

The health effects of 6 different fly ash samples from biomass combustion plants (bark, wood chips, waste wood, and straw), and co-firing plants (coal, co-firing of coal and sawdust) were investigated in a 28-day nose-only inhalation study with Wistar WU rats. Respirable fractions of carbon black (Printex 90) and of titanium dioxide (Bayertitan T) were used as reference materials for positive and negative controls. The exposure was done 6 hours per day, 5 days per week at an aerosol concentration of 16 mg/m3. The MMAD of all fly ash samples and reference materials in the inhalation unit were in the range from 1.5 to 3 μm. The investigations focused predominantly on the analysis of inflammatory effects in the lungs of rats using bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and histopathology. Different parameters (percentage of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), interleukin-8 and interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration in the lung tissue) indicating inflammatory effects in the lung, showed a statistically significant increase in the groups exposed to carbon black (positive control), C1 (coal) and C1+BM4 (co-firing of coal and sawdust) fly ashes. Additionally, for the same groups a statistically significant increase of cell proliferation in the lung epithelium was detected. No significant effects were detected in the animal groups exposed to BM1 (bark), BM2 (wood chips), BM3 (waste wood), BM6 (straw) or titanium dioxide.

Rat inhalation test with particles from biomass combustion and biomass co-firing exhaust

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellmann, B; Creutzenberg, O; Ernst, H; Muhle, H

2009-01-01

The health effects of 6 different fly ash samples from biomass combustion plants (bark, wood chips, waste wood, and straw), and co-firing plants (coal, co-firing of coal and sawdust) were investigated in a 28-day nose-only inhalation study with Wistar WU rats. Respirable fractions of carbon black (Printex 90) and of titanium dioxide (Bayertitan T) were used as reference materials for positive and negative controls. The exposure was done 6 hours per day, 5 days per week at an aerosol concentration of 16 mg/m 3 . The MMAD of all fly ash samples and reference materials in the inhalation unit were in the range from 1.5 to 3 μm. The investigations focused predominantly on the analysis of inflammatory effects in the lungs of rats using bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and histopathology. Different parameters (percentage of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), interleukin-8 and interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration in the lung tissue) indicating inflammatory effects in the lung, showed a statistically significant increase in the groups exposed to carbon black (positive control), C1 (coal) and C1+BM4 (co-firing of coal and sawdust) fly ashes. Additionally, for the same groups a statistically significant increase of cell proliferation in the lung epithelium was detected. No significant effects were detected in the animal groups exposed to BM1 (bark), BM2 (wood chips), BM3 (waste wood), BM6 (straw) or titanium dioxide.

Online molecular characterization of fine particulate matter in Port Angeles, WA: Evidence for a major impact from residential wood smoke

Science.gov (United States)

Gaston, Cassandra J.; Lopez-Hilfiker, Felipe D.; Whybrew, Lauren E.; Hadley, Odelle; McNair, Fran; Gao, Honglian; Jaffe, Daniel A.; Thornton, Joel A.

2016-08-01

We present on-line molecular composition measurements of wintertime particulate matter (PM) during 2014 using an iodide-adduct high-resolution, time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (HR-TOF-CIMS) coupled to a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols (FIGAERO). These measurements were part of an intensive effort to characterize PM in the region with a focus on ultrafine particle sources. The technique was used to detect and quantify different classes of wood burning tracers, including levoglucosan, methoxyphenols, and nitrocatechols, among other compounds in near real-time. During the campaign, particulate mass concentrations of compounds with the same molecular composition as levoglucosan ranged from 0.002 to 19 μg/m3 with a median mass concentration of 0.9 μg/m3. Wood burning markers, in general, showed a strong diurnal pattern peaking at night and in the early morning. This diurnal profile combined with cold, stagnant conditions, wind directions from predominantly residential areas, and observations of lower combustion efficiency at night support residential wood burning as a dominant source of wintertime PM in Port Angeles. This finding has implications for improving wintertime air quality in the region by encouraging the use of high efficiency wood-burning stoves or other cleaner home heating options throughout the relevant domain.

Particulate emissions from the combustion of birch, beech, and spruce logs cause different cytotoxic responses in A549 cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Kasurinen, Stefanie; Jalava, Pasi I; Happo, Mikko S; Sippula, Olli; Uski, Oskari; Koponen, Hanna; Orasche, Jürgen; Zimmermann, Ralf; Jokiniemi, Jorma; Hirvonen, Maija-Riitta

2017-05-01

According to the World Health Organization particulate emissions from the combustion of solid fuels caused more than 110,000 premature deaths worldwide in 2010. Log wood combustion is the most prevalent form of residential biomass heating in developed countries, but it is unknown how the type of wood logs used in furnaces influences the chemical composition of the particulate emissions and their toxicological potential. We burned logs of birch, beech and spruce, which are used commonly as firewood in Central and Northern Europe in a modern masonry heater, and compared them to the particulate emissions from an automated pellet boiler fired with softwood pellets. We determined the chemical composition (elements, ions, and carbonaceous compounds) of the particulate emissions with a diameter of less than 1 µm and tested their cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, inflammatory potential, and ability to induce oxidative stress in a human lung epithelial cell line. The chemical composition of the samples differed significantly, especially with regard to the carbonaceous and metal contents. Also the toxic effects in our tested endpoints varied considerably between each of the three log wood combustion samples, as well as between the log wood combustion samples and the pellet combustion sample. The difference in the toxicological potential of the samples in the various endpoints indicates the involvement of different pathways of toxicity depending on the chemical composition. All three emission samples from the log wood combustions were considerably more toxic in all endpoints than the emissions from the pellet combustion. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 32: 1487-1499, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fire resistance of wood members with directly applied protection

Science.gov (United States)

Robert H. White

2009-01-01

Fire-resistive wood construction is achieved either by having the structural elements be part of fire-rated assemblies or by using elements of sufficient size that the elements themselves have the required fire-resistance ratings. For exposed structural wood elements, the ratings in the United States are calculated using either the T.T. Lie method or the National...

Influence of the operating modes of wood-fired stoves on particle emissions; Einfluss der Betriebsweise auf die Partikelemissionen von Holzoefen. Projektzusatz 1+2 zum Projekt Wirkung von Verbrennungspartikeln

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klippel, N.; Nussbaumer, T.

2007-03-15

This comprehensive final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) examines the influence of the operating characteristics of wood-fired stoves on their particle emissions. Four types of stove are compared: A metal stove with small combustion chamber and a low mass of ceramic lining, a stove with a large combustion chamber and heavier ceramic lining, a newly designed stove with two-stage combustion using gasification and gas oxidation in a separate combustion chamber using secondary air and a modern pellet-fired stove operated with wood and straw pellets. The report describes the measurement programme and presents the results obtained using gravimetric measurements. The spectrum of particle emissions measured for the four types of stove are presented and discussed. The correlation of carbon monoxide and fine-dust emissions is examined. The results of biological tests and the chemical analysis of the dust are discussed.

Drying wood waste with a pulse combustion dryer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buchkowski, A.G. [Spectrum Engineering Corp., Ltd., Peterborough, Ontario (Canada); Kitchen, J.A. [John A. Kitchen, Ltd., Hastings, Ontario (Canada)

1993-12-31

There is a vast amount of wood waste available to be used as an alternate fuel if its moisture could be reduced efficiently. Tests have been conducted to assess an industrial dryer using pulse combustion as a heating source for drying wood waste; specifically sawdust and pulverized wet hog fuel. Pulse combustion offers the advantage of high heat transfer, efficient combustion, and low NO{sub x} emissions. The material is injected into the exhaust gases in the tailpipe of the combustor which uses natural gas or propane as a fuel. The turbulence created by the pulsations enhance the drying process by reducing the boundary layer thicknesses. The materials is further dried in a rotary drum. The material has been dried without scorching or burning in tests where the inlet moisture content has been as high as 60% on a wet basis. The outlet moisture contents achieved have typically been 10%. Analysis of the test data and cost estimates of the equipment indicate that the pulse combustion drying system is at least comparable to existing systems in terms of operating costs, and offers very significant savings in capital costs. Testing with various other materials such as wood pulp, sludges and peat is continuing to further assess the equipment`s performance.

Emission factors of carbonaceous particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from residential solid fuel combustions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shen, Guofeng [Jiangsu Academy of Environmental Science, Nanjing (China). Inst. of Atmospheric Sciences

2014-07-01

Emission inventory is basic for the understanding of environmental behaviors and potential effects of compounds, however, current inventories are often associated with relatively high uncertainties. One important reason is the lack of emission factors, especially for the residential solid fuel combustion in developing countries. In the present study, emission factors of a group of pollutants including particulate matter, organic carbon, elemental carbon (sometimes known as black carbon) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were measured for a variety of residential solid fuels including coal, crop straw, wood, and biomass pellets in rural China. The study provided a large number of emission factors that can be further used in emission estimation. Composition profiles and isomer ratios were investigated and compared so as to be used in source apportionment. In addition, the present study identified and quantified the influence of factors like fuel moisture, volatile matter on emission performance.

An emissions audit of a biomass combustor burning treated wood waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, P.M.; Jones, H.H.; King, P.G.

1993-01-01

This report describes the Emissions Audit carried out on a Biomass Combustor burning treated wood waste at the premises of a furniture manufacturer. The Biomass Combustor was tested in two firing modes; continuous fire and modulating fire. Combustion chamber temperatures and gas residence times were not measured. Boiler efficiencies were very good at greater than 75% in both tests. However, analysis of the flue gases indicated that improved efficiencies are possible. The average concentrations of CO (512mgm -3 ) and THC (34mgm -3 ) for Test 1 were high, indicating that combustion was poor. The combustor clearly does not meet the requirements of the Guidance Note for the Combustion of Wood Waste. CO 2 and O 2 concentrations were quite variable showing that combustion conditions were fairly unstable. Improved control of combustion should lead to acceptable emission concentrations. (Author)

Dioxines, furans and other pollutants emissions bond to the combustion of natural and additive woods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collet, S.

2000-02-01

This report deals especially on the dioxines and furans bond to the combustion of wood in industrial furnaces and domestic furnaces. It aims to define the environmental strategy which would allow the combustion of wood residues to produce energy. The first part recalls general aspects concerning the wood. The six other parts presents the wood resources and wastes, the additive used, the combustion and the different factors of combustion and finally the pollutants emissions. (A.L.B.)

Accelerated weathering of fire-retardant-treated wood for fire testing

Science.gov (United States)

Robert H. White

2009-01-01

Fire-retardant-treated products for exterior applications must be subjected to actual or accelerated weathering prior to fire testing. For fire-retardant-treated wood, the two accelerated weathering methods have been Method A and B of ASTM D 2898. The rain test is Method A of ASTM D 2898. Method B includes exposures to ultraviolet (UV) sunlamps in addition to water...

Dioxins and polyvinylchloride in combustion and fires.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mengmei; Buekens, Alfons; Jiang, Xuguang; Li, Xiaodong

2015-07-01

This review on polyvinylchloride (PVC) and dioxins collects, collates, and compares data from selected sources on the formation of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), or in brief dioxins, in combustion and fires. In professional spheres, the incineration of PVC as part of municipal solid waste is seldom seen as a problem, since deep flue gas cleaning is required anyhow. Conversely, with its high content of chlorine, PVC is frequently branded as a major chlorine donor and spitefully leads to substantial formation of dioxins during poorly controlled or uncontrolled combustion and open fires. Numerous still ill-documented and diverse factors of influence may affect the formation of dioxins during combustion: on the one hand PVC-compounds represent an array of materials with widely different formulations; on the other hand these may all be exposed to fires of different nature and consequences. Hence, attention should be paid to PVC with respect to the ignition and development of fires, as well as attenuating the emission of objectionable compounds, such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and dioxins. This review summarises available dioxin emissions data, gathers experimental and simulation studies of fires and combustion tests involving PVC, and identifies and analyses the effects of several local factors of influence, affecting the formation of dioxins during PVC combustion. © The Author(s) 2015.

Effect of Thermal Storage on the Performance of a Wood Pellet-fired Residential Boiler

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thomas, Butcher [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Sustainable Energy Technologies Dept.

2017-08-31

Interest in the direct use of biomass for thermal applications as a renewable technology is increasing as is also focus on air pollutant emissions from these sources and methods to minimize the impact. This work has focused on wood pellet-fired residential boilers, which are the cleanest fuel in this category. In the residential application the load varies strongly over the course of a year and a high fraction of the load is typically under 15% of the maximum boiler capacity. Thermal storage can be used even with boilers which have modulation capacity typically to 30% of the boiler maximum. One common pellet boiler was tested at full load and also at the minimum load used in the U.S. certification testing (15%). In these tests the load was steady over the test period. Testing was also done with an emulated load profile for a home in Albany, N.Y. on a typical January, March, and April day. In this case the load imposed on the boiler varied hourly under computer control, based on the modeled load for the example case used. The boiler used has a nominal output of 25 kW and a common mixed hardwood/softwood commercial pellet was used. Moisture content was 3.77%. A dilution tunnel approach was used for the measurement of particulate emissions, in accordance with U.S. certification testing requirements. The test results showed that the use of storage strongly reduces cycling rates under part load conditions. The transients which occur as these boilers cycle contribute to increased particulate emissions and reduced efficiency. The time period of a full cycle at a given load condition can be increased by increasing the storage tank volume and/or increasing the control differential range. It was shown that increasing the period strongly increased the measured efficiency and reduced the particulate emission (relative to the no storage case). The impact was most significant at the low load levels. Storage tank heat loss is shown to be a significant factor in thermal efficiency

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanooctahedra MnFe₂O₄ onto the Wood Surface with Soft Magnetism, Fire Resistance and Electromagnetic Wave Absorption.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hanwei; Yao, Qiufang; Wang, Chao; Ma, Zhongqing; Sun, Qingfeng; Fan, Bitao; Jin, Chunde; Chen, Yipeng

2017-05-23

In this study, nanooctahedra MnFe₂O₄ were successfully deposited on a wood surface via a low hydrothermal treatment by hydrogen bonding interactions. As-prepared MnFe₂O₄/wood composite (MW) had superior performance of soft magnetism, fire resistance and electromagnetic wave absorption. Among them, small hysteresis loops and low coercivity (magnetization-field curve of MW with saturation magnetization of 28.24 emu/g, indicating its excellent soft magnetism. The MW also exhibited a good fire-resistant property due to its initial burning time at 20 s; while only 6 s for the untreated wood (UW) in combustion experiments. Additionally, this composite revealed good electromagnetic wave absorption with a minimum reflection loss of -9.3 dB at 16.48 GHz. Therefore, the MW has great potential in the fields of special decoration and indoor electromagnetic wave absorbers.

Small scale wood combustion in Germany. Recent research and trends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maier, H.; Unterberger, S.; Hein, K.R.G. [Institute of Process Engineering and Power Plant Technology, University of Stuttgart (Germany)

1998-12-31

To reduce Europe`s greenhouse gas emission CO{sub 2} it is a challenging task utilising biomass fuels as there are wood or wood residues from the forest industry. The utilisation can be done either in commercially operated medium (> 50 kWth) or full scale (> 1 MWth) decentralised heat and power stations or in small scale (< 50 kWth) domestic heating systems. In small scale heating systems untreated wood logs, wood briquette or wood pellets and in few cases wood chips are used. The present market in Germany is focused on the use of wood logs. Presently, the use of wood pellets in small scale automatically operated boilers < 15 kW especially for low energy houses is discussed more and more. Since 1980 the installation of new wood fired small scale domestic heating systems reached a significant size due to the interest of the customers to have a alternative inhouse heating system and to increase the living comfort. In 1994 the amount of sold small scale heaters in Germany were in total about 133.258 units. The thermal power of in 1994 sold units is estimated of about 1350 MW which is a significant size in total with regard to domestic heating purposes. Since few years there is a clear market trend in Germany towards the installation of open fire stoves. Due to this trend in Germany and the design characteristic of open fire stoves using huge glass doors of glass windows it is very difficult to achieve a further reduction of emissions like CO and unburned volatile hydrocarbons (VOC). In the text the requirements for modern small scale wood fired stoves in Germany as well as the actual stage and trend of research and development (R and D) are discussed 4 refs.

Measurement of particles at wood combustion - comparison of measurements in chimney and dilution tunnel; Partikelmaetning vid vedeldning - Jaemfoerelse mellan provtagning i skorsten och spaedtunnel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryde, Daniel; Johansson, Linda

2007-07-01

According to the European standard EN 303-5, particle emissions are measured during testing of wood fired boilers. However, it is possible to measure these emissions using any established method. This may contribute to uncertainties when comparing data from boilers measured with different methods. In this project, particle emission measurements in hot gases in chimney (Swedish method) and in a dilution tunnel (Norwegian method) are compared.The value of the ratio between particulate emissions (PM) measured in the dilution tunnel and PM measured in the chimney varied between 2 and 10, while the specific CO emission was 4 - 140 g/kg dry wood supplied. The more unfavourable combustion conditions, the larger difference between the measurement methods was seen. Furthermore, different measurements at the same case were more scattered at poor combustion conditions. Consequently, it is very important to consider if particle emission data have been measured in the chimney or in a dilution tunnel when using emission data from domestic wood combustion

Investigations of combustion process in combined cooker-boiler fired on solid fuels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stojiljković Dragoslava D.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the investigation was to make some reconstructions on the existing stove used for cooking and baking and to obtain the combined cooker-boiler which will fulfill the demands of European standard EN 12815. Implementation of modern scientific achievements in the field of combustion on stoves and furnaces fired on solid fuels was used. During the investigations four various constructions were made with different fresh air inlet and secondary air supply with the intention to obtain more complete combustion with increased efficiency and reduced CO emission. Three different fuels were used: firewood, coal, and wood briquette. A numerous parameters were measured: fuel weight changes during the combustion process, temperature of inlet and outlet water, flue gas composition (O2, CO, SO2, CO2, NOx, flue gas temperature, ash quantity etc. The result of the investigations is the stove with the efficiency of more than 75% - boiler Class 1 (according EN 12815 and CO emission of about 1% v/v. The results obtained during the measurements were used as parameters for modeling of combustion process. .

Fire performance, mechanical strength and dimensional stability of wood flour–polyethylene composites under the influence of different fire retardants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Roohani

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Flammability is one of the most important parameters that often limit the application range of wood plastic composites. Therefore, the improvements of retardancy performance of these products have a considerable impact. The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of expandable graphite (EG and its combination with aluminum tirhydroxide (ATH, inorganic phosphate (IP and melamine borate (MB on the flammability of wood flour–polyethylene composites. Composites were prepared by the melt compounding method and cone calorimetry as well as limited oxygen index (LOI tests was employed to study their flammability properties. Also, the effect of different fire retardants on the mechanical strength and water uptake of samples were investigated. Cone calorimetry characterization indicated that with incorporation of fire retardans heat release rate and burning rate decrease and char residual as well as the time to ignition increase. These findings ascribed to formation of char layer by fire retardants. The combination of EG and other fire retardants yielded better improvements in flame retardancy in comparison to the sample that has just EG as flame retardant. The LOI test was used to determine the lowest concentration of oxygen at which a material will maintain combustion in a flowing mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. The results showed that inclusion of fire retardants improve the LOI of sample. Furthermore, the presence of fire retardants decreased the tensile and flexural resistance (strength and modules and impact strength of samples, and increased the water absorption as well as thickness swelling. Generally, among the different treatments examined, the EG–ATH retardancy system showed highest potential in flame retardancy of composites.

Development of a Smart Residential Fire Protection System

OpenAIRE

Juhwan Oh; Zhongwei Jiang; Henry Panganiban

2013-01-01

Embedded system is applied for the development of smart residential fire detection and extinguishing system. Wireless communication capability is integrated into various fire sensors and alarm devices. The system activates the fire alarm to warn occupants, executes emergency and rescue calls to remote residents and fire-fighting facility in an intelligent way. The effective location of extra-sprinklers within the space of interest for the fire extinguishing system is also investigated. Actual...

Organic compounds in PM 2.5 emitted from fireplace and woodstove combustion of typical Portuguese wood species

Science.gov (United States)

Gonçalves, Cátia; Alves, Célia; Fernandes, Ana Patrícia; Monteiro, Cristina; Tarelho, Luís; Evtyugina, Margarita; Pio, Casimiro

2011-09-01

The aim of this study is the further characterisation of PM 2.5 emissions from the residential wood combustion of common woods grown in Portugal. This new research extends to eight the number of biomass fuels studied and tries to understand the differences that the burning appliance (fireplace versus woodstove) and the combustion temperature (cold and hot start) have on emissions. Pinus pinaster (Maritime pine), Eucalyptus globulus (eucalypt), Quercus suber (cork oak), Acacia longifolia (Golden wattle), Quercus faginea (Portuguese oak), Olea europea (Olive), Quercus ilex rotundifolia (Holm oak) and briquettes produced from forest biomass waste were used in the combustion tests. Determinations included fine particle emission factors, carbonaceous content (OC and EC) by a thermal-optical transmission technique and detailed identification and quantification of organic compounds by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fine particle emission factors from the woodstove were lower than those from the fireplace. For both combustion appliances, the OC/EC ratio was higher in "cold start" tests (1.56 ± 0.95 for woodstove and 2.03 ± 1.34 for fireplace). These "cold start" OC/EC values were, respectively, for the woodstove and the fireplace, 51% and 69% higher than those obtained in "hot start" experiments. The chromatographically resolved organics included n-alkanes, n-alkenes, PAHs, n-alkanals, ketones, n-alkanols, terpenoids, triterpenoids, phenolic compounds, phytosterols, alcohols, n-alkanoic acids, n-di-acids, unsaturated acids and alkyl esters of acids. The smoke emission rate and composition varied widely depending on fuel type, burning appliance and combustion temperature.

Importance of small-scale wood combustion for the air quality at Lycksele and Vaexjoe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johansson, C.; Hansson, H.C.; Stroem, Johan; Hedberg, Emma; Olivares, Gustavo; Karlsson, Hans; Wideqvist, Ulla

2005-02-01

from Forsdala are however not entirely conclusive in this respect. A more stable method to quantify the contribution of wood smoke to PM concentrations is likely to be a source-receptor modelling based on a number of elements. These elemental concentrations may be derived from a PIXE analysis of filter samples, as in this report. In Teleborg, the TEOM measured PM 1 , but not PM 2.5 . The PM 2.5 concentrations were instead derived from the observed number size distributions. PMF models for measured PM 1 (TEOM), estimated PM 1 (DMPS), and PM 2.5 (DMPS+APS) showed fairly similar results regarding the source apportionment. In Teleborg, a distinct source representing local combustion (wood, oil) could be discerned. The source strength was definitely connected to the local heat demand and outdoor temperature, and was only significant for temperatures below 0 deg C. The other sources do not display this behaviour. The source profile is characteristic of wood combustion, but with a clear contamination from oil combustion. The contribution from the local combustion source (wood, oil) to PM concentrations in Teleborg (4-5.5 pg/m 3 ) was estimated to be approximately the same as that from domestic wood combustion in Forsdala, Lycksele (3-4 μg/m 3 ). While this may not be entirely unrealistic considering the large number of wood stoves in the residential area surrounding the measurement site in Teleborg, it is seemingly contradicted by the estimates made of the energy consumption in the area, and the relatively low concentrations of levoglucosan. A comparison between the concentrations of PM 2.5 in background air with the PM concentrations in Vaexjoe show that there is not much room for any strong local sources in Vaexjoe. The various PM measurements in background air and Vaexjoe respectively are however not directly comparable, and may be reconciled with a local PM source of 4-5.5 μg/m 3

Toxic combustion products from pesticide fires. Executive summary

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Molag, M.; Bartelds, H.; Weger, D. de

1992-01-01

In order to obtain reliable data on the generation of toxic combustion products and to get more insight into the risks of fires in pesticide warehouses TNO performed the research project 'Toxic combustion products from pesticide fires'. The following research activities have been performed during

Health effects assessment of exposure to particles from wood smoke

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Elsa

2007-01-01

distribution of wood smoke particles, essentially all will be contained in the PM2.5 fraction. In Denmark, recent results indicate that about 10,000 tonnes PM2.5 per year, about half of the total particle emission in Denmark, come from residential wood combustion. Based on a few measurement campaigns conducted...... in Denmark in selected residential areas with different kinds of heating, the annual average PM2.5 exposure from wood smoke can be estimated at 0.4–2 mg/m3 as a preliminary estimate for the whole Danish population. Epidemiological studies evaluating adverse health effects from ambient air pollution...

Changes of indoor climate by the adoption of retrofitted wood-burning stoves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Luis Teles de Carvalho, Ricardo; Jensen, Ole Michael; Tarelho, Luis A. C.

2014-01-01

More than 3 billion people in the world rely on local solid-fuels for domestic cooking and heating through inefficient combustion, causing indoor air pollution and overheating worldwide. Technological regimes were categorized in 18 popular stove models to describe how residential wood combustion ...

The impact of residential combustion emissions on atmospheric aerosol, human health, and climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. W. Butt

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Combustion of fuels in the residential sector for cooking and heating results in the emission of aerosol and aerosol precursors impacting air quality, human health, and climate. Residential emissions are dominated by the combustion of solid fuels. We use a global aerosol microphysics model to simulate the impact of residential fuel combustion on atmospheric aerosol for the year 2000. The model underestimates black carbon (BC and organic carbon (OC mass concentrations observed over Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa, with better prediction when carbonaceous emissions from the residential sector are doubled. Observed seasonal variability of BC and OC concentrations are better simulated when residential emissions include a seasonal cycle. The largest contributions of residential emissions to annual surface mean particulate matter (PM2.5 concentrations are simulated for East Asia, South Asia, and Eastern Europe. We use a concentration response function to estimate the human health impact due to long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 from residential emissions. We estimate global annual excess adult (>  30 years of age premature mortality (due to both cardiopulmonary disease and lung cancer to be 308 000 (113 300–497 000, 5th to 95th percentile uncertainty range for monthly varying residential emissions and 517 000 (192 000–827 000 when residential carbonaceous emissions are doubled. Mortality due to residential emissions is greatest in Asia, with China and India accounting for 50 % of simulated global excess mortality. Using an offline radiative transfer model we estimate that residential emissions exert a global annual mean direct radiative effect between −66 and +21 mW m−2, with sensitivity to the residential emission flux and the assumed ratio of BC, OC, and SO2 emissions. Residential emissions exert a global annual mean first aerosol indirect effect of between −52 and −16 mW m−2, which is sensitive to the

Fast and Accurate Residential Fire Detection Using Wireless Sensor Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bahrepour, Majid; Meratnia, Nirvana; Havinga, Paul J.M.

2010-01-01

Prompt and accurate residential fire detection is important for on-time fire extinguishing and consequently reducing damages and life losses. To detect fire sensors are needed to measure the environmental parameters and algorithms are required to decide about occurrence of fire. Recently, wireless

Influence of Torrefaction on Single Particle Combustion of Wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lu, Zhimin; Jian, Jie; Jensen, Peter Arendt

2016-01-01

This study focuses on the influence of torrefaction on the char reactivity, char yield, and combustion time of 3-5 mm spherical wood particles in a single particle combustion reactor (SPC) operating at a nominal temperature of 1231 °C. The devolatilization times were reduced and the char burnout...

Municipal Solid Waste Combustion : Fuel Testing and Characterization : Task 1 Report, May 30, 1990-October 1, 1990.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bushnell, Dwight J.; Canova, Joseph H.; Dadkhah-Nikoo, Abbas.

1990-10-01

The objective of this study is to screen and characterize potential biomass fuels from waste streams. This will be accomplished by determining the types of pollutants produced while burning selected municipal waste, i.e., commercial mixed waste paper residential (curbside) mixed waste paper, and refuse derived fuel. These materials will be fired alone and in combination with wood, equal parts by weight. The data from these experiments could be utilized to size pollution control equipment required to meet emission standards. This document provides detailed descriptions of the testing methods and evaluation procedures used in the combustion testing and characterization project. The fuel samples will be examined thoroughly from the raw form to the exhaust emissions produced during the combustion test of a densified sample.

Integration of Thermoelectric Generators and Wood Stove to Produce Heat, Hot Water, and Electrical Power

Science.gov (United States)

Goudarzi, A. M.; Mazandarani, P.; Panahi, R.; Behsaz, H.; Rezania, A.; Rosendahl, L. A.

2013-07-01

Traditional fire stoves are characterized by low efficiency. In this experimental study, the combustion chamber of the stove is augmented by two devices. An electric fan can increase the air-to-fuel ratio in order to increase the system's efficiency and decrease air pollution by providing complete combustion of wood. In addition, thermoelectric generators (TEGs) produce power that can be used to satisfy all basic needs. In this study, a water-based cooling system is designed to increase the efficiency of the TEGs and also produce hot water for residential use. Through a range of tests, an average of 7.9 W was achieved by a commercial TEG with substrate area of 56 mm × 56 mm, which can produce 14.7 W output power at the maximum matched load. The total power generated by the stove is 166 W. Also, in this study a reasonable ratio of fuel to time is described for residential use. The presented prototype is designed to fulfill the basic needs of domestic electricity, hot water, and essential heat for warming the room and cooking.

Investigating co-combustion characteristics of bamboo and wood.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Fang; Wang, Ruijuan; Jiang, Changle; Yang, Xiaomeng; Zhang, Tao; Hu, Wanhe; Mi, Bingbing; Liu, Zhijia

2017-11-01

To investigate co-combustion characteristics of bamboo and wood, moso bamboo and masson pine were torrefied and mixed with different blend ratios. The combustion process was examined by thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The results showed the combustion process of samples included volatile emission and oxidation combustion as well as char combustion. The main mass loss of biomass blends occurred at volatile emission and oxidation combustion stage, while that of torrefied biomass occurred at char combustion stage. With the increase of bamboo content, characteristic temperatures decreased. Compared with untreated biomass, torrefied biomass had a higher initial and burnout temperature. With the increase of heating rates, combustion process of samples shifted to higher temperatures. Compared with non-isothermal models, activation energy obtained from isothermal model was lower. The result is helpful to promote development of co-combustion of bamboo and masson pine wastes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimated contribution from wood combustion to air pollution in Hamar, Lillehammer and Gjoevik

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schjoldager, J.

1996-07-01

The report analyses the level of air pollution from wood combustion in urban areas in Norway. From the analysis of potassium and soot in samples from January 1992, there were large uncertainties in the estimation of particle contributions from the combustion. Concentration estimates of formaldehyde from wood combustion were comparable to measurements, while estimated PAH (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) concentrations were lower than measurements. 18 refs., 1 fig., 6 tabs

Effectiveness of the cigarette ignition propensity standard in preventing unintentional residential fires in Massachusetts.

Science.gov (United States)

Alpert, Hillel R; Christiani, David C; Orav, E John; Dockery, Douglas W; Connolly, Gregory N

2014-04-01

We evaluated the Massachusetts Fire Safe Cigarette Law's (FSCL's) effectiveness in preventing residential fires. We examined unintentional residential fires reported to the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System from 2004 to 2010. We analyzed FSCL effect on the likelihood of cigarette- versus noncigarette-caused fires and effect modification by fire scenario factors by using an interrupted time series regression model. We analyzed the effect of FSCL on monthly fire rates with Poisson regression. Cigarettes caused 1629 unintentional residential fires during the study period. The FSCL was associated with a 28% (95% confidence interval = 12%, 41%) reduction in the odds of cigarette- versus noncigarette-caused fires, although not in analyses restricted to casualty fires, with smaller sample size. The largest reductions were among fires in which human factors were involved; that were first ignited on furniture, bedding, or soft goods; that occurred in living areas; or that occurred in the summer or winter. The FSCL appears to have decreased the likelihood of cigarette-caused residential fires, particularly in scenarios for which the ignition propensity standard was developed. Current standards should be adopted, and the need for strengthening should be considered.

Combustion properties of wood impregnated with commercial ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The objective of this study was to determine some combustion properties of Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) wood specimens impregnated with aqueous solutions of commercial fertilizers. Ammonium sulphate (AS) and diammonium phosphate (DAP) were used as commercial fertilizers. Diammonium phosphate and ...

Nature of unresolved complex mixture in size-distributed emissions from residential wood combustion as measured by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Hays, Michael D.; Smith, N. Dean; Dong, Yuanji

2004-08-01

Unresolved complex mixture (UCM) is an analytical artifact of gas chromatographs of combustion source-related fine aerosol extracts. In this study the UCM is examined in size-resolved fine aerosol emissions from residential wood combustion. The aerosols are sorted by size in an electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI) and subsequently analyzed by thermal desorption/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD/GC/MS). A semiquantitative system for predicting the branched alkane, cycloalkane, alkylbenzene, C3-, C4-, C5-alkylbenzene, methylnaphthalene, C3-, C4-, C5-alkylnaphthalene, methylphenanthrene C2-, C3-alkylphenanthrene, and dibenzothiophene concentrations in the UCM is introduced. Analysis by TD/GS/MS detects UCM on each ELPI stage for all six combustion tests. The UCM baseline among the different fuel types is variable. In particular, the UCM of Pseudotsuga sp. is enriched in later-eluting compounds of lower volatility. A high level of reproducibility is achieved in determining UCM areas. UCM fractions (UCM ion area/total extracted ion chromatograph area) by individual ELPI stage return a mean relative standard deviation of 19.1% over the entire combustion test set, indicating a highly consistent UCM fraction across the ELPI size boundaries. Among the molecular ions investigated, branched alkane (m/z 57) and dibenzothiophene (m/z 212 and 226) constituents are most abundant in UCM emissions from RWC, collectively accounting for 64-95% of the targeted chemical species. The total UCM emissions span 446-756 mg/kg of dry biomass burned and correspond to an upper limit of 7.1% of the PM2.5 mass. The UCM emissions are primarily accumulation mode (0.1 μm ≤ aerodynamic diameter (da) ≤ 1 μm), with a geometric mean diameter (dg) range of 120.3-518.4 nm. UCM in PM2.5 is chemically asymmetric (shifted to finer da), typically clustering at da ≤ 1 μm. Measurable shifts in dg and changes in distribution widths (σg) on an intratest basis suggest that the particle density

New methods for testing fire resistance of wood façade systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mårtensson August

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Arson in schools has been a huge problem in Sweden over the last fifteen years. The average amount of school arsons between 2000 and 2014 was 285 cases each year which corresponds to 50% of the total amount of reported fires in school buildings. This is a well-known problem and a lot of research has been done in this area. Investigations has been done about fire and heat detection systems, different technical factors significance in fire scenarios and how to prevent adolescents from starting fires. Another part of the problem that partly been investigated is how the schools are constructed. Roughly 50% of the arsons are outside of the school building. In Sweden one and two storey buildings are allowed to be built with wooden façades in accordance with the building code, which is one of the reasons many schools are built with wooden façade systems. The most critical part in a wood façade system from a fire safety perspective is concluded to be the eaves because of how they usually are built to let air pass through. Even though a wood façade isn't as well resistant to fire compared to a concrete façade, three versions of new test methods for combustible façades have been developed to make it possible to make sure in advance that a construction is resistant enough. The new test methods are focused on specific details and parts of a façade system to provide a more informative and useful result compared to SP Fire 105. Observations and measurements of flame spread and temperature changes in the eave, over the window joints and in the air gap are made. With these parameters in consideration criteria's has been chosen for a critical temperature of 280 ∘C at a critical time of 20 minutes.

Grassroots movement building and preemption in the campaign for residential fire sprinklers.

Science.gov (United States)

Pertschuk, Mark; Hobart, Robin; Paloma, Marjorie; Larkin, Michelle A; Balbach, Edith D

2013-10-01

Home fires account for 85% of fire deaths in the United States, the majority in 1- or 2-family homes lacking fire sprinklers. Since 1978, however, a grassroots movement has successfully promoted more than 360 local ordinances mandating sprinklers in all new residential construction, including 1- and 2-family homes. The homebuilding industry has responded by seeking state preemption of local authority, a strategy previously used by other industries concerned about protecting their profits. From 2009 through 2011, 13 states adopted laws eliminating or limiting local authority over residential fire sprinklers. This study of the residential sprinkler movement adds to our understanding of grassroots public health movements and provides additional evidence that preemption can have a negative impact on public health and safety.

Microscale modelling of ambient air concentrations resulting from the increased combustion of biomass firing systems within the 1{sup st} Ordinance for the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (1. BImSchV); Modellrechnungen zu den Immissionsbelastungen bei einer verstaerkten Verfeuerung von Biomasse in Feuerungsanlagen der 1. BImSchV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baumbach, Guenter; Struschka, Michael; Juschka, Winfried; Carrasco, Maria; Ang, Keng Been; Hu, Lupin [Stuttgart Univ. (DE). Inst. fuer Verfahrenstechnik und Dampfkesselwesen (IVD); Baechlin, Wolfgang; Soergel, Christine [Ingenieurbuero Lohmeyer GmbH und Co. KG, Karlsruhe (Germany)

2010-06-15

By means of a detailed emissions modelling with subsequent highly resolved ambient air pollutant dispersion modelling an assessment method has been developed. This method is a tool for city planners to assess the effects of an increased usage of biomass in heating firings on the air quality situation in different residential areas. Emission simulations have been carried out for the combustion of wood pellets, log wood, wood chips and grain residues as well as for natural gas and heating oil. The emissions depend on the ambient temperature, the building and user specific heat demand and on the operation conditions of the firing. For the operation conditions different emission factors have been set for nominal and partial load as well as for unsteady conditions like boiler start or for shutdown of the firing. The following firings have been considered for burning the above mentioned fuels: Central heating boilers, decentralised heating networks with pellet and wood chip boilers, single stoves for additional heating and grain residue furnaces. Dependent on the ambient temperature for different regions of Germany and for a reference year of the Deutsche Wetterdienst annual emission time series with 1h resolution have been calculated for the different firing fuel combinations. Using these modelled emission data dispersion modelling was carried out for different meteorological and building specific frame conditions. A rural and an urban model area have been investigated. The emissions time series which were calculated for the individual buildings with 1h time resolution were spatially allocated and each single chimney was simulated as point source. For modelling the flow field coined by the building structure the flow model MISKAM has been applied. For dispersion simulation the model AUSTAL2000 has been used. Simulations have been carried out with three different wind and dispersion class distributions typical for many regions of Germany. A further parameter variation

Post-fire assessment of structural wood members

Science.gov (United States)

Robert J. Ross; Brian K. Brashaw; Xiping Wang; Robert H. White; Roy F. Pellerin

2005-01-01

Since the interior of a charred wood member normally retains its structural integrity, large structural wood members often do not need to be replaced after a fire. Engineering judgement is required to determine which members can remain and which members need to be replaced or repaired. Due to the lack of established methods to directly determine the residual capacity...

Disentangling the drivers of coarse woody debris behavior and carbon gas emissions during fire

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Weiwei; van der Werf, Guido R.; van Logtestijn, Richard S. P.; van Hal, Jurgen R.; Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.

2016-04-01

The turnover of coarse woody debris, a key terrestrial carbon pool, plays fundamental roles in global carbon cycling. Biological decomposition and fire are two main fates for dead wood turnover. Compared to slow decomposition, fire rapidly transfers organic carbon from the earth surface to the atmosphere. Both a-biotic environmental factors and biotic wood properties determine coarse wood combustion and thereby its carbon gas emissions during fire. Moisture is a key inhibitory environmental factor for fire. The properties of dead wood strongly affect how it burns either directly or indirectly through interacting with moisture. Coarse wood properties vary between plant species and between various decay stages. Moreover, if we put a piece of dead wood in the context of a forest fuel bed, the soil and wood contact might also greatly affect their fire behavior. Using controlled laboratory burns, we disentangled the effects of all these driving factors: tree species (one gymnosperms needle-leaf species, three angiosperms broad-leaf species), wood decay stages (freshly dead, middle decayed, very strongly decayed), moisture content (air-dried, 30% moisture content in mass), and soil-wood contact (on versus 3cm above the ground surface) on dead wood flammability and carbon gas efflux (CO2 and CO released in grams) during fire. Wood density was measured for all coarse wood samples used in our experiment. We found that compared to other drivers, wood decay stages have predominant positive effects on coarse wood combustion (for wood mass burned, R2=0.72 when air-dried and R2=0.52 at 30% moisture content) and associated carbon gas emissions (for CO2andCO (g) released, R2=0.55 when air-dried and R2=0.42 at 30% moisture content) during fire. Thus, wood decay accelerates wood combustion and its CO2 and CO emissions during fire, which can be mainly attributed to the decreasing wood density (for wood mass burned, R2=0.91 when air-dried and R2=0.63 at 30% moisture content) as wood

Combustion engineering

CERN Document Server

Ragland, Kenneth W

2011-01-01

Introduction to Combustion Engineering The Nature of Combustion Combustion Emissions Global Climate Change Sustainability World Energy Production Structure of the Book   Section I: Basic Concepts Fuels Gaseous Fuels Liquid Fuels Solid Fuels Problems Thermodynamics of Combustion Review of First Law Concepts Properties of Mixtures Combustion StoichiometryChemical EnergyChemical EquilibriumAdiabatic Flame TemperatureChemical Kinetics of CombustionElementary ReactionsChain ReactionsGlobal ReactionsNitric Oxide KineticsReactions at a Solid SurfaceProblemsReferences  Section II: Combustion of Gaseous and Vaporized FuelsFlamesLaminar Premixed FlamesLaminar Flame TheoryTurbulent Premixed FlamesExplosion LimitsDiffusion FlamesGas-Fired Furnaces and BoilersEnergy Balance and EfficiencyFuel SubstitutionResidential Gas BurnersIndustrial Gas BurnersUtility Gas BurnersLow Swirl Gas BurnersPremixed-Charge Engine CombustionIntroduction to the Spark Ignition EngineEngine EfficiencyOne-Zone Model of Combustion in a Piston-...

Effective technology of wood and gaseous fuel co-firing for clean energy production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zake, M.; Barmina, I.; Gedrovics, M.; Desnickis, A.

2007-01-01

The main aim of the study was to develop and optimise a small-scale experimental co-firing technique for the effective and clean heat energy production by replacing a proportion of fossil fuel (propane) with renewable one (wood biomass). Technical solutions of propane co-fire presenting two different ways of additional heat supply to the wood biomass are proposed and analysed. The experiments have shown that a better result can be obtained for the direct propane co-fire of the wood biomass, when the rate of wood gasification and the ignition of volatiles are controlled by additional heat energy supply to the upper portion of wood biomass. A less effective though cleaner way of heat energy production is the direct propane co-fire of volatiles when low-temperature self-sustaining burnout of the wood biomass controls the rate of the volatile formation, while additional heat energy supply to the flow of volatiles controls their burnout. The effect of propane co-fire on the heat production rate and the composition of polluting emissions is studied and analysed for different rates of the additional heat supply to the wood biomass and of the swirling air supply as well as for different charge of wood biomass above the inlet of the propane flame flow. (Authors)

Domestic wood combustion - practices, attitudes and regulation; Braendefyring i hjemmet - praksis, holdninger og regulering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kjerulf Petersen, L.; Martinsen, L.

2008-06-15

Use of wood burning stoves for domestic heating is the subject of this report which is based on results from an interview study and a survey. The report is concerned with why people have and use stoves, how they use them and which functions the stoves serve in their homes. Of equal interest are the attitudes of users as well as non-users to environmental consequences of wood combustion and to different forms of regulation. There can be several reasons for having and using a wood burning stove for domestic heating. The main reason seems to be the sense of homeliness and cosiness and calm that it gives to the home, and the second most important reason is the economic advantages it implies in terms of reducing heating expenses. Enjoyment of the particular quality of warmth that stoves can provide and a desire to obtain higher indoor temperature are important additional motivations, while self determination in household heating supply runs through all these motivations as an underlying incentive. Potential environmental problems from domestic wood combustion depend on the properties of the stove, on the quality of the fuel, and on air intake and other aspects of the combustion process; and practices of stove users play an important role in all this. For stove users there are both sensuous experiences and social norms - e.g. regarding use of damp wood or any other type of fuel than pure wood - that support an environmentally appropriate practice. However, this study shows that even though users are inclined to follow environmentally sound practices for wood combustion other considerations in everyday life may be more important; considerations regarding what kind of effort one has time and energy for, what is practically feasible, what one can be bothered to consider, and what level of thermal comfort one wants. Almost half of the respondents, users and non-users alike, are to some extend - from slightly to extremely - bothered by smoke from wood combustion, and around

Properties of flat-pressed wood plastic composites containing fire retardants

Science.gov (United States)

Nadir Ayrilmis; Jan. T. Benthien; Heiko Thoemen; Robert H. White

2011-01-01

This study investigated physical, mechanical, and fire properties of the flat-pressed wood plastic composites (WPCs) incorporated with various fire retardants (FRs) [5 or 15% by weight (wt)] at 50 wt % of the wood flour (WF). The WPC panels were made from dry-blended WF, polypropylene (PP) with maleic anhydride grafted PP (2 wt %), and FR powder formulations using a...

Increased heat resistance in mycelia from wood fungi prevalent in forests characterized by fire: a possible adaptation to forest fire.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlsson, Fredrik; Edman, Mattias; Holm, Svante; Eriksson, Anna-Maria; Jonsson, Bengt Gunnar

2012-10-01

Forest fires have been the major stand-replacing/modifying disturbance in boreal forests. To adapt to fire disturbance, different strategies have evolved. This study focuses on wood fungi, and a specific adaptation to forest fire: increased heat resistance in their mycelia. Fifteen species of wood fungi were selected and a priori sorted in two groups according to their prevalence in fire-affected environments. The fungi were cultivated on fresh wood and exposed to 100, 140, 180, 220 °C for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 min. under laboratory conditions. A clear difference was found among the two groups. Species prevalent in fire-affected habitats had a much higher survival rate over all combinations of time and temperature compared to species associated with other environments. Thus, the results indicate that fire adaptation in terms of increased heat resistance in mycelia occurs in some species of wood fungi. Such adaptation will influence the ecology and population dynamics of wood fungi, as well as having implications for best practices during restoration fires. Copyright © 2012 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Danish emission inventories for stationary combustion plants. Inventories until 2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nielsen, Malene; Nielsen, Ole-Kenneth; Plejdrup, M.; Hjelgaard, K.

2010-10-15

Emission inventories for stationary combustion plants are presented and the methodologies and assumptions used for the inventories are described. The pollutants considered are SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x}, NMVOC, CH{sub 4}, CO, CO{sub 2}, N{sub 2}O, NH{sub 3}, particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins, HCB and PAH. The CO{sub 2} emission in 2008 was 16 % lower than in 1990. However, fluctuations in the emission level are large as a result of electricity import/export. The emission of CH{sub 4} has increased due to increased use of lean-burn gas engines in combined heating and power (CHP) plants. However, the emission has decreased in recent years due to structural changes in the Danish electricity market. The N{sub 2}O emission was higher in 2008 than in 1990 but the fluctuations in the time-series are significant. A considerable decrease of the SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x} and heavy metal emissions is mainly a result of decreased emissions from large power plants and waste incineration plants. The combustion of wood in residential plants has increased considerably in recent years resulting in increased emission of PAH, particulate matter and CO. The emission of NMVOC has increased since 1990 as a result of both the increased combustion of wood in residential plants and the increased emission from lean-burn gas engines. The dioxin emission decreased since 1990 due to flue gas cleaning on waste incineration plants. However in recent years the emission has increased as a result of the increased combustion of wood in residential plants. (Author)

Numerical modeling of combustion of low-calorific-producer-gas from Mangium wood within a late mixing porous burner (LMPB

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kanokkarn Jirakulsomchok

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This article presents a numerical study of combustion of low-calorific-producer-gas from Mangium wood within a late mixing porous burner (LMPB. The LMPB consists of four main components, i.e., the fuel preheating porous (FP, the porous combustor (PC, the air jacket, and the mixing chamber. Interestingly, this LMPB was able to highly preheated and it still maintained high safety in operation. A single-step global reaction, steady state approach and a one-dimensional model were considered. The necessary information for burner characteristics, i.e., temperature profile, flame location and maximum temperature were also presented. The results indicated that stable combustion of a low-calorific-producer-gas within LMPB was possible achieved. Increasing equivalence ratio resulted in increasing in the flame temperature. Meanwhile, increasing the firing rate caused slightly decrease in flame temperature. The flame moved to downstream zone of the PC when the firing rate increased. Finally, it was found that the equivalence ratio did not affect the flame location.

Emissions from small scale combustion of pelletized wood fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bachs, A.

1998-01-01

Combustion of wood pellets in small scale heating systems with an effect below 20 kW has increased. During the winter season 1995/96 1500 small plants for heating houses are estimated to be in operation. Stack emissions from three pellet burners and two pellet stoves have been studied at laboratory. Different pellet qualities were tested. When the fraction of fines increased also the NO x emissions increased with about 10 %. As reference fuel 8 mm pellets was used. Tests with 6 mm pellets gave, in most cases, significant lower emissions of CO and THC. Eleven stoves, burners and boilers were studied in a field test. The results show that all the plants generally have higher emissions in the field than during conditions when the plants are adjusted with a stack gas monitoring instrument. A conclusion is that it is difficult for the operator to adjust the plant without a monitoring instrument. The emissions from the tested plants give an estimation of stack gas emissions from small scale pellet plants. The difference between the 'best' and 'worst' technologies is big. The span of emissions with the best technology to the worst is given below. The interval is concerning normal combustion . During abnormal conditions the emissions are on a significant higher level: * CO 80-1 000 mg/MJ; * Tar 0,3-19 mg/MJ; * THC (as methane equivalents) 2-100 mg/MJ; * NO x 50-70 mg/W;, and * Dust emissions 20-40 mg/MJ. Emissions from pellets heating are lower than from wood combustion and the best technology is close to the emission from oil burners. Wood and pellets have the same origin but the conditions to burn them in an environmental friendly way differ. Combustion of pellets could be improved through improved control of the air and fuel ratio that will create more stable conditions for the combustion

Wood pellet use in Sweden. A systems approach to the residential sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vinterbaeck, Johan

2000-01-01

This empirically based thesis deals with a biofuel market in a systems context with focus on Sweden. Fuel pellets is a new consumer market for wood products. Initially used mainly by large-scale heating plants, wood pellets expanded into the Swedish residential heating market in the mid 1990s. The overall aim of this work is to provide a deeper understanding of the system for small-scale use of densified wood fuels. The objective was to provide a mapping and logistic analysis of fuel and delivery chains primarily for wood pellets. The description includes both technical as well as economic and organisational aspects. The thesis in particular investigates (i) experience from practical densification operations in the past, (ii) wood pellet retailers in Sweden, (iii) wood pellet consumers in Austria, Sweden and the United States, (iv) imports of wood pellets, and (v) forecasting of pellet consumption and inventory management for wood pellet distributors. Previous international studies revealed that the availability of cheap raw materials for fuel production and the price and availability of the most important competing fuels: coal, oil and natural gas were important factors that have guided production and use of densified wood and bark fuels. A major network of wood pellet distributors was mapped. It was concluded from a survey to these retailers that the Swedish residential market was now firmly in place and that the price of wood pellets was competitive with prices of traditional national fuels. A majority of pellet users in Austria, Sweden and the United States were pleased with pellet heating. One way to improve pellet distribution systems would be to optimise inventory management. An internal model for optimising inventory management, Pell-Sim, was constructed. For Sweden, wood pellets in 1997 represented the second most traded biofuel assortment, with 4.35 PJ or 18% of the total biofuel imports. Contrary to trade with other biofuel assortments, wood pellet trade

Deposit formation in a full-scale pulverized wood-fired power plant with and without coal fly ash addition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Hao; Shafique Bashir, Muhammad; Jensen, Peter Arendt

2013-01-01

Ash transformation and deposition in a pulverized wood-fired power plant boiler of 800 MWth were studied with and without the addition of coal fly ash. The transient ash deposition behavior was investigated by using an advanced deposit probe system at two different boiler locations with flue gas...... at the low-temperature location showed a slow initial build-up and a stable mass of deposits after approximately 1-5 h. The deposits collected during pulverized wood combustion contained a considerable amount of K2SO4, KCl, and KOH/K2CO3. With the addition of coal fly ash (~4 times of the mass flow of wood...... ash) to the boiler, these alkali species were effectively removed both in the fly ash and in the deposits, and a more frequent shedding of the deposits was observed. The results imply that coal fly ash can be an effective additive to reduce ash deposition and corrosion problems in a pulverized wood...

Investigating the effect of banning non-reduced ignition propensity cigarettes on fatal residential fires in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonander, Carl M; Jonsson, Anders P; Nilson, Finn T

2016-04-01

Annually, 100 people die as a result of residential fires in Sweden and almost a third of the fatal fires are known to be caused by smoking. In an attempt to reduce the occurrence of these events, reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarettes have been developed. They are designed to reduce the risk of fire by preventing the cigarette from burning through the full length when left unattended. In November 2011, a ban was introduced, forbidding the production and sale of all non-RIP cigarettes in all member states of the European Union, including Sweden. Monthly data on all recorded residential fires and associated fatalities in Sweden from January 2000 to December 2013 were analyzed using an interrupted time series design. The effect of the intervention [in relative risk (RR)] was quantified using generalised additive models for location, shape and scale. There were no statistically significant intervention effects on residential fires (RR 0.95 [95% CI: 0.89-1.01]), fatal residential fires (RR 0.99 [95% CI: 0.80-1.23]), residential fires where smoking was a known cause (RR 1.10 [95% CI: 0.95-1.28]) or fatal residential fires where smoking was a known cause (RR 0.92 [95% CI: 0.63-1.35]). No evidence of an effect of the ban on all non-RIP cigarettes on the risk of residential fires in Sweden was found. The results may not be generalisable to other countries. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Danish emission inventories for stationary combustion plants. Inventories until year 2007

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nielsen, Malene; Nielsen, Ole-Kenneth; Plejdrup, M.; Hjelgaard, K.

2009-10-15

Emission inventories for stationary combustion plants are presented and the methodologies and assumptions used for the inventories are described. The pollutants considered are SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x}, NMVOC, CH{sub 4}, CO, CO{sub 2}, N{sub 2}O, particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins, HCB and PAH. The CO{sub 2} emission in 2007 was 10% lower than in 1990. However fluctuations in the emission level are large as a result of electricity import/export. The emission of CH{sub 4} has increased due to increased use of lean-burn gas engines in combined heating and power (CHP) plants. However the emission has decreased in recent years due to structural changes in the Danish electricity market. The N{sub 2}O emission was higher in 2007 than in 1990 but the fluctuations in the timeseries are significant. A considerable decrease of the SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x} and heavy metal emissions is mainly a result of decreased emissions from large power plants and waste incineration plants. The combustion of wood in residential plants has increased considerably in recent years resulting in increased emission of PAH, particulate matter and CO. The emission of NMVOC has increased since 1990 as a result of both the increased combustion of wood in residential plants and the increased emission from lean-burn gas engines. The dioxin emission decreased since 1990 due to flue gas cleaning on waste incineration plants. However in recent years the emission has increased as a result of the increased combustion of wood in residential plants. (author)

Cofiring of biofuels in coal fired boilers: Results of case study analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tillman, D.A. [Ebasco Environmental, Sacramento, CA (United States); Hughes, E. [Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA (United States); Gold, B.A. [TVA, Chattanooga, TN (United States)

1993-12-31

Ebasco Environmental and Reaction Engineering, under contract to EPRI, performed a case study analysis of cofiring biomass in coal-fired boilers of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The study was also sponsored by DOE. This analysis included evaluating wood fuel receiving, preparation, and combustion in pulverized coal (PC) boilers and cyclone furnaces and an assessment of converting wood into pyrolysis oil or low Btu gas for use in a new combined cycle combustion turbine (CCCT) installation. Cofiring wood in existing coal-fired boilers has the most immediate potential for increasing the utilization of biofuels in electricity generation. Cofiring biofuels with coal can potentially generate significant benefits for utilities including: (1) reducing emissions of SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x}; (2) reducing the net emissions of CO{sub 2}; (3) potentially reducing the fuel cost to the utility depending upon local conditions and considering biomass is potentially exempt from the proposed Btu tax and may get a 1.5 cent/kWh credit for energy generated by wood combustion; (4) supporting local industrial forest industry; and (5) providing a long term market for the development of a biofuel supply and delivery industry. Potential benefits are reviewed in the context of cofiring biofuel at a rate of 15% heat input to the boiler, and compares this cofiring strategy and others previously tested or developed by other utilities. Other issues discussed include: (1) wood fuel specifications as a function of firing method; (2) wood fuel receiving and preparation system requirements; (3) combustion system requirements for cofiring biofuels with coal; (4) combustion impacts of firing biofuels with coal; (5) system engineering issues; (6) the economics of cofiring biofuel with coal. The Allen, TN 330 MW(e) cyclone boiler and Kingston, TN 135 MW(e) Boiler {number_sign}1, a tangentially fired PC unit, case studies are then summarized in the paper, highlighting the cofiring opportunities.

From fire whirls to blue whirls and combustion with reduced pollution

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Huahua; Gollner, Michael J.; Oran, Elaine S.

2016-08-01

Fire whirls are powerful, spinning disasters for people and surroundings when they occur in large urban and wildland fires. Whereas fire whirls have been studied for fire-safety applications, previous research has yet to harness their potential burning efficiency for enhanced combustion. This article presents laboratory studies of fire whirls initiated as pool fires, but where the fuel sits on a water surface, suggesting the idea of exploiting the high efficiency of fire whirls for oil-spill remediation. We show the transition from a pool fire, to a fire whirl, and then to a previously unobserved state, a “blue whirl.” A blue whirl is smaller, very stable, and burns completely blue as a hydrocarbon flame, indicating soot-free burning. The combination of fast mixing, intense swirl, and the water-surface boundary creates the conditions leading to nearly soot-free combustion. With the worldwide need to reduce emissions from both wanted and unwanted combustion, discovery of this state points to possible new pathways for reduced-emission combustion and fuel-spill cleanup. Because current methods to generate a stable vortex are difficult, we also propose that the blue whirl may serve as a research platform for fundamental studies of vortices and vortex breakdown in fluid mechanics.

From fire whirls to blue whirls and combustion with reduced pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Huahua; Gollner, Michael J; Oran, Elaine S

2016-08-23

Fire whirls are powerful, spinning disasters for people and surroundings when they occur in large urban and wildland fires. Whereas fire whirls have been studied for fire-safety applications, previous research has yet to harness their potential burning efficiency for enhanced combustion. This article presents laboratory studies of fire whirls initiated as pool fires, but where the fuel sits on a water surface, suggesting the idea of exploiting the high efficiency of fire whirls for oil-spill remediation. We show the transition from a pool fire, to a fire whirl, and then to a previously unobserved state, a "blue whirl." A blue whirl is smaller, very stable, and burns completely blue as a hydrocarbon flame, indicating soot-free burning. The combination of fast mixing, intense swirl, and the water-surface boundary creates the conditions leading to nearly soot-free combustion. With the worldwide need to reduce emissions from both wanted and unwanted combustion, discovery of this state points to possible new pathways for reduced-emission combustion and fuel-spill cleanup. Because current methods to generate a stable vortex are difficult, we also propose that the blue whirl may serve as a research platform for fundamental studies of vortices and vortex breakdown in fluid mechanics.

Characterization of Oxy-combustion Impacts in Existing Coal-fired Boilers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adams, Bradley [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Davis, Kevin [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Senior, Constance [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Shim, Hong Shim [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Otten, Brydger Van [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Fry, Andrew [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Wendt, Jost [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Eddings, Eric [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Paschedag, Alan [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Shaddix, Christopher [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Cox, William [Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT (United States); Tree, Dale [Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT (United States)

2013-09-30

Reaction Engineering International (REI) managed a team of experts from University of Utah, Siemens Energy, Praxair, Vattenfall AB, Sandia National Laboratories, Brigham Young University (BYU) and Corrosion Management Ltd. to perform multi-scale experiments, coupled with mechanism development, process modeling and CFD modeling, for both applied and fundamental investigations. The primary objective of this program was to acquire data and develop tools to characterize and predict impacts of CO{sub 2} flue gas recycle and burner feed design on flame characteristics (burnout, NO{sub x}, SO{sub x}, mercury and fine particle emissions, heat transfer) and operational concerns (fouling, slagging and corrosion) inherent in the retrofit of existing coal-fired boilers for oxy-coal combustion. Experimental work was conducted at Sandia National Laboratories’ Entrained Flow Reactor, the University of Utah Industrial Combustion Research Facility, and Brigham Young University. Process modeling and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was performed at REI. Successful completion of the project objectives resulted in the following key deliverables: 1) Multi-scale test data from 0.1 kW bench-scale, 100 kW and 200 kW laboratory-scale, and 1 MW semi-industrial scale combustors that describe differences in flame characteristics, fouling, slagging and corrosion for coal combustion under air-firing and oxygen-firing conditions, including sensitivity to oxy-burner design and flue gas recycle composition. 2) Validated mechanisms developed from test data that describe fouling, slagging, waterwall corrosion, heat transfer, char burnout and sooting under coal oxy-combustion conditions. The mechanisms were presented in a form suitable for inclusion in CFD models or process models. 3) Principles to guide design of pilot-scale and full-scale coal oxy-firing systems and flue gas recycle configurations, such that boiler operational impacts from oxy-combustion retrofits are minimized. 4

Colemanite: a fire retardant candidate for wood plastic composites

Science.gov (United States)

Evren Terzi; Saip Nami Kartal; Sabriye Piskin; Nicole Stark; Aysel Kanturk Figen; Robert H. White

2018-01-01

The use of raw boron minerals (i.e. tincalconite, colemanite, and ulexite) was evaluated to increase the fire performance of wood plastic composites (WPCs) in comparison with commercially available fire retardants (FRs). Cone calorimetry and limited oxygen index tests were performed to evaluate the fire properties of WPC specimens. Artificial weathering and 3-point...

ERA-Net Evaluation of technology status for small-scale combustion of pellets from new ash rich biomasses - combustion tests in residential burners

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roennbaeck, Marie; Johansson, Mathias; Frida Claesson

2008-07-01

In this project, pellets with higher ash content compared to the wood pellets used today on the Swedish market were tested in three domestic-scale burners. The tests were carried out based on EN 303-5. In the flue gas, combustion parameters as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen and hydro carbons were measured, and also more fuel specific parameters such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, total dust and particle mass- and number concentration. The dust (fly ash) and bottom ash were characterized chemically. The implications of high ash content on combustion performance are discussed in the report. Altogether five pellets with 8 mm diameter were tested: oilseed straw pellet, reed canary grass pellet (RCG), barley straw pellet, bark pellet and wood pellet. All fuels were dry ranging from 6.5-12 % moisture. The ash content varied from 0.3 weight-% dm in wood to 7.9 % in RCG. Barley straw has a noticeable low ash melting temperature, < 980 deg C, and could not be combusted in any of the burners. The nitrogen content varied nine times and sulphur more than 10 times. The chlorine content was very low in wood and bark and more than 20 times higher in oilseed and barley. The composition of inorganic species in the fuel ash was dominated by calcium, potassium and silica in wood, bark and oilseed pellet, while RCG and barley straw were dominated by silica. The three burners used were commercial and known to fulfil high quality requirements. Burner A is a pellet burner where fuel is supplied on top of the grate with no mechanical mean for moving bottom ash on the grate during combustion. Bottom ash is blown away, and any slag remaining on the grate is removed with a scrape before ignition. Burner B is an upward burning pellet burner where fuel and ash is pushed upwards and the glow bed is exposed to the surrounding combustion department. Burner C is a forward burning grain burner that pushes fuel and ash forwards, inside a cylinder. From the

Time-resolved characterization of primary emissions from residential wood combustion appliances.

Science.gov (United States)

Heringa, M F; DeCarlo, P F; Chirico, R; Lauber, A; Doberer, A; Good, J; Nussbaumer, T; Keller, A; Burtscher, H; Richard, A; Miljevic, B; Prevot, A S H; Baltensperger, U

2012-10-16

Primary emissions from a log wood burner and a pellet boiler were characterized by online measurements of the organic aerosol (OA) using a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-TOF-AMS) and of black carbon (BC). The OA and BC concentrations measured during the burning cycle of the log wood burner, batch wise fueled with wood logs, were highly variable and generally dominated by BC. The emissions of the pellet burner had, besides inorganic material, a high fraction of OA and a minor contribution of BC. However, during artificially induced poor burning BC was the dominating species with ∼80% of the measured mass. The elemental O:C ratio of the OA was generally found in the range of 0.2-0.5 during the startup phase or after reloading of the log wood burner. During the burnout or smoldering phase, O:C ratios increased up to 1.6-1.7, which is similar to the ratios found for the pellet boiler during stable burning conditions and higher than the O:C ratios observed for highly aged ambient OA. The organic emissions of both burners have a very similar H:C ratio at a given O:C ratio and therefore fall on the same line in the Van Krevelen diagram.

Dioxin and furan emissions from landfill gas-fired combustion units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caponi, F.R.; Wheless, E.; Frediani, D.

1998-01-01

The 1990 Federal Clean Air Act Amendments require the development of maximum achievable control technology standards (MACT) for sources of hazardous air pollutants, including landfill gas-fired combustion sources. The Industrial Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking (ICCR) Federal Advisory Committee is a group of stakeholders from the public and private sector whose charge is to develop recommendations for a unified set of federal toxic air emissions regulations. Specifically, the group will establish MACT standards for industrial-commercial-institutional combustion sources. The ICCR proceedings have given rise to considerable interest in potential dioxin and furan emissions from landfill gas-fired combustion units. In order to establish the potential of dioxin and furan emissions from this group of combustion sources, a world-wide literature search was conducted. A total of 22 references were evaluated. The references covered a wide range of test programs, testing methodologies and combustion equipment type. The most abundant data were for landfill gas-fired flares (shrouded and afterburners) and I.C. engines. Because of limitations in obtaining actual test reports with complete lab data and QA/QC results, and a lack of knowledge as to the exact types of waste received at the European landfills, the test data from these sources, for the purposes of this paper, are considered qualitative. The conclusion reached from review of the test data is that there is a potential for dioxin and furan emissions from landfill gas-fired combustion units, but at very low levels for well operated systems

A refinement of the potassium tracer method for residential wood smoke

Science.gov (United States)

Calloway, C. P.; Li, S.; Buchanan, J. W.; Stevens, R. K.

Potassium has been used as a tracer for the mass of fine particles emitted to the air from residential wood burning stoves and fireplaces. The technique involves measurement by x-ray fluorescence of the total K collected on fine particle filters. Since wind blown soil particles also contain K, a correction for this contribution is made based upon soil analysis or an assumed K/Fe ratio in local soil. K in excess of this ratio is considered to be from wood smoke. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate an alternative method for determining wood smoke K. The underlying assumption is that wood smoke K is water soluble but that K in crustal particles is in a mineralized form and only slightly water soluble. Results from analyses of particle samples indicate the two methods yield essentially the same amount of wood smoke K.

Modelling and simulation of wood chip combustion in a hot air generator system.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajika, J K A T; Narayana, Mahinsasa

2016-01-01

This study focuses on modelling and simulation of horizontal moving bed/grate wood chip combustor. A standalone finite volume based 2-D steady state Euler-Euler Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was developed for packed bed combustion. Packed bed combustion of a medium scale biomass combustor, which was retrofitted from wood log to wood chip feeding for Tea drying in Sri Lanka, was evaluated by a CFD simulation study. The model was validated by the experimental results of an industrial biomass combustor for a hot air generation system in tea industry. Open-source CFD tool; OpenFOAM was used to generate CFD model source code for the packed bed combustion and simulated along with an available solver for free board region modelling in the CFD tool. Height of the packed bed is about 20 cm and biomass particles are assumed to be spherical shape with constant surface area to volume ratio. Temperature measurements of the combustor are well agreed with simulation results while gas phase compositions have discrepancies. Combustion efficiency of the validated hot air generator is around 52.2 %.

Combustion of metals, prevention and fire fighting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mellottee, H.

1991-01-01

The paper reviews the knowledge on metal combustion. Few works are devoted on metals such as magnesium or titanium. On the contrary liquid metals used as coolants, especially sodium, are much more studied. Results obtained on pool fires and spray fires are briefly given for global safety analysis of LMFBR. 11 refs

Reduced frequency and severity of residential fires following delivery of fire prevention education by on-duty fire fighters: cluster randomized controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Clare, Joseph; Garis, Len; Plecas, Darryl; Jennings, Charles

2012-04-01

In 2008, Surrey Fire Services, British Columbia, commenced a firefighter-delivered, door-to-door fire-prevention education and smoke alarm examination/installation initiative with the intention of reducing the frequency and severity of residential structure fires in the City of Surrey. High-risk zones within the city were identified and 18,473 home visits were undertaken across seven temporal delivery cohorts (13.8% of non-apartment dwellings in the city). The frequency and severity of fires pre- and post- the home visit intervention was examined in comparison to randomized high-risk cluster controls. Overall, the frequency of fires was found to have reduced in the city overall, however, the reduction in the intervention cohorts was significantly larger than for controls. Furthermore, when fires did occur within the intervention cohorts, smoke detectors were activated more frequently and the fires were confined to the object of origin more often post-home visits. No equivalent pattern was observed for the cluster control. On-duty fire fighters can reduce the frequency and severity of residential fires through targeted, door-to-door distribution of fire prevention education in high-risk areas. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emissions from fireplace and woodstove combustion of prevalent Portuguese woods

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Célia

2010-05-01

P. Fernandes, C. Gonçalves, C.A. Alves, L. Tarelho, F. Mirante, T. Nunes and C. Pio Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Environment, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal In Portugal, it was estimated that around 390000 ton/year of wood is burned in fireplaces, although the chemical characterisation of emission profiles has not yet been performed. Emission inventories and source apportionment, photochemistry and climate change models use values obtained for American or Alpine wood-fuels, uncommon in South Europe. Previous work has suggested that the species of wood used can have a huge influence on the particle emissions. Since the distribution of compounds emitted differs by species and burning conditions and there are many variations among published profiles, it is desirable to obtain specific data at a regional level on the chemical characterisation of wood smoke. A series of source tests was performed to compare the emission profiles from the woodstove combustion to those of fireplaces. Eight types of biomass were burned in the laboratory: seven species of wood grown in Portugal (Pinus pinaster, Eucalyptus globulus, Quercus suber, Acacia longifolia, Quercus faginea, Olea europea, Quercus ilex rotundifolia), and briquettes of biomass residues. The gas sampling was carried out in the exhaust ducts of both combustion systems. The collection of particles (PM2.5) was conducted in the dilution tunnel that was directly coupled to the chimney. Dilution sampling was used to characterise fine particle emissions from the combustion sources because it simulates the rapid cooling and dilution that occurs as exhaust mixes with the atmosphere. During each burning cycle, the concentrations of O2, CO2 and CO, as well as operational parameters (e.g. temperatures, flows, etc.), were automatically monitored. The PM2.5 samples were analysed by a thermal optical technique in order to obtain their organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) content

CFD modeling and experience of waste-to-energy plant burning waste wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rajh, B.; Yin, Chungen; Samec, N.

2013-01-01

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is being increasingly used in industry for in-depth understanding of the fundamental mixing, combustion, heat transfer and pollutant formation in combustion processes and for design and optimization of Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants. In this paper, CFD modeling...... the conversion of the waste wood in the fuel bed on the grate, which provides the appropriate inlet boundary condition for the freeboard 3D CFD simulation. The CFD analysis reveals the detailed mixing and combustion characteristics in the waste wood-fired furnace, pinpointing how to improve the design...

Trends of multiple air pollutants emissions from residential coal combustion in Beijing and its implication on improving air quality for control measures

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Yifeng; Zhou, Zhen; Nie, Teng; Wang, Kun; Nie, Lei; Pan, Tao; Wu, Xiaoqing; Tian, Hezhong; Zhong, Lianhong; Li, Jing; Liu, Huanjia; Liu, Shuhan; Shao, Panyang

2016-10-01

Residential coal combustion is considered to be an important source of air pollution in Beijing. However, knowledge regarding the emission characteristics of residential coal combustion and the related impacts on the air quality is very limited. In this study, we have developed an emission inventory for multiple hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) associated with residential coal combustion in Beijing for the period of 2000-2012. Furthermore, a widely used regional air quality model, the Community Multi-Scale Air Quality model (CMAQ), is applied to analyze the impact of residential coal combustion on the air quality in Beijing in 2012. The results show that the emissions of primary air pollutants from residential coal combustion have basically remained the same levels during the past decade, however, along with the strict emission control imposed on major industrial sources, the contribution of residential coal combustion emissions to the overall emissions from anthropogenic sources have increased obviously. In particular, the contributions of residential coal combustion to the total air pollutants concentrations of PM10, SO2, NOX, and CO represent approximately 11.6%, 27.5%, 2.8% and 7.3%, respectively, during the winter heating season. In terms of impact on the spatial variation patterns, the distributions of the pollutants concentrations are similar to the distribution of the associated primary HAPs emissions, which are highly concentrated in the rural-urban fringe zones and rural suburb areas. In addition, emissions of primary pollutants from residential coal combustion are forecasted by using a scenario analysis. Generally, comprehensive measures must be taken to control residential coal combustion in Beijing. The best way to reduce the associated emissions from residential coal combustion is to use economic incentive means to promote the conversion to clean energy sources for residential heating and cooking. In areas with reliable energy supplies, the coal used

Electrodialytic removal of Cd from biomass combustion fly ash suspensions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkelund, Gunvor M.; Ottosen, Lisbeth M.; Damoe, Anne J.

2013-01-01

was investigated with the aim of enabling reuse of the ashes. The ashes originated from combustion of straw (two ashes), wood chips, and co-firing of wood pellets and fuel oil, respectively. A series of laboratory scale electrodialytic remediation experiments were conducted with each ash. The initial Cd...

Reaction to fire of ETICS applied on wood particle board

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bonati Antonio

2016-01-01

Full Text Available As well known the ETICS are diffusely used both for energy saving and thermal insulation reasons. They have been applied recently in wood buildings and in regions of southern Europe too due to green building and sustainability reasons. ITC-CNR has tested a lot of building materials and developed good knowledge about reaction to fire since the 1980 and currently, ETICS fixed directly to particle wood panels have been investigated with several SBI tests. In the case study are presented the main factors that can influence the fire reaction results when applied on wood structure are highlighted: the thickness of the insulating material, the presence of accidental damage, the flame attack from the inside. From the results obtained by tests on samples prepared with simulated accidental damages and fire from inside, some considerations are made about the hazard due to this specific construction technology and others on limits of the type of actually used standards product classification.

Introducing wood pellet fuel to the UK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cotton, R A; Giffard, A

2001-07-01

Technical and non-technical issues affecting the introduction of wood pellet-fired heating to the UK were investigated with the aim of helping to establish a wood pellet industry in the UK. The project examined the growth and status of the industry in continental Europe and North America, reviewed relevant UK standards and legislation, identified markets for pellet heating in the UK, organised workshops and seminars to demonstrate pellet burning appliances, carried out a trial pelletisation of a range of biomass fuels, helped to set up demonstration installations of pellet-fired appliances, undertook a promotional campaign for wood pellet fuel and compiled resource directories for pellet fuel and pellet burning appliances in the UK. The work was completed in three phases - review, identification and commercialisation. Project outputs include UK voluntary standards for wood pellet fuel and combustion appliances, and a database of individuals with an interest in wood pellet fuel.

Faecal-wood biomass co-combustion and ash composition analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Somorin, Tosin Onabanjo; Kolios, Athanasios J; Parker, Alison; McAdam, Ewan; Williams, Leon; Tyrrel, Sean

2017-09-01

Fuel blending is a widely used approach in biomass combustion, particularly for feedstocks with low calorific value and high moisture content. In on-site sanitation technologies, fuel blending is proposed as a pre-treatment requirement to reduce moisture levels and improve the physiochemical properties of raw faeces prior to drying. This study investigates the co-combustion performance of wood dust: raw human faeces blends at varying air-to-fuel ratios in a bench-scale combustor test rig. It concludes with ash composition analyses and discusses their potential application and related problems. The study shows that a 50:50 wood dust (WD): raw human faeces (FC) can reduce moisture levels in raw human faeces by ∼40% prior to drying. The minimum acceptable blend for treating moist faeces without prior drying at a combustion air flow rate of 14-18 L/min is 30:70 WD: FC. For self-sustained ignition and flame propagation, the minimum combustion temperature required for conversion of the fuel to ash is ∼400 °C. The most abundant elements in faecal ash are potassium and calcium, while elements such as nickel, aluminium and iron are in trace quantities. This suggests the potential use of faecal ash as a soil conditioner, but increases the tendency for fly ash formation and sintering problems.

Energy wood. Part 2b: Wood pellets and pellet space-heating systems; Holzenergie Teil 2b: Holzpellets und Pelletheizungen / Energie du bois Partie 2b: Granules de bois et installations de chauffage a granules de bois

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nussbaumer, T. [Verenum, Zuerich (Switzerland)

2002-07-01

The paper gives an overview on pellet utilization including all relevant process steps: Potential and properties of saw dust as raw material, pellet production with drying and pelletizing, standardization of wood pellets, storage and handling of pellets, combustion of wood pellets in stoves and boilers and applications for residential heating. In comparison to other wood fuels, wood pellets show several advantages: Low water content and high heating value, high energy density, and homogeneous properties thus enabling stationary combustion conditions. However, quality control is needed to ensure constant properties of the pellets and to avoid the utilization of contaminated raw materials for the pellet production. Typical data of efficiencies and emissions of pellet stoves and boilers are given and a life cycle analysis (LCA) of wood pellets in comparison to log wood and wood chips is described. The LCA shows that wood pellets are advantageous thanks to relatively low emissions. Hence, the utilization of wood pellet is proposed as a complementary technology to the combustion of wood chips and log wood. Finally, typical fuel cost of wood pellets in Switzerland are given and compared with light fuel oil. (author)

Superheater fouling in a BFB boiler firing wood-based fuel blends

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stam, A.F.; Haasnoot, K.; Brem, Gerrit

2014-01-01

Four different fuel blends have been fired in a 28 MWel BFB. Wood pellets (test 0) were not problematic for about ten years, contrary to a mixture of demolition wood, wood cuttings, compost overflow, paper sludge and roadside grass (test 1) which caused excessive fouling at a superheater bundle

Fire propagation over combustible exterior facades exposed to intensified flame in Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nishio Yuhei

2016-01-01

Full Text Available With regard to fire safety for exterior walls of a building, fire-resistance performance is considered, according to the current Building Standard Law of Japan. And it was revealed that the fire safety is not specifically regulated from the viewpoint of reaction-to-fire performance, such as fire propagation caused by combustible materials or products installed on the exterior side of fire-resistant load-bearing walls. Actual fire incidents in the world have shown that massive façade fire could occur at the exterior side of building wall even when the wall itself is fire resistant. In previous studies of the authors, a test method of façade fire was proposed for evaluating the vertical fire propagation over an external wall within the same building [1,2]. Based on these studies, new domestic standard test method was established in Japan as JIS A 1310: 2015, “Test method for fire propagation over building façades” at the end of January 2015 [3]. But there was the argument that heat output of burner inside the combustion chamber was not sufficiently high in the previous study. In this paper, results of fire tests on combustible façades are discussed from the viewpoints of different strength of flame exposing facade. In this research, it was clearly found that JIS A 1310 with heat output of 900kW could be applicable for evaluating fire propagation behaviour over various types of combustible exterior façades.

Semivolatile and Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Wood-Fired Hydronic Heaters

Science.gov (United States)

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...

Emissions from co-combustion of wood and household refuse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, X.J.; Peterson, F.

1996-01-01

An investigation was carried out on the emissions produced in a 20 kW experimental boiler burning a combination of wood and household refuse. The wood content ranged form 10 to 50%. Direct sampling with Tenax adsorbent was used to cover a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The measurements also included unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen and flue gas temperature. Combustion and emission parameters were recorded continuously with a multi-point data logger. VOCs were analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometer (GC/MS). The main emphasis was placed on the effect of wood on VOC emissions. The results showed that as the wood content increased from 10 to 50%, there was a roughly linear increase in emissions of total VOCs. Carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbon emissions also increased. These results suggest that household refuse is a good substitute for wood as a boiler fuel, as it has a similar calorific value but fewer emissions. (Author)

Extinguishing agent for combustible metal fires

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, John F.; Stauffer, Edgar Eugene

1976-10-12

A low chloride extinguishing agent for combustible metal fires comprising from substantially 75 to substantially 94 weight percent of sodium carbonate as the basic fire extinguishing material, from substantially 1 to substantially 5 weight percent of a water-repellent agent such as a metal stearate, from substantially 2 to substantially 10 weight percent of a flow promoting agent such as attapulgus clay, and from substantially 3 to substantially 15 weight percent of a polyamide resin as a crusting agent.

The use of wood waste for energy production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karlopoulos, E.; Pavloudakis, F.

1999-01-01

The paper presents some technical aspects and management issues of wood waste reuse end disposal. It refers to the Greek and European legislation which determines the framework for rational and environmental friendly practices for woos waste management. It refers also to the wood waste classification systems and the currently applied methods of wood waste disposal and reuse. Emphasis is given to the wood waste-to-energy conversion system, particularly to the pretreatment requirements, the combustion techniques, and the environmental constrains. Finally, the decision making process for the investments in the wood waste firing thermal units is discussed

Advanced air/flue gas staging based on CFD modelling for enhanced combustion and burnout in a waste-wood fired boiler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rajh, Boštjan; Yin, Chungen; Samec, Niko

2017-01-01

The paper presents the impacts of the jet momentum, position and orientation of air and Recycled Flue Gas (RFG) streams on the performance of a grate-fired boiler burning waste wood via a comprehensive CFD-based parametric study. It is found that the air and RFG jets can be optimized to enhance m...

INPUT DATA OF BURNING WOOD FOR CFD MODELLING USING SMALL-SCALE EXPERIMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petr Hejtmánek

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an option how to acquire simplified input data for modelling of burning wood in CFD programmes. The option lies in combination of data from small- and molecular-scale experiments in order to describe the material as a one-reaction material property. Such virtual material would spread fire, develop the fire according to surrounding environment and it could be extinguished without using complex reaction molecular description. Series of experiments including elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and difference thermal analysis, and combustion analysis were performed. Then the FDS model of burning pine wood in a cone calorimeter was built. In the model where those values were used. The model was validated to HRR (Heat Release Rate from the real cone calorimeter experiment. The results show that for the purpose of CFD modelling the effective heat of combustion, which is one of the basic material property for fire modelling affecting the total intensity of burning, should be used. Using the net heat of combustion in the model leads to higher values of HRR in comparison to the real experiment data. Considering all the results shown in this paper, it was shown that it is possible to simulate burning of wood using the extrapolated data obtained in small-size experiments.

Oxy-coal combustion in an entrained flow reactor: Application of specific char and volatile combustion and radiation models for oxy-firing conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Álvarez, L.; Yin, Chungen; Riaza, J.

2013-01-01

The deployment of oxy-fuel combustion in utility boilers is one of the major options for CO2 capture. However, combustion under oxy-firing conditions differs from conventional air-firing combustion, e.g., in the aspect of radiative heat transfer, coal conversion and pollutants formation....... In this work, a numerical study on pulverised coal combustion was conducted to verify the applicability and accuracy of several sub-models refined for oxy-fuel conditions, e.g., gaseous radiative property model, gas-phase combustion mechanism and heterogeneous char reaction model. The sub-models were...... implemented in CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations of combustion of three coals under air-firing and various oxy-firing (21-35% vol O2 in O2/CO2 mixture) conditions in an EFR (entrained flow reactor). The predicted coal burnouts and gaseous emissions were compared against experimental results...

Wood Products Other Building Materials Used in New Residential Construction in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

David B. McKeever; Joe Elling

2015-01-01

On average, new residential construction accounts for about one-third of all wood products consumed in the United States annually. During periods of robust housing activity, 45% or more of all wood products consumed are for new single-family and multifamily housing. This can fall to as low as 20% or less during times of economic recession. Unfortunately, 2012 was not...

[Environmental and health impacts of wood combustion to produce heat and power].

Science.gov (United States)

Valerio, Federico

2012-01-01

Toxic chemicals such as benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, and ultra fine particles were found in the smoke produced by wood combustion. Emission factors confirm that, to produce the same energy amount, many more pollutants are emitted by wood than by natural gas. Biomass burning produces a relevant deterioration of air quality inside and outside houses, notably due to emissions of fine and ultra fine dust (PM10, PM2.5) according to reviewed studies. Important improvements in emission quality are obtained with the use of more efficient household heating systems, both in developed and in developing countries. Numerous studies have assessed the possible health effects produced by wood smoke, providing sufficient evidence that the indoor exposure to wood smoke, even in developed countries, can have adverse effects on human health. In 2010 IARC classified wood smoke as a possible human carcinogen. In Europe, electricity generation from biomass combustion is increasing (12% each year) thanks to incentives provided to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use of fossil fuels.Today adequate studies to assess the environmental and health effects of emissions from power plants fuelled by solid biomasses are still needed.

Combustion in fluidized bed reactors; Verbrennung in Wirbelschichtreaktoren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thome-Kozmiensky, Karl J. [vivis CONSULT GmbH, Nietwerder (Germany)

2013-03-01

Since the first application for the coal gasification, the fluidized bed technology has passed an impressive development. Nowadays, the fluidized bed technology is utilized at chemical processes, drying and cooling, gasification, combustion and purification of exhaust gas. In the firing technology, the fluidized technology initially has been proved in the combustion of very high ash coal and sewage sludge. Recently, the fluidized bed technology also is applied in the drying of sewage sludge, combustion of domestic waste - as in Japan and Sweden - as well as in the gasification and combustion of substitute fuels, biomass - wood pellets, wood chips, straw, cocoa shells and so forth - and residues from the paper manufacturing - such as in Germany and Austria. Under this aspect, the author of the contribution under consideration reports on the combustion of sewage sludge, substitute fuels and biomass.

Combustion behaviour of pulverised wood - Numerical and experimental studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lixin Tao [TPS Termiska Processer AB, Nykoeping (Sweden)

2002-05-01

This report presents the experimental results achieved in an on-going project financed by STEM (Energimyndigheten) within the research program 'Gasification and combustion of solid fuels', during the first phase of the project (2001-03-05 to 2002-03-05). The project is a collaboration project between LTH and TPS on combined numerical modelling/experimental investigation on combustion of pulverised wood. Particularly TPS carry out the experimental investigation in a laboratory vertical furnace. During the project, the experimental rig has been developed. The experimental furnace has an inner diameter of 0.25 m and a height of 4 m. A pulverised wood flame is established using an axial burner that is installed on the top of the furnace. Experimental study on a selected pulverised wood with determined size distribution and anisotropy character has been carried out in this furnace. During the experiment, the wall temperatures of the furnace were continuously measured using 8 thermocouples of type K that are installed on the wall with a spacing about 0.5 m. The gas temperatures in the furnace were monitored using 5 fixed suction pyrometers that are placed along the centre of the furnace. At the bottom of the furnace, a fixed gas-sampling probe was installed. The flue gas concentrations were continuously monitored with on-line gas analysers. The extent of combustion was measured through the analysis of sampled gaseous products and condensable solid products. A movable liquid quench probe was used to carry out the gas and solid sampling through a number of sampling holes that are opened along the furnace wall. The quench liquor used is an alkaline water solution containing a small amount of a detergent to dissolve HCN and tar. The quench liquor and solid samples were separated and collected in a knockout pot. The gas was filtered and passed through two bubblers with acidic solution to collect NH{sub 3}. The gas concentrations were then analysed with on-line gas

Increase in efficiency and reduction of generation cost at hard coal-fired power plants. Post-combustion of combustion residues from co-firing of RDF and biomass during dry ash removal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baur, Guenter [Magaldi Power GmbH, Esslingen (Germany); Spindeldreher, Olaf [RWE Generation SE, Werne (Germany); RWE Generation SE, Essen (Germany)

2013-09-01

Secondary as well as substitute fuels are being used in hard coal-fired power plants to improve efficiency and to enlarge fuel flexibility. However, grinding and firing systems of the existing coal-fired plants are not designed for those co-fuels. Any deterioration of the combustion performance would reduce the power output and increase ash disposal costs by increased content of combustion residues. The application of air-cooled ash removal, with simultaneous and controlled post-combustion of unburned residues on the conveyor belt, enlarges the furnace and maintains combustion efficiency even with different fuel qualities. Plant efficiency can also be increased through heat recovery. (orig.)

Pollution-free combustion of waste wood in Swiss joineries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1994-12-31

The exploitation of scrap wood for heat generation in the wood processing industry makes sense not only in the context of energy conservation but also on environmental grounds. Existing energy requirements can be provided by renewable energy sources, relieving the burden on the public waste disposal facility. The wood-fired heating plant for a joinery in Pratteln, Switzerland consumes 150 to 180 tonnes of waste wood per year, enabling approximately 80 tonnes of heating oil to be saved. The heat produced is used in a local scheme to heat the joinery and adjacent housing. A new fibrous filter system for the retention of fine particles was installed, enabling the particle concentration in the exhaust to be reduced from 292 mg/m{sup 3} to 24 mg/m{sup 3}. (UK)

MINERGIE modules: heat pump - heat pump/solar - wood - wood/solar; Minergie-Module Waermepumpe - Waermepumpe/Solar - Holz - Holz/Solar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gallati, J. [Seecon GmbH, Lucerne (Switzerland); Portmann, M. [Buero Markus Portmann, Kriens (Switzerland); Zurfluh, B. [Zurfluh Lottenbach, Lucerne (Switzerland)

2005-07-01

This research report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a project that examined the feasibility of setting up 'MINERGIE' low-energy-consumption module standards for the production of heat in small residential buildings. The aims of the standards and the basic idea behind the MINERGIE-modules are discussed. The concepts of the modules for heat pumps and wood-fired heating systems and their combination with solar installations are examined, as are their areas of application. The requirements placed on the modules are listed. System concepts, including simple schematics for typical installations, are presented for wood-log, wood-chippings and pellets-fired systems as well as for ground-loop and air-water heat pump systems as well as their solar-aided counterparts. The results of cost-benefit analyses are presented and questions regarding system guarantee and liability are examined.

Development of newly designed wood burning systems with low emissions and high efficiency; Tehokkaan ja vaehaepaeaestoeisen puulaemmitysjaerjestelmaen kehittaeminen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hyytiaeinen, H [Tulisydaen Oy, Vantaa (Finland)

1997-12-01

The investigations in the project will focus on the combustion behaviour of wood burning systems of untreated wood fuels with batch-wise and quasi-continuous mechanical feeding. The objectives will be to minimise the pollutant release of these combustion systems during the different operational phases by a consequent optimisation of the fuel burning technique and to reduce the CO release by increasing the efficiency of the combustion. To reduce the pollutant release during the operation phases and to increase the efficiency, products of incomplete combustion i.e. carbon monoxide, toxic organic compounds like benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and soot have to be minimised in a further extent. For that the following goals will be attained: improvement of the mixing process of combustion gases in the reaction zones, averaging the residence time spectrum in the burnout zone reduction, of emissions during initial and burnout phase in firings with batch-wise feeding reduction of emissions under partial-load conditions in firings with quasi-continuous feeding, higher combustion stability even in case of changing fuel qualities, defining guidelines for the design of stoves and boilers with low emissions and high efficiency. By the foreseen reduction of the pollutant release and improved efficiency the environmental acceptance of wood combustion firings can be increased and for instance local restrictions can be removed. The project is funded in part by The European Commission in the framework of The Non Nuclear Energy Programme. (orig.)

The behavior of ash species in suspension fired biomass boilers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Peter Arendt

While fluid bed and grate fired boilers initially was the choice of boilers used for power production from both wood and herbaceous biomass, in recent years suspension fired boilers have been increasingly used for biomass based power production. In Denmark several large pulverized fuel boilers have...... been converted from coal to biomass combustion in the last 15 years. This have included co-firing of coal and straw, up to 100% firing of wood or straw andthe use of coal ash as an additive to remedy problems with wood firing. In parallel to the commercialization of the pulverized biomass firing...... technology a long range of research studies have been conducted, to improve our understanding of the influence and behavior of biomass ash species in suspension fired boilers. The fuel ash plays a key role with respect tooptimal boiler operation and influences phenomena’s as boiler chamber deposit formation...

An engineering economic assessment of whole-house residential wood heating in New York

Science.gov (United States)

Wood devices are being selected increasingly for residential space heating by households in New York State. Motivations for their use include energy independence, mitigating climate change, stimulating local economic development, and reducing exposure to high and variable fuel c...

Application of fire-retardant treatment to the wood in Type A unirradiated nuclear fuel outer containers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitlow, J.D.; Luna, R.E.

1992-01-01

Packagings for transporting unirradiated nuclear fuel assemblies in the United States are commonly constructed as rectangular boxes consisting of a metal inner container, a wooden outer container, and cushioning material separating the two. The wood in the outer container is a potential source of fuel for fire. Use of a fire-retardant treatment on the wood may reduce or eliminate the damage to nuclear fuel assemblies in some types of accidents involving fire. The applicability of using fire-retardant treatments on the wood of outer containers is addressed. An approximate cost-benefit analysis to determine if fire-retardant treatments are economically justified is presented. (Author)

The state of the residential fire fatality problem in Sweden: Epidemiology, risk factors, and event typologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Jonsson, Anders; Bonander, Carl; Nilson, Finn; Huss, Fredrik

2017-09-01

Residential fires represent the largest category of fatal fires in Sweden. The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiology of fatal residential fires in Sweden and to identify clusters of events. Data was collected from a database that combines information on fatal fires with data from forensic examinations and the Swedish Cause of Death-register. Mortality rates were calculated for different strata using population statistics and rescue service turnout reports. Cluster analysis was performed using multiple correspondence analysis with agglomerative hierarchical clustering. Male sex, old age, smoking, and alcohol were identified as risk factors, and the most common primary injury diagnosis was exposure to toxic gases. Compared to non-fatal fires, fatal residential fires more often originated in the bedroom, were more often caused by smoking, and were more likely to occur at night. Six clusters were identified. The first two clusters were both smoking-related, but were separated into (1) fatalities that often involved elderly people, usually female, whose clothes were ignited (17% of the sample), (2) middle-aged (45-64years old), (often) intoxicated men, where the fire usually originated in furniture (30%). Other clusters that were identified in the analysis were related to (3) fires caused by technical fault, started in electrical installations in single houses (13%), (4) cooking appliances left on (8%), (5) events with unknown cause, room and object of origin (25%), and (6) deliberately set fires (7%). Fatal residential fires were unevenly distributed in the Swedish population. To further reduce the incidence of fire mortality, specialized prevention efforts that focus on the different needs of each cluster are required. Cooperation between various societal functions, e.g. rescue services, elderly care, psychiatric clinics and other social services, with an application of both human and technological interventions, should reduce residential fire

Release of Inorganic Elements during Wood Combustion. Release to the Gas Phase of Inorganic Elements during: Wood Combustion. Part 1: Development and Evaluation of Quantification Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Lith, Simone Cornelia; Alonso-Ramírez, Violeta; Jensen, Peter Arendt

2006-01-01

During wood combustion, inorganic elements such as alkali metals, sulfur, chlorine, and some heavy metals are partly released to the gas phase, which may cause problems in combustion facilities because of deposit formation and corrosion. Furthermore, it may cause harmful emissions of gases......) in this reactor, whereas methods B and C involved initial pyrolysis and combustion, respectively, of a large fuel sample (~5 kg) in a bench-scale fixed-bed reactor at 500 C. The methods were evaluated by comparing the data on the release of Cl, S, K, Na, Zn, and Pb from fiber board obtained by the three methods...

Estimating State-Specific Contributions to PM2.5- and O3-Related Health Burden from Residential Combustion and Electricity Generating Unit Emissions in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Penn, Stefani L; Arunachalam, Saravanan; Woody, Matthew; Heiger-Bernays, Wendy; Tripodis, Yorghos; Levy, Jonathan I

2017-03-01

Residential combustion (RC) and electricity generating unit (EGU) emissions adversely impact air quality and human health by increasing ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and ozone (O 3 ). Studies to date have not isolated contributing emissions by state of origin (source-state), which is necessary for policy makers to determine efficient strategies to decrease health impacts. In this study, we aimed to estimate health impacts (premature mortalities) attributable to PM 2.5 and O 3 from RC and EGU emissions by precursor species, source sector, and source-state in the continental United States for 2005. We used the Community Multiscale Air Quality model employing the decoupled direct method to quantify changes in air quality and epidemiological evidence to determine concentration-response functions to calculate associated health impacts. We estimated 21,000 premature mortalities per year from EGU emissions, driven by sulfur dioxide emissions forming PM 2.5 . More than half of EGU health impacts are attributable to emissions from eight states with significant coal combustion and large downwind populations. We estimate 10,000 premature mortalities per year from RC emissions, driven by primary PM 2.5 emissions. States with large populations and significant residential wood combustion dominate RC health impacts. Annual mortality risk per thousand tons of precursor emissions (health damage functions) varied significantly across source-states for both source sectors and all precursor pollutants. Our findings reinforce the importance of pollutant-specific, location-specific, and source-specific models of health impacts in design of health-risk minimizing emissions control policies. Citation: Penn SL, Arunachalam S, Woody M, Heiger-Bernays W, Tripodis Y, Levy JI. 2017. Estimating state-specific contributions to PM 2.5 - and O 3 -related health burden from residential combustion and electricity generating unit emissions in the United States. Environ

Development of steam generators for combustion of biofuels up to 10 t/h

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bentzin, H

1985-01-01

Combustion parameters are compared for raw brown coal, rice hulls and coconut shells as fuel in small steam generators. Combustion of native biofuel is seen as a power generation alternative in developing countries. Experiments were conducted on a 6.5 t/h moving grate steam generator with a firing grate surface of 7.2 m/sup 2/. Combustion results are shown in a table. Technological modifications carried out in adapting brown coal-fired steam generators to biofuels are also listed. A series of small steam generators for combustion of brown coal, biofuels including wood chips, as well as heating oil as back-up has been developed by the Karl-Marx-Stadt Dampfkesselbau Plant, GDR, with steam capacities ranging from 3.2 to 10 t/h. Technical specifications and diagrams of this series design (DGK-3, DGK-45, DWK 2S) are given. A larger steam generator with 20 t/h steam capacity for combustion of raw brown coal, bagasse, wood chips with heating oil and for rice hulls as support fuels is being developed by the Berlin Dampferzeugerbau Plant, GDR. 5 references.

In vitro toxicological characterization of particulate emissions from residential biomass heating systems based on old and new technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Jalava, Pasi I.; Happo, Mikko S.; Kelz, Joachim; Brunner, Thomas; Hakulinen, Pasi; Mäki-Paakkanen, Jorma; Hukkanen, Annika; Jokiniemi, Jorma; Obernberger, Ingwald; Hirvonen, Maija-Riitta

2012-04-01

Residential wood combustion causes major effects on the air quality on a global scale. The ambient particulate levels are known to be responsible for severe adverse health effects that include e.g. cardio-respiratory illnesses and cancer related effects, even mortality. It is known that biomass combustion derived emissions are affected by combustion technology, fuel being used and user-related practices. There are also indications that the health related toxicological effects are influenced by these parameters. This study we evaluated toxicological effects of particulate emissions (PM1) from seven different residential wood combusting furnaces. Two appliances i.e. log wood boiler and stove represented old batch combustion technology, whereas stove and tiled stove were designated as new batch combustion as three modern automated boilers were a log wood boiler, a woodchip boiler and a pellet boiler. The PM1 samples from the furnaces were collected in an experimental setup with a Dekati® gravimetric impactor on PTFE filters with the samples being weighed and extracted from the substrates and prior to toxicological analyses. The toxicological analyses were conducted after a 24-hour exposure of the mouse RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line to four doses of emission particle samples and analysis of levels of the proinflammatory cytokine TNFα, chemokine MIP-2, cytotoxicity with three different methods (MTT, PI, cell cycle analysis) and genotoxicity with the comet assay. In the correlation analysis all the toxicological results were compared with the chemical composition of the samples. All the samples induced dose-dependent increases in the studied parameters. Combustion technology greatly affected the emissions and the concomitant toxicological responses. The modern automated boilers were usually the least potent inducers of most of the parameters while emissions from the old technology log wood boiler were the most potent. In correlation analysis, the PAH and other organic

URBAN WOOD/COAL CO-FIRING IN THE NIOSH BOILERPLANT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

James T. Cobb, Jr.; Gene E. Geiger; William W. Elder III; Thomas Stickle; Jun Wang; Hongming Li; William P. Barry

2002-06-13

During the third quarter, the experimental portion of the project was carried out. Three one-day tests using wood/coal blends of 33% wood by volume (both construction wood and demolition wood) were conducted at the NIOSH Boiler Plant (NBP). Blends using hammer-milled wood were operationally successful and can form the basis of Phase II. Emissions of SO{sub 2} and NOx decreased and that of CO increased when compared with combusting coal alone. Mercury emissions were measured and the mathematical modeling of mercury speciation reactions continued, yielding many interesting results. Material and energy balances for the test periods at the NBP, as well as at the Bellefield Boiler Plant, were prepared. Steps were taken to remove severe constraints from the Pennsylvania Switchgrass Energy and Conservation Project and to organize the supplying of landfill gas to the Bruceton federal complex. Two presentations were made to meetings of the Electric Power Research Institute and the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Measurement of trace emissions and combustion characteristics for a mass fire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susott, R.A.; Ward, D.E.; Babbitt, R.E.; Latham, D.J.

1991-01-01

Results are presented of a continuing study of research that was started in 1988. A new sampling system was designed to provide fire dynamics data from within the fire. This chapter describes the sampling system, the measurements it provided on one biomass fire, and some valuable parameters that can be calculated such as emission factors, combustion efficiency, and rate of fuel consumption. The large prescribed fire in Ontario, Canada, provided a practical test of this package that can be used to assess the application of the monitoring concept to a broad range of biomass fires. Measurements of wind vectors, temperature, and emissions of CO 2 , CO and particulates are reported for a 40-minute period from ignition through the critical period of maximum release of heat to the near extinction of the smoldering combustion phase

Chimney emissions from small-scale burning of pellets and fuelwood - examples referring to different combustion appliances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kjaellstrand, Jennica; Olsson, Maria

2004-01-01

Most wood boilers used for residential heating today are old-fashioned and emit large quantities of organic compounds. The installation of a pellet burner and a change to wood pellets as fuel normally decreases the emissions remarkably. In this study, the emissions from different equipment for burning of wood and pellets are compared. The organic fraction of smoke from traditional wood burning is to a great extent composed of methoxyphenols, with antioxidant effects. Methoxyphenols were also identified in smoke from pellet stoves. A fuel wood boiler or a furnace with an inserted pellet burner is heated to a higher combustion temperature, decreasing the total amount of organic compounds in the smoke. Above 800 deg C, methoxyphenols are thermally decomposed and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) are formed. The combustion-formed aromatic hydrocarbon benzene is present in smoke from all kinds of burning, but the proportion relative to primary organic compounds increases with increasing combustion temperature. In smoke from an environmentally labelled wood boiler and from some pellet burning devices, the levels of PAC and benzene were found to be low. Evidently, the combustion was nearly complete. Although the change from wood to pellets significantly decreases the emissions, considerable differences exist between various combinations of pellet burners and boiler furnaces. (Author)

Thermal oxidative degradation of wood modified with aminophenylborates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klyachenkova Olga

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Comparative thermal analysis in the presence of oxygen was carried out for samples of native pine wood and wood samples modified with aminophenylborates. Significant decrease in the amount of heat released during thermal decomposition of the modified samples was established, which is due to the increase of carbonaceous residues on the surface. Reduction of heat release during decomposition of the modified samples may be explained by the lower yield of combustible volatile products as well as by thin film of boron oxide, formed on the surface of the modified wood, that partially reflects heat flow. Produced upon the modifier decomposition water vapor and inert nitrogen oxides dilute gaseous mixture near the wood surface and isolate it from oxygen. This enhances fire-resistance of wood modified with mono- and diethanolamine(N→Bphenylborates. Hydroxyl group at the sixth carbon atom of the glucopyranose ring of cellulose participates in reactions of cellulose modification, which prevents formation of flammable levoglucosan and, consequently, improves the fire-resistance of the modified wood.

Wood pellets in a power plant - mixed combustion of coal and wood pellets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nupponen, M.

2001-01-01

The author reviews in his presentation the development of Turku Energia, the organization of the company, the key figures of the company in 2000, as well as the purchase of energy in 2000. He also presents the purchase of basic heat load, the energy production plants of the company, the sales of heat in 2000, the emissions of the plants, and the fuel consumption of the plants in 2000. The operating experiences of the plants are also presented. The experiences gained in Turku Energia on mixed combustion of coal and wood pellets show that the mixing ratios, used at the plants, have no effect on the burning properties of the boiler, and the use of wood pellets with coal reduce the SO 2 and NO x emissions slightly. Simultaneously the CO 2 share of the wood pellets is removed from the emissions calculations. Several positive effects were observed, including the disappearance of the coal smell of the bunker, positive publicity of the utilization of wood pellets, and the subsidies for utilization of indigenous fuels in power generation. The problems seen include the tendency of wood pellets to arc the silos, especially when the pellets include high quantities of dust, and the loading of the trucks and the pneumatic unloading of the trucks break the pellets. Additionally the wood pellets bounce on the conveyor so they drop easily from the conveyor, the screw conveyors designed for conveying grain are too weak and they get stuck easily, and static electricity is easily generated in the plastic pipe used as the discharge pipe for wood pellet (sparkling tendency). This disadvantage has been overcome by using metal net and grounding

Elemental analysis of ash residue from combustion of CCA treated wood waste before and after electrodialytic extraction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Anne Juul; Ottosen, Lisbeth M.

2006-01-01

Element distribution in a combined fly ash and bottom ash from combustion of copper chromate arsenate (CCA) treated wood waste was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDX) before and after electrodialytic extraction. The untreated ash contained various particles, including pieces...... of incompletely combusted wood rich in Cr and Ca, and irregular particles rich in Si, Al and K. Cr was also found incorporated in silica-based matrix particles. As was associated with Ca in porous (char) particles, indicating that Ca-arsenates had been formed during combustion. Cu was associated with Cr...... in the incompletely combusted wood pieces and was also found in almost pure form in a surface layer of some matrix particles – indicating surface condensation of volatile Cu species. In treated ash, Ca and As were no longer found together, indicating that Ca-arsenates had been dissolved due to the electrodialytic...

A fire risk assessment model for residential high-rises with a single stairwell

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, N. D.; Steffensen, F.B.; Valkvist, M.B.

2018-01-01

As few or none prescriptive guidelines for fire risk assessment of residential high-rise buildings exist, it has been unclear which fire safety design features constitute an acceptable (adequate) safety level. In order to fill this gap a simplified risk-based decision-support tool, the Fire Risk...... Model (FRM), was developed. The FRM evaluates both the risk level to the occupants and the property risk level as a function of the building characteristics, height and fire safety features for single stairwell residential high-rise buildings. The acceptability of a high-rise design is then defined......, and the associated performance of the FRM evaluated. It was found that compartmentation and the door configurations in the egress path play an important role, along with sprinklers, in order for the design to successfully keep the stairwell free from smoke. Specifically, modern curtain wall facades were found...

Domestic biomass combustion and associated atmospheric emissions in West Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Brocard, Delphine; Lacaux, Jean-Pierre; Eva, Hugh

1998-03-01

Biofuel is the main source of energy for cooking and heating in Africa. In order to estimate the consumption of this resource at a regional level, a database with a spatial resolution of 1° latitude by 1° longitude of the distribution of the amounts of fuel wood and charcoal annually burned in West Africa has been derived. Chemical emission factors for fuel wood, for charcoal burning, and for charcoal fabrication measured during two field experiments are then used in conjunction with this database to produce a second 1° latitude by 1° longitude database of the emissions due to domestic fires for the region. A comparison of these emissions from domestic fires with those of savanna fires, the dominant form of biomass burning in tropical Africa, shows that the relative contribution of the wood fuel (i.e. fuel wood and charcoal) combustion is important for CH4 (46%), CO (42%), and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) (44%), less so for CO2 (32%). This source of biomass burning has a different spatial and temporal distribution than that of savanna fires and represents an atmospheric background noise throughout the year, whereas the savanna fires occur during a limited season.

Fire-induced wounding elicits changes in the wood anatomy of North American conifers

Science.gov (United States)

Estelle Arbellay; Markus Stoffel; Elaine K. Sutherland; Kevin T. Smith; Donald A. Falk

2013-01-01

Fire is a major disturbance agent in North American forests. Fires injure trees when heat transfer through the bark partially kills the cambium and the compartmentalization process results in a fire scar. Dendrochronologists use these scars in the xylem to reconstruct fire regimes. However, little information exists on the wood anatomy of fire scars. Consequently, this...

Size distribution and concentration of soot generated in oil and gas-fired residential boilers under different combustion conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez, Santiago; Barroso, Jorge; Pina, Antonio; Ballester, Javier

2016-05-01

In spite of the relevance of residential heating burners in the global emission of soot particles to the atmosphere, relatively little information on their properties (concentration, size distribution) is available in the literature, and even less regarding the dependence of those properties on the operating conditions. Instead, the usual procedure to characterize those emissions is to measure the smoke opacity by several methods, among which the blackening of a paper after filtering a fixed amount of gas (Bacharach test) is predominant. In this work, the size distributions of the particles generated in the combustion of a variety of gaseous and liquid fuels in a laboratory facility equipped with commercial burners have been measured with a size classifier coupled to a particle counter in a broad range of operating conditions (air excesses), with simultaneous determination of the Bacharach index. The shape and evolution of the distribution with progressively smaller oxygen concentrations depends essentially on the state of the fuel: whereas the combustion of the gases results in monomodal distributions that 'shift' towards larger diameters, in the case of the gas-oils an ultrafine mode is always observed, and a secondary mode of coarse particle grows in relevance. In both cases, there is a strong, exponential correlation between the total mass concentration and the Bacharach opacity index, quite similar for both groups of fuels. The empirical expressions proposed may allow other researchers to at least estimate the emissions of numerous combustion facilities routinely characterized by their smoke opacities.

Wood-Fired Boiler System Evaluation at Fort Stewart, GA

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Potts, Noel

2002-01-01

Part of the plan to modernize the central energy plant (CEP) at Fort Stewart, GA is focused on the installations wood-fired boiler, which provides steam for heating, cooling, and domestic hot water. The U.S...

Measures on fireside emission reduction during wood combustion in industrial furnaces; Massnahmen zur feuerungsseitigen Emissionsminderung bei der Holzverbrennung in gewerblichen Feuerungsanlagen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuberbuehler, U.

2002-07-01

The combustion of natural wood chips in current automatic firing systems leads to emissions of NO{sub x} < 200 mg/m{sup 3} and Particular Matter (PM)<50 mg/m{sup 3}. During the combustion of chipboard residues NO{sub x} emissions can reach 1000 mg/m{sup 3} and PM 500 mg/m{sup 3}, as they accrue particularly at furniture industry and carpenters. To achieve better particle burnout and lower NO{sub x} concentrations a new firing concept has been developed and tested. State of the art in the area of commercial wood firings was the {lambda}- and temperature controlled underfeed firing. Based on this firing type, a stage combustion was realized by a separation of the furnace in primary and secondary combustion chamber. Within the first step of development the burnout zone was optimised to improve particle burnout with simultaneous particle separation. Secondary air supply was made with a special fan to produce a swirl flow inside the cylindrical combustion chamber. Similar as in a cyclone particles were carried in a reverse flow to the furnace wall where is sufficient time for burnout. The good mixing performance of air and combustion gases is another benefit of the produced swirl flow. The aim of further development was to achieve the necessary conditions for primary NO{sub x} reduction with a new design of the primary zone of the furnace. Therefore hot gas from the end of combustion chamber or exhaust gas was recirculated to reduce the amount of primary air. The new primary zone of the combustion chamber was combined with the well working burnout zone with integrated particle separation. The combustion behaviour of this combined furnace was investigated and optimised on a test stand. During continuous combustion of coated chipboards (fuel N-content 4,3%) NO{sub x} concentrations of 450 mg/m{sup 3} were measured, which correspond to a 40% reduction in comparison with a common underfed firing. CO concentrations of 30 mg/m{sup 3} were on a very low level and particle

Long-term leaching of nutrients and contaminants from wood combustion ashes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maresca, Alberto; Hyks, J.; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

2018-01-01

With increasing amounts of woody biomass being combusted for energy purposes worldwide, more wood ash is being generated and needs management. As an alternative to landfilling, residues may be utilised for liming and fertilising purposes on forest soils. Comprehensive evaluations of long-term lea......With increasing amounts of woody biomass being combusted for energy purposes worldwide, more wood ash is being generated and needs management. As an alternative to landfilling, residues may be utilised for liming and fertilising purposes on forest soils. Comprehensive evaluations of long......-term leaching from these residues are needed in order to assess potential environmental impacts associated with their utilisation. Two Danish wood ash samples, one fly ash and one mixed ash (a combination of fly ash and bottom ash), were evaluated in long-term percolation column tests (up to L/S ∼2000 L....../kg), in order to quantify the release of major, minor and trace metal(loid)s. While columns of three different lengths were used, the leaching of individual elements could be described as a function of the L/S ratio – irrespective of the column length. At L/S 1000 L/kg, the cumulative releases of K, S, Na, Ca...

The influence of design and fuel parameters on the particle emissions from wood pellets combustion. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiinikka, Henrik; Gebart, Rikard [Energy Technology Centre, Piteaa (Sweden)

2005-02-01

Combustion of solid biomass under fixed bed conditions is a common technique to generate heat and power in both small and large scale grate furnaces (domestic boilers, stoves, district heating plants). Unfortunately, combustion of biomass will generate particle emissions containing both large fly ash particles and fine particles that consist of fly ash and soot. The large fly ash particles have been produced from fusion of non-volatile ash-forming species in burning char particle. The inorganic fine particles have been produced from nucleation of volatilised ash elements (K, Na, S, Cl and Zn). If the combustion is incomplete, soot particles are also produced from secondary reaction of tar. The particles in the fine fraction grows by coagulation and coalescence to a particle diameter around 0.1 pm. Since the smallest particles are very hard to collect in ordinary cleaning devices they contribute to the ambient air pollution. Furthermore, fine airborne particles have been correlated to adverse effects on the human health. It is therefore essential to minimize particle formation from the combustion process and thereby reduce the emissions of particulates to the ambient air. The aim with this project is to study particle emissions from small scale combustion of wood pellets and to investigate the impact of different operating, construction and fuel parameters on the amount and characteristic of the combustion generated particles. To address these issues, experiments were carried out in a 10 kW updraft fired wood pellets reactor that has been custom designed for systematic investigations of particle emissions. In the flue gas stack, particle emissions were sampled on a filter. The particle mass and number size distributions were analysed by a low pressure cascade impactor and a SMPS (Scanning Electron Mobility Particle Sizer). The results showed that the temperature and the flow pattern in the combustion zone affect the particle emissions. Increasing combustion

Dioxines, furans and other pollutants emissions bond to the combustion of natural and additive woods; Facteurs d'emission. Emissions de dioxines, de furanes et d'autres polluants liees a la combustion de bois naturels et adjuvantes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Collet, S

2000-02-15

This report deals especially on the dioxines and furans bond to the combustion of wood in industrial furnaces and domestic furnaces. It aims to define the environmental strategy which would allow the combustion of wood residues to produce energy. The first part recalls general aspects concerning the wood. The six other parts presents the wood resources and wastes, the additive used, the combustion and the different factors of combustion and finally the pollutants emissions. (A.L.B.)

Cleaner heat from wood. TULISIJA research programme for wood firing technology 1997-1999

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

There are 1.3 million wood-burning fireplaces in Finnish homes. The interest in using fireplaces for heating of dwellings has recently been growing strongly. Some 5.6 million cubic meters of firewood is burned in domestic stoves and fireplaces annually. This corresponds to a total of 7.5 terawatthours of energy and amounts to 13 % of all energy used for heating in Finland. The aim of the TULISIJA research programme for wood firing technology (1997-1999) is to assist manufacturers in their efforts to develop the most emission-free, yet efficient, wood firing equipment in the world. Detailed objectives of the TULISIJA programme are: (1) To produce modelling capabilities for the evaluation of different fireplace designs. Capabilities are produced for utilising computer simulation for investigation of the emissions of small-size fireplaces. (2) To establish a measuring place for fireplaces, where manufacturers' equipment designs can be reliably tested according to different standards is to be built, through which the Finnish manufacturers may obtain approvals for their products for different market areas. (3) To enhance co-operation between manufacturers and research institutions. Within the programme, the expertise of researchers in universities and other research institutes is made available to manufacturers - and vice versa. Equally important is the utilisation of international co-operation and making new connections

Wood Usage and Fire Veneration in the Pamir, Xinjiang, 2500 yr BP.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui Shen

Full Text Available Located on the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang Province, China, the Ji'erzankale Necropolis dates back to 2500 yr BP. Many materials that have been unearthed in this cemetery, including shoo konghou (musical instrument, bronze mirrors and glass beads, suggest cultural transference between East and West. Furthermore, small-sized and rounded fire altars made from sweet-scented Sabina were found for the first time and regarded as implements for fire veneration. We identified 70 wooden objects from 25 tombs within the Necropolis, and found that each object had been made from one of seven tree species. Analysis revealed that the inhabitants of the region mainly used the most widely available types of wood, namely Betula and Populus. People also specifically chose inflammable Populus wood to make hearth boards and hand drills (both are used for making fire by drilling, rigid Betula wood to craft wooden plates. Salix was used for fashioning wooden sticks, while sweet-scented Sabina was the preferred choice for making fire altars. Lonicera was selected for arrow shaft manufacture and Fraxinus syriaca, which has a beautiful grain, was chosen for making musical instruments. Conscious selection of different types of wood indicates that people of the Pamir Plateau were aware of the properties of various types of timbers, and were able to exploit these properties to the full. In turn, this demonstrates their wisdom and their ability to survive in, and adapt to, their local environment.

Consideration of the energetic use of waste wood versus re-use of materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergsma, G.C.; Sas, H.

1997-01-01

Recycling of wood wastes to chipboard is compared with the combustion of waste wood in combination with high-efficient energy recovery. Both options show much better environmental effects than the disposal of wood wastes. The differences between the environmental effects of the first two options can be neglected. The reprocessing of wood wastes to chipboard results in a decrease of the production of gypsum board. That benefit is equal to the benefit of cocombustion of wood wastes in a coal-fired power plant, i.e. saving coal. 18 refs

Carbon monoxide concentrations in outdoor wood-fired kitchens in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso--implications for women's and children's health.

Science.gov (United States)

Thorsson, Sofia; Holmer, Björn; Andjelic, Andreas; Lindén, Jenny; Cimerman, Sandra; Barregard, Lars

2014-07-01

A majority of households in developing countries rely on biomass fuel for cooking, typically burned in open fires or simple stoves. The incomplete combustion of these fuels causes adverse health effects such as respiratory diseases, especially among women and children. However, quantitative data on pollution levels and on associated diseases are limited. We examined cooking habits and self-reported health in 31 households with outdoor open wood fires in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, using structured interviews. In eight households, carbon monoxide (CO) was measured using passive sampling. In addition, meteorology and ambient CO concentrations were assessed. The average CO concentration during cooking was 4.3 ppm, with a maximum of 65.3 ppm and minimum of 0.3 ppm (1-min values). A clear daily pattern was observed, with relatively low concentrations during the day and high during the evening, occasionally exceeding the World Health Organization 1- and 8-h guidelines when the air stabilised. On average, CO concentrations were 43 % higher in kitchens located in closed yards than in those located in open yards, showing that fireplace location affected the levels. Eye irritation and coughing among women and children were reported by 30 % of the households. Based on previously reported relations between CO concentrations and fine particles (health risk among women and children in households with outdoor open wood fires. The results suggest that burning should be limited between sunset and dawn and in areas with limited ventilation to reduce pollutions levels.

Heating great residential units with combustion-motor heat pumps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vossen, W

1982-10-01

Economic usage of combustion-motor heat pumps requires: reliable technology and delivery of the heat pump; design and operation. The heat pump must be integrated perfectly into the heating system. This contributions is based on a three-year operational experience with over 150 heat pumps used mainly in residential and administrative buildings (plus commercial buildings, swimming pools, sport centres etc.). These are heat pumps operating on the compression principle with natural gas, liquid gas, or fuel oil.

Integration of a wood pellet burner and a Stirling engine to produce residential heat and power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardozo, Evelyn; Erlich, Catharina; Malmquist, Anders; Alejo, Lucio

2014-01-01

The integration a Stirling engine with a pellet burner is a promising alternative to produce heat and power for residential use. In this context, this study is focused on the experimental evaluation of the integration of a 20 kW th wood pellet burner and a 1 kW e Stirling engine. The thermal power not absorbed by the engine is used to produce hot water. The evaluation highlights the effects of pellet type, combustion chamber length and cycling operation on the Stirling engine temperatures and thermal power absorbed. The results show that the position of the Stirling engine is highly relevant in order to utilize as much as possible of the radiative heat from the burner. Within this study, only a 5 cm distance change between the Stirling engine and the pellet burner could result in an increase of almost 100 °C in the hot side of the engine. However, at a larger distance, the temperature of the hot side is almost unchanged suggesting dominating convective heat transfer from the hot flue gas. Ash accumulation decreases the temperature of the hot side of the engine after some cycles of operation when a commercial pellet burner is integrated. The temperature ratio, which is the relation between the minimum and maximum temperatures of the engine, decreases when using Ø8 mm wood pellets in comparison to Ø6 mm pellets due to higher measured temperatures on the hot side of the engine. Therefore, the amount of heat supplied to the engine is increased for Ø8 mm wood pellets. The effectiveness of the engine regenerator is increased at higher pressures. The relation between temperature of the hot side end and thermal power absorbed by the Stirling engine is nearly linear between 500 °C and 660 °C. Higher pressure inside the Stirling engine has a positive effect on the thermal power output. Both the chemical and thermal losses increase somewhat when integrating a Stirling engine in comparison to a stand-alone boiler for only heat production. The overall efficiency

Combustion efficiency and emission factors for wildfire-season fires in mixed conifer forests of the northern Rocky Mountains, US

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. P. Urbanski

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In the US, wildfires and prescribed burning present significant challenges to air regulatory agencies attempting to achieve and maintain compliance with air quality regulations. Fire emission factors (EF are essential input for the emission models used to develop wildland fire emission inventories. Most previous studies quantifying wildland fire EF of temperate ecosystems have focused on emissions from prescribed burning conducted outside of the wildfire season. Little information is available on EF for wildfires in temperate forests of the conterminous US. The goal of this work is to provide information on emissions from wildfire-season forest fires in the northern Rocky Mountains, US. In August 2011, we deployed airborne chemistry instruments and sampled emissions over eight days from three wildfires and a prescribed fire that occurred in mixed conifer forests of the northern Rocky Mountains. We measured the combustion efficiency, quantified as the modified combustion efficiency (MCE, and EF for CO2, CO, and CH4. Our study average values for MCE, EFCO2, EFCO, and EFCH4 were 0.883, 1596 g kg−1, 135 g kg−1, 7.30 g kg−1, respectively. Compared with previous field studies of prescribed fires in temperate forests, the fires sampled in our study had significantly lower MCE and EFCO2 and significantly higher EFCO and EFCH4. The fires sampled in this study burned in areas reported to have moderate to heavy components of standing dead trees and down dead wood due to insect activity and previous fire, but fuel consumption data was not available. However, an analysis of MCE and fuel consumption data from 18 prescribed fires reported in the literature indicates that the availability of coarse fuels and conditions favorable for the combustion of these fuels favors low MCE fires. This analysis suggests that fuel composition was an important factor contributing to the low MCE of the fires measured in this study. This study only measured EF for CO2, CO

POSSIBLE ROLE OF INDOOR RADON REDUCTION SYSTEMS IN BACK-DRAFTING RESIDENTIAL COMBUSTION APPLIANCES

Science.gov (United States)

The article gives results of a computational sensitivity analysis conducted to identify conditions under which residential active soil depressurization (ASD) systems for indoor radon reduction might contribute to or create back-drafting of natural draft combustion appliances. Par...

Corrosivity of hot flue gases in the fluidized bed combustion of recovered waste wood

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Enestam, S.

2011-07-01

In recent years, recovered waste wood has become a fuel of interest due to its green energy benefits and low price compared to virgin wood-based fuels. However, waste wood is often contaminated with paint, plastic, and metal components, producing concentrations of heavy metals such as zinc and lead, chlorine, sodium, and sometimes sulphur that are elevated relative to those in virgin wood. In several cases, boilers burning waste wood have experienced increased fouling and corrosion of furnace walls, superheaters, and economizers, problems associated with chlorine, zinc, lead, and alkali metals in the deposits. The location of the deposits and the corrosion as well as the composition of the deposits vary with the fuel composition, boiler design, combustion parameters, flue gas temperature, and material temperature. Experience gained from the operation of biofuel and waste boilers shows that corrosion damage can be reduced, or even avoided, by the selection of optimum materials or for heat exchanger surfaces, by the use of fuel mixtures or additives that decrease the corrosivity of the combustion environment, by the placement of superheaters in a less corrosive environment, and by adjusting the steam parameters. Finding the right solutions for boilers burning RWW requires a thorough understanding of the whole process, including the fuel fed into the boiler, the combustion atmosphere, the corrosivity of the flue gas and the deposits, and the corrosion resistance of different boiler materials under the prevailing conditions. The objective of this work was to shed more light on the combustion environment in bubbling fluidized bed boilers burning RWW and thus increase knowledge about the corrosivity of zinc- and lead-rich deposits formed during the combustion of RWW, with the final goal of developing a corrosion prediction tool for use in the design of boilers for RWW combustion. With such a tool, it would be possible to optimize boiler design and material selection with

An Assessment of the Fire Safety Hazard Associated with External Fire Spread in Tall Buildings with Combustible Façade Material

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lavard Brogaard, Nicholas; Torero, Jose L.; Jomaas, Grunde

2014-01-01

in order to obtain a conclusive assessment of the fire safety hazards associated with combustible facades. Prescriptive fire safety codes are typically not allowing any type of combustible façade in buildings that are taller than 2-3 stories. However, a performance based approach does not contain height...

Benefits of Allothermal Biomass Gasification for Co-Firing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van der Meijden, C.M.; Van der Drift, A.; Vreugdenhil, B.J. [ECN Biomass and Energy Efficiency, Petten (Netherlands)

2012-04-15

Many countries have set obligations to reduce the CO2 emissions from coal fired boilers. Co-firing of biomass in existing coal fired power plants is an attractive solution to reduce CO2 emissions. Co-firing can be done by direct mixing of biomass with coal (direct co-firing) or by converting the biomass into a gas or liquid which is fired in a separate burner (indirect co-firing). Direct co-firing is a rather simple solution, but requires a high quality and expensive biomass fuel (e.g. wood pellets). Indirect co-firing requires an additional installation that converts the solid biomass into a gas or liquid, but has the advantage that it can handle a wide range of cheap biomass fuels (e.g. demolition wood) and most of the biomass ash components are separated from the gas before it enters the boiler. Separation of biomass ash can prevent fouling issues in the boiler. Indirect co-firing, using biomass gasification technology, is already common practice. In Geertruidenberg (the Netherlands) a 80 MWth Lurgi CFB gasifier produces gas from demolition wood which is co-fired in the Amer PC boiler. In Ruien (Belgium) a 50 MWth Foster Wheeler fluidized bed gasifier is in operation. The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) developed a 'second generation' allothermal gasifier called the MILENA gasifier. This gasifier has some major advantages over conventional fluidized bed gasifiers. The heating value of the produced gas is approximately 2.5 times higher than of gas produced by conventional bubbling / circulating fluidized bed gasifiers. This results in smaller adaptations to the membrane wall of the boiler for the gas injection, thus lower costs. A major disadvantage of most fluidized bed gasifiers is the incomplete conversion of the fuel. Typical fuel conversions vary between 90 and 95%. The remaining combustible material, also containing most of the biomass ash components, is blown out of the gasifier and removed from the gas stream by a cyclone to

A Fire-Retardant Composite Made from Domestic Waste and PVA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neni Surtiyeni

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We report the synthesis of a composite from domestic waste with the strength of wood building materials. We used original domestic waste with only a simple pretreatment to reduce the processing cost. The wastes were composed of organic components (generally originating from foods, paper, plastics, and clothes; the average fraction of each type of waste mirrored the corresponding fractions of wastes in the city of Bandung, Indonesia. An initial survey of ten landfills scattered through Bandung was conducted to determine the average fraction of each component in the waste. The composite was made using a hot press. A large number of synthesis parameters were tested to determine the optimum ones. The measured mechanical strength of the produced composite approached the mechanical properties of wood building materials. A fire-retardant powder was added to retard fire so that the composite could be useful for the construction of residential homes of lower-income people who often have problems with fire. Fire tests showed that the composites were more resistant to fire than widely used wood building materials.

Wood pellets : a worldwide fuel commodity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melin, S.

2005-01-01

Aspects of the wood pellet industry were discussed in this PowerPoint presentation. Details of wood pellets specifications were presented, and the wood pellet manufacturing process was outlined. An overview of research and development activities for wood pellets was presented, and issues concerning quality control were discussed. A chart of the effective calorific value of various fuels was provided. Data for wood pellet mill production in Canada, the United States and the European Union were provided, and various markets for Canadian wood pellets were evaluated. Residential sales as well as Canadian overseas exports were reviewed. Production revenues for British Columbia and Alberta were provided. Wood pellet heat and electricity production were discussed with reference to prefabricated boilers, stoves and fireplaces. Consumption rates, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and fuel ratios for wood pellets and fossil fuels were compared. Price regulating policies for electricity and fossil fuels have prevented the domestic expansion of the wood pellet industry. There are currently no incentives for advanced biomass combustion to enter British Columbia markets, and this has led to the export of wood pellets. It was concluded that climate change mitigation policies will be a driving force behind market expansion for wood pellets. tabs., figs

Danish emission inventories for stationary combustion plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, M.; Illerup, J. B.

Emission inventories for stationary combustion plants are presented and the methodologies and assumptions used for the inventories are described. The pollutants considered are: SO2, NOx, NMVOC, CH4, CO, CO2, N2O, particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins and PAH. Since 1990 the fuel consumption...... in stationary combustion has increased by 12% - the fossil fuel consumption however only by 6%. Despite the increased fuel consumption the emission of several pollutants have decreased due to the improved flue gas cleaning technology, improved burner technology and the change of fuel type used. A considerable...... plants. The emission of PAH increased as a result of the increased combustion of wood in residential boilers and stoves. Uncertainties for the emissions and trends have been estimated....

Danish emission inventories for stationary combustion plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, M.; Illerup, J. B.

Emission inventories for stationary combustion plants are presented and the methodologies and assumptions used for the inventories are described. The pollutants considered are SO2, NOX, NMVOC, CH4, CO, CO2, N2O, particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins and PAH. Since 1990 the fuel consumption...... in stationary combustion has increased by 14% - the fossil fuel consumption however only by 8%. Despite the increased fuel consumption the emission of several pollutants has decreased due to the improved flue gas cleaning technology, improved burner technology and the change of fuel type used. A considerable...... plants. The emission of PAH increased as a result of the increased combustion of wood in residential boilers and stoves. Uncertainties for the emissions and trends have been estimated...

Wood products used for residential repair and remodeling in the United States, 1991

Science.gov (United States)

D. B. McKeever; R. G. Anderson

Large amounts of lumber and wood panel products are used annually for the repair and remodeling of residential structures and properties in the United States. In response to the need by government and industry for detailed information on this important market for timber products, a study was conducted by the Timber Demand and Technology...

Emission analysis of the best available wood-fired central heating boilers on the market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Axell, M.; Gustavsson, Lennart; Persson, Henrik; Leckner, B.

1998-01-01

The purpose of the present project is to study the emissions from some of the best available wood-fired central heating boilers on the market. The aim is to identify the critical factors which determine the emission levels by means of emission measurements as well as temperature measurements in the combustion chamber. Four boilers with different design characteristics have been included in the project. All boilers use reversed combustion and fan-assisted combustion air supply, and have shown low tar emissions in earlier environmental tests. Boiler A is a boiler with a rather large mass of ceramics in the grate and in the burn-out zone, and a large volume of water. Boiler B has a smaller mass in the cast-iron grate and in the burn-out zone and a small water volume. Boiler C is a boiler with tertiary air and an incorporated accumulator tank. Boiler D has a zirconia-cell probe for continuous control of the air-excess ratio. The measurements have been made with the boilers in accumulator operation, i.e. at maximum heat output, since they are intended for this type of operation. Tests have, in addition to normal operating conditions, been made with high fuel moisture contents, high draught and a low boiler temperature at the start of the test. Measurements have been made of excess-air ratios, contents of CO, total hydrocarbons (THC), NO x and a number of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the flue gases as well as of combustion temperatures below the grate

Wood pellets for stoker burner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nykaenen, S.

2000-01-01

The author of this article has had a stoker for several years. Wood chips and sod peat has been used as fuels in the stoker, either separately or mixed. Last winter there occurred problems with the sod peat due to poor quality. Wood pellets, delivered by Vapo Oy were tested in the stoker. The price of the pellets seemed to be a little high 400 FIM/500 kg large sack. If the sack is returned in good condition 50 FIM deposit will be repaid to the customer. However, Vapo Oy informed that the calorific value of wood pellets is three times higher than that of sod peat so it should not be more expensive than sod peat. When testing the wood pellets in the stoker, the silo of the stoker was filled with wood pellets. The adjustments were first left to position used for sod peat. However, after the fire had ignited well, the adjustments had to be decreased. The content of the silo was combusted totally. The combustion of the content of the 400 litter silo took 4 days and 22 hours. Respectively combustion of 400 l silo of good quality sod peat took 2 days. The water temperature with wood pellets remained at 80 deg C, while with sod peat it dropped to 70 deg C. The main disadvantage of peat with small loads is the unhomogenous composition of the peat. The results of this test showed that wood pellets will give better efficiency than peat, especially when using small burner heads. The utilization of them is easier, and the amount of ash formed in combustion is significantly smaller than with peat. Wood pellets are always homogenous and dry if you do not spoil it with unproper storage. Pellets do not require large storages, the storage volume needed being less than a half of the volume needed for sod peat. When using large sacks the amount needed can even be transported at the trunk of a passenger car. Depending on the area to be heated, a large sack is sufficient for heating for 2-3 weeks. Filling of stoker every 2-5 day is not an enormous task

BROMINATION OF 4-VINYLCYCLOHEXANE AND APPLYING THE RESULTING PRODUCT TO IMPROVE THE FLAME RETARDANT PROPERTIES OF WOOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. S. Nikulina

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Currently, the demand for timber is increasing. Wood and products on its basis are considered to be the most popular in the construction industry, furniture industry, as building materials and other However, along with the positive features of this material there are also negative factors, which include low resistance to biological degradation, high temperature, resistance. Wood and materials based on it are the most flammable, and fire safety is characterized by the velocity of propagation of fire on the wooden structure. He is able to destroy it in a matter of minutes. So the wooden house elements must be protected from fire. It was therefore necessary for the fire protection of wood. It is in the handling of wood with flame retardants. Basic fire fighting methods is the impregnation of wood antipyrene composition, painting fire paint and constructive ways - insulation of timber, non-combustible compositions which can resist the fire. In the work of brominated 4-vinylcyclohexane formed as a by-product in the petrochemical industry, in chloroform synthesized compound with bromine 62-64 % and the possibility of using this product to get antiferromag composition. It is established that the application for the protective treatment of wood synthesized flame retardant has shown that this product can be used for the protective treatment of natural wood to make it flame retardant properties. Use as antiperiodic compositions bromodomain based products 4-vinylcyclohexane allows to obtain images of wood first group of flame retardant efficiency.

SOURCE SAMPLING FINE PARTICULATE MATTER: WOOD-FIRED INDUSTRIAL BOILER

Science.gov (United States)

The report provides a profile for a wood-fired industrial boiler equipped with a multistage electrostatic precipitator control device. Along with the profile of emissions of fine particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM-2.5), data are also provide...

Volatiles and char combustion rates of demineralised lignite and wood blends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yilgin, Melek; Pehlivan, Dursun

2009-01-01

Today, much interest is given to the utilisation of materials of plant origin as substitutions of fossil fuels in meeting energy needs to reduce the level of atmospheric pollutant emissions and global warming threat, and emphasis has been placed on the co-combustion of coal and biomass. In this study, volatiles and char combustion behaviour of the fuel pellets composed from demineralised lignite and poplar wood sawdust, were investigated in a cylindrical wire mesh basket placed in a preheated tube furnace. The results have shown that ignition times of the pellets decreased with the burning temperature and shortened further due to demineralisation of lignite. Volatiles combustion rates of the samples did not correlate well with combustion times. However, they can be correlated with their respective proximate volatile matter contents. Char burnout times decreased with increasing combustion rates and correlated well with the respective proximate fixed carbon contents of the samples. Deviations were more considerable in the case of rate data. (author)

Interesting spontaneous combustion fire at Haus Aden colliery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Both, W; Weinheimer, O

1976-02-05

Spontaneous combustion ahead of the face occurred in an over-worked and under-worked seam. When the first cavity containing hot ash was found, an attempt to extinguish the fire with water was abandoned because of the quantity of steam produced, but the fire was extinguished by covering it with paste containing magnesium chloride and hydroxide and calcium chloride. Mining operations continued while the coal surrounding the hot region was cooled with water. The steps taken to detect and deal with other fires in advance of the face are described. These included pre-infusion with calcium chloride solution via boreholes and treatment of the hot cavities encountered with magnesium chloride paste. This method of fire-fighting was more successful than the use of water alone.

Wood products and other building materials used in new residential construction in Canada, with comparison to previous studies

Science.gov (United States)

Joe Elling; David B. McKeever

2015-01-01

New residential construction is a critical driver of the demand for lumber, structural panels and engineered wood products in Canada. For the period 2010 through 2013, residential construction accounted for roughly 23 percent of the lumber consumed in Canada and 47 percent of structural panel usage. Insufficient data concerning imports and exports prevent estimates of...

Means of regulating combustible materials and products in external walls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikkola Esko

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This report presents proposals for defining means of regulating the use of combustible materials and products in external walls. Required protections are based on the quantities of fire loads and their contribution to fire development. The study is based on life safety and protection of property priorities taking into account reaction to fire classes related to different types of fire loads and fire compartmentation requirements of the adjacent spaces of concern. The proposals include the following main principles in relation to fire-separation requirements: In case of internal fire exposure the protective structure for combustible building parts needs to meet at least half of the fire-separating requirement for the compartment of concern. In case of external fire exposure the protection time requirement can be 15 minutes less than for the internal protection. The proposals are applicable for residential buildings and offices. In case of buildings with longer evacuation times more stringent requirement levels may be considered. For verification of protection performance of fire loads it is proposed to use existing standardized test methods (fire protection ability (K classes and fire-separating function (EI classes validated methods of calculation and/or large scale fire testing.

Wood energy for residential heating in Alaska: current conditions, attitudes, and expected use

Science.gov (United States)

David L. Nicholls; Allen M. Brackley; Valerie. Barber

2010-01-01

This study considered three aspects of residential wood energy use in Alaska: current conditions and fuel consumption, knowledge and attitudes, and future use and conditions. We found that heating oil was the primary fuel for home heating in southeast and interior Alaska, whereas natural gas was used most often in south-central Alaska (Anchorage). Firewood heating...

Analysis of existing structure and emissions of wood combustion plants for the production of heat and electricity in Bavaria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joa, Bettina

2014-01-01

This work deals with the detailed analysis of the existing structure of all Bavarian wood burning plants for the generation of heat and electricity as well as the determination of the resulting emission emissions in 2013. The number of wood burning plants in the single-chamber fireplaces, wood central heating and wood-fired heating plants which are in operation in the year 2013 were determined, and how many plants are existing in the various areas like pellet stoves, traditional ovens, wood-burning fireplace, pellet central heating systems, wood chips central heating systems, fire-wood central heating systems, wood combined heat and power plant (electricity and heat) and wood power plants (heat). In addition, the regional distribution of the wood burning plants in the Bavarian governmental districts is investigated as well as the type and amount of energy produced by them (heat, electricity). [de

Numerical modeling of sodium fire – Part II: Pool combustion and combined spray and pool combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sathiah, Pratap; Roelofs, Ferry

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A CFD based method is proposed for the simulation of sodium pool combustion. • A sodium evaporation based model is proposed to model sodium pool evaporation. • The proposed method is validated against sodium pool experiments of Newman and Payne. • The results obtained using the proposed method are in good agreement with the experiments. - Abstract: The risk of sodium-air reaction has received considerable attention after the sodium-fire accident in Monju reactor. The fires resulting from the sodium-air reaction can be detrimental to the safety of a sodium fast reactor. Therefore, predicting the consequences of a sodium fire is important from a safety point of view. A computational method based on CFD is proposed here to simulate sodium pool fire and understand its characteristics. The method solves the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equation and uses a non-premixed mixture fraction based combustion model. The mass transfer of sodium vapor from the pool surface to the flame is obtained using a sodium evaporation model. The proposed method is then validated against well-known sodium pool experiments of Newman and Payne. The flame temperature and location predicted by the model are in good agreement with experiments. Furthermore, the trends of the mean burning rate with initial pool temperature and oxygen concentration are captured well. Additionally, parametric studies have been performed to understand the effects of pool diameter and initial air temperature on the mean burning rate. Furthermore, the sodium spray and sodium pool combustion models are combined to simulate simultaneous spray and pool combustion. Simulations were performed to demonstrate that the combined code could be applied to simulate this. Once sufficiently validated, the present code can be used for safety evaluation of a sodium fast reactor

Numerical modeling of sodium fire – Part II: Pool combustion and combined spray and pool combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sathiah, Pratap, E-mail: pratap.sathiah78@gmail.com [Shell Global Solutions Ltd., Brabazon House, Concord Business Park, Threapwood Road, Manchester M220RR (United Kingdom); Roelofs, Ferry, E-mail: roelofs@nrg.eu [Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), Westerduinweg 3, 1755ZG Petten (Netherlands)

2014-10-15

Highlights: • A CFD based method is proposed for the simulation of sodium pool combustion. • A sodium evaporation based model is proposed to model sodium pool evaporation. • The proposed method is validated against sodium pool experiments of Newman and Payne. • The results obtained using the proposed method are in good agreement with the experiments. - Abstract: The risk of sodium-air reaction has received considerable attention after the sodium-fire accident in Monju reactor. The fires resulting from the sodium-air reaction can be detrimental to the safety of a sodium fast reactor. Therefore, predicting the consequences of a sodium fire is important from a safety point of view. A computational method based on CFD is proposed here to simulate sodium pool fire and understand its characteristics. The method solves the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equation and uses a non-premixed mixture fraction based combustion model. The mass transfer of sodium vapor from the pool surface to the flame is obtained using a sodium evaporation model. The proposed method is then validated against well-known sodium pool experiments of Newman and Payne. The flame temperature and location predicted by the model are in good agreement with experiments. Furthermore, the trends of the mean burning rate with initial pool temperature and oxygen concentration are captured well. Additionally, parametric studies have been performed to understand the effects of pool diameter and initial air temperature on the mean burning rate. Furthermore, the sodium spray and sodium pool combustion models are combined to simulate simultaneous spray and pool combustion. Simulations were performed to demonstrate that the combined code could be applied to simulate this. Once sufficiently validated, the present code can be used for safety evaluation of a sodium fast reactor.

Kinetics of pyrolysis and combustion of spherical wood particles in a fluidized bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazziotti di Celso, Giuseppe; Rapagnà, Sergio; Prisciandaro, Marina; Zanoelo, Everton Fernando

2014-01-01

Highlights: • H 2 , CO 2 , CO and CH 4 released during wood pyrolysis were experimentally monitored. • CO 2 formed by burning the residual tar/char mixture was experimentally determined. • The kinetics of species production was reproduced with two simplified models. • The increase of the bed reactor temperature statistically enhanced the gas yield. • The pyrolysis time is statistically reduced by decreasing the particle size. - Abstract: The kinetics of wood pyrolysis and combustion of residual fuel at different particle diameters and temperatures was investigated. A known mass of wooden spheres was fed at the top of a fluidized bed reactor filled with olivine particles and fluidized with nitrogen. The concentration of H 2 , CO 2 , CO and CH 4 was on-line monitored with gas analyzers. An irreversible first order reaction was applied to describe the biomass pyrolysis. The rate constant was dependent on the average temperature of wood particle, obtained by solving the transient one-dimensional problem of heat conduction in a sphere. The rate for an irreversible second order reaction between the residual fuel and oxygen at the fluid–solid interface, which takes a finite resistance to mass transfer into account, was adopted to describe the combustion. The semi-empirical kinetic models for pyrolysis and combustion were able to describe, with certain limitations inherent to model simplifications, the experimental transient results of molar flow rates of major released species. A statistical model based on the results of the factorial design of experiments (3 2 ) confirmed a statistical significant effect of temperature and wood particle diameter on the gas yield and time of pyrolysis, respectively

Survey of usage patterns for domestic stoves/fireplaces. Prestudy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, David; Joeborn, Inger; Sjoedin, Aake; Munkhammar, Inger; Gustavsson, Lennart

2005-02-01

We have investigated the use of domestic wood burning for wood stoves and open fireplaces. The results from a closer examination of existing national energy statistics for residential heating has enabled a division of the average consumption of firewood for each house by the category 'fireplace for open fire' and 'tiled stove/heating stove/fireplace for wood'. The estimation of emissions can therefore be improved by differentiating emission factors for different wood stoves and open fireplaces. Today, only one emission factor is used. An insight into general firing procedures, wood storage routines etc. was investigated using a questionnaire for the Teleborg area of the city Vaexjoe. The results of this study provide a foundation for further work, which will subsequently enable improvements for emission inventories on small-scale biomass combustion from household appliances

Rheology of fly ashes from coal and biomass co-combustion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arvelakis, Stelios; Frandsen, Flemming

2010-01-01

The presence of large amounts of alkali metals, chlorine and sulphur in most biomass fuels - compared to coal - can create serious ash-related problems such as deposition, agglomeration and/or corrosion. This paper discusses the viscosity characteristics of fly ash from the co-combustion of various...... coal/biomass blends in a pilot scale pf-boiler. The produced data provide information on the melting of the ash and its flow characteristics, as a function of temperature, which may be used to modify the temperature profile of the boiler in order to avoid slagging. Straw co-firing lowers the ash...... viscosity leading to higher stickiness of the ash particles. Wood co-firing has only minor effects, due to the composition of wood ash and the low percentage of wood in the coal/biomass blend....

The effect of control parameters to the quality of small-scale wood pellet combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruusunen, M. (Oulu Univ. (Finland). Contol Engineering Lab.), Email: mika.ruusunen@oulu.fi; Korpela, T.; Bjoerkqvist, T. (Tampere Univ. of Technology (Finland). Dept. of Automation Science and Engineering), Email: timo.korpela@tut.fi, Email: tomas.bjorqvist@tut.fi

2009-07-01

The target is to clear out control variables and requirements for clean small-scale wood pellet combustion (<100 kW{sub th}). Experimental runs were carried out in the form of design of experiments (DOE) with two commercial 15 kW pellet burners, namely a horizontal gas-burner and a conventional horizontal burner in a 20 kW commercial pellet boiler. Analysed variables were fuel power, draught, air flows, and fuel feed period, and research variables were CO, O{sub 2} and efficiency. The target was to identify and characterise separately the magnitude and direction of the effect of each factor. After process identification and variable optimisation, the results show strong influence of the studied control parameters on the efficiency and the emissions. The effects and interactions between different process variables were rather similar with both burners. The major effects for CO levels were fuel feed and additionally draught affected in case of wood gas combustion. Additionally, the effects on combustion efficiency is described by draught, air feed and fuel feed period. Furthermore, the fuel feed period affected the excess air level in case of direct combustion principle. It was noticed, however, that the combustion properties and optimal parameter values vary significantly between the two cases. (orig.)

2006 : Wood Used in Residential Repair and Remodeling U.S. and Canada, with Comparison to 1997 and 2003 : Executive Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Craig Adair; David B. McKeever

2009-01-01

The repair and remodeling of residential units in both the United States and Canada is an important market for wood products. Many and varied repair and remodeling activities and projects are undertaken annually. Some require substantial amounts of wood products, some none at all. In 2006, about 28 percent of all solid wood products consumed in the United States and 31...

Fire Resistance of Large-Scale Cross-Laminated Timber Panels

Science.gov (United States)

Henek, Vladan; Venkrbec, Václav; Novotný, Miloslav

2017-12-01

Wooden structures are increasingly being used in the construction of residential buildings. A common and often published reason to avoid wooden structures is their insufficient fire resistance, which reduces bearing capacity. For this reason, composite sandwich structures began to be designed to eliminate this drawback, as well as others. Recently, however, the trend is for a return to the original, wood-only variant and a search is underway for new technical means of improving the properties of such structures. Many timber structure technologies are known, but structures made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels have been used very often in recent years. CLT panels, also known as X-LAM, are currently gaining popularity in Europe. In the case of CLT panels composed of several layers of boards, they can be said to offer a certain advantage in that after the surface layer of a board has burnt and the subsurface layer has dried, oxygen is not drawn to the unburned wood for further combustion and thus the burning process ceases. CLT panels do not need to be specially modified or coated with fire resistant materials, although they are usually lined with gypsum-fibre fire resistant boards due to guidelines set out in the relevant standards. This paper presents a new method for the assessment of load-bearing perimeter walls fabricated from CLT panels without the use of an inner fire-retardant lining to ensure fire resistance at the level required by European standards (i.e. those harmonized for the Czech construction industry). The calculations were verified through laboratory tests which show that better parameters can be achieved during the classification of structures from the fire resistance point of view. The aim of the article is to utilize the results of assessment and testing by an accredited laboratory in order to demonstrate the possibilities of using CLT panels for the construction of multistorey as well as multi-purpose buildings in the Czech Republic.

Wood-waste fuelled indirectly-fired gas turbine cogeneration plant for sawmill applications. Phase 2. Site-specific preliminary engineering and financial analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1988-03-01

The use of conventional steam/electricity cogeneration systems is not generally economical at the sawmill scale of operation. This paper describes an evaluation of a wood-waste fueled and, indirectly, gas fired turbine cogeneration plant aimed at developing a cost-effective wood-waste fired power generation and dry kiln heating system for sawmill applications. A preliminary engineering design and financial analysis of the system was prepared for a demonstration site in British Columbia. A number of alternative system configurations were identified and preliminary engineering designs prepared for each. In the first option , wood wastes combusted in a wet cell hot gas generator powered a 600 kW turbine, and produced 7,000 kW for the drying kilns. The second option provided the same electrical and heat output but used a down-fired suspension burner unit fuelled by clean, dried sawdust, together with an integral air heater heat exchanger. The third option represented a commercial-scale configuration with an electrical output of 1,800 kW, and sufficient heat output for the dry kilns. A financial analyis based on a computerized feasibility model was carried out on the last two options. Low electricity rates in British Columbia combined with the small scale of a demonstration project provide an inadequate rate of return at the site without substantial outside support. At a commercial scale of operation and with the higher electricity prices that exist outside of British Columbia the financial analysis indicates that the incremental investment in the electric generation portion of the system provides very attractive rates of return for the 3 options. 11 figs., 10 tabs.

A new approach to the Danish guidelines for fire protection of combustible insulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragsted Anders

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The tendency to use thicker layers of insulation and a wider use of combustible insulation materials is identified to pose a potential risk to fire safety of buildings. A new approach to the current Danish prescriptive code on fire protection of combustible insulation is proposed as a way to meet the concern. The new approach uses the fire properties of the insulation material itself to point out the necessary protective measures. This is contrary to the most European countries were only a reaction to fire class of the façade construction as a whole is required. The basic principle is presented but more research is needed to complete the new approach.

Effect of boron compounds on the thermal and combustion properties of wood-plastic composites

OpenAIRE

Altuntaş, Ertuğrul; Karaoğul, Eyyup; Alma, Mehmet Hakkı

2017-01-01

In this study, the thermal properties and fire resistancesof the wood plastic composites produced with waste lignocellulosic materialswere investigated. For this purpose, lignocellulosic waste, high densitypolyethylene, (HDPE) sodium borate (borax) and boric acid was used to producethe wood-plastic composites. A twin-screw extruder was used during theproduction of the wood plastic composites. The produced composite granule waspressed at 175 °C hot press. The effects of boric acid and borax ad...

Toxic emissions during co-combustion of biomass-waste wood-lignite blends in an industrial boiler.

Science.gov (United States)

Samaras, P; Skodras, G; Sakellaropoulos, G P; Blumenstock, M; Schramm, K W; Kettrup, A

2001-01-01

The objectives of this work were to study the PCDD/F emissions during the co-combustion of waste wood/coal co-combustion in an industrial boiler and to determine the relation of the toxic emissions to the fuel properties. Co-combustion experiments were performed in a 13.8 MWthermal industrial moving grate combustor. The fuels which were examined in this study included Greek lignite, natural uncontaminated wood, power poles and medium density fibers (MDFs) which were by-products of the plant production process. Fuel blends were prepared by mixing single components in various concentrations. PCDD/F emissions were collected during experimental runs and were analyzed according to standard methods. Low PCDD/F emissions were obtained during the co-combustion tests, lower than the limit value of 0.1 ng TEQ/Nm3. The lowest values were observed during the combustion of fuel blends containing MDF, possibly due to the inhibitory action of some of the N-containing MDF ingredients, such as urea. No direct correlation was found between the PCDD/F and the copper emissions, while examination of the PCDD/F homologue patterns revealed the predominance of the lower chlorinated isomers over the higher ones.

Operational experiences of (in)direct co-combustion in coal and gas fired power plants in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Ree, R.; Korbee, R.; Meijer, R.; Konings, T.; Van Aart, F.

2001-02-01

The operational experiences of direct and indirect co-combustion of biomass/waste in European coal and natural gas fired power plants are addressed. The operational experiences of mainly Dutch direct co-combustion activities in coal fired power plants are discussed; whereas an overview of European indirect co-combustion activities is presented. The technical, environmental, and economic feasibility of different indirect co-combustion concepts (i.e. upstream gasification, pyrolysis, combustion with steam-side integration) is investigated, and the results are compared with the economic preferable concept of direct co-combustion. Main technical constraints that limit the co-combustion capacity of biomass/waste in conventional coal fired power plants are: the grindability of the biomass/coal blend, the capacity of available unit components, and the danger of severe slagging, fouling, corrosion and erosion. The main environmental constraints that have to be taken into account are the quality of produced solid waste streams (fly ash, bottom ash, gypsum) and the applicable air emission regulations. 6 refs

Chemical characterzation of fine particle emissions from the fireplace combustion of woods grown in the Southern United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Fine, Philip M; Cass, Glen R; Simoneit, Bernd R T

2002-04-01

The fireplace combustion of wood is a significant and largely unregulated source of fine particle pollution in the United States. Source apportionment techniques that use particulate organic compounds as tracers have been successful in determining the contribution of wood smoke to ambient fine particle levels in specific areas in California. To apply these techniques to the rest of the United States, the differences in emissions profiles between different wood smoke sources and fuel types should be resolved. To this end, a series of fireplace source tests was conducted on six fuel wood species found in the Southern United States to determine fine particulate emission factors for total mass, ionic and elemental species, elemental and organic carbon, and over 250 individual organic compounds. The wood species tested, chosen for their high abundance and availability in the Southern U.S. region, were yellow poplar, white ash, sweetgum, mockernut hickory, loblolly pine, and slash pine. The differences in the emissions of compounds such as substituted phenols and resin acids help to distinguish between the smoke from hardwood and softwood combustion. Levoglucosan, a cellulose pyrolysis product which may serve as a tracer for wood smoke in general, was quantified in the emissions from all the wood species burned. The furofuran lignan, yangambin, which was emitted in significant quantities from yellow poplar combustion and not detected in any of the other North American wood smokes, is a potential species-specific molecular tracer which may be useful in qualitatively identifying particulate emissions from a specific geographical area where yellow poplar is being burned.

Mutagenicity assessment of aerosols in emissions from wood combustion in Portugal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vu, B.; Alves, C.A.; Gonçalves, C.; Pio, C.; Gonçalves, F.; Pereira, R.

2012-01-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) extracts of fine particles (PM 2.5 ) collected from combustion of seven wood species and briquettes were tested for mutagenic activities using Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. The woods were Pinus pinaster (maritime pine), Eucalyptus globulus (eucalypt), Quercus suber (cork oak), Acacia longifolia (golden wattle), Quercus faginea (Portuguese oak), Olea europea (olive), and Quercus ilex rotundifolia (Holm oak). Burning experiments were done using woodstove and fireplace, hot start and cold start conditions. A mutagenic response was recorded for all species except golden wattle, maritime pine, and briquettes. The mutagenic extracts were not correlated with high emission factors of carcinogenic PAHs. These extracts were obtained both from two burning appliances and start-up conditions. However, fireplace seemed to favour the occurrence of mutagenic emissions. The negative result recorded for golden wattle was interesting, in an ecological point of view, since after confirmation, this invasive species, can be recommended for domestic use. - Highlights: ► Both woodstove and fireplace, either with a cold or hot start, produce emissions with mutagenic potential. ► The high level of carcinogenic PAHs in combustion emissions was not correlated with mutagenicity. ► The golden wattle, an invasive species, produced no mutagenic emissions. - Wood smoke from fireplace burning of dominant forest species displayed strong mutagenic activity without a significant correlation with carcinogenic PAHs emission factors.

Effects of combustion and operating conditions on PCDD/PCDF emissions from power boilers burning salt-laden wood waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Leclerc, Denys; Duo, Wen Li; Vessey, Michelle

2006-04-01

This paper discusses the effects of combustion conditions on PCDD/PCDF emissions from pulp and paper power boilers burning salt-laden wood waste. We found no correlation between PCDD/PCDF emissions and carbon monoxide emissions. A good correlation was, however, observed between PCDD/PCDF emissions and the concentration of stack polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the absence of TDF addition. Thus, poor combustion conditions responsible for the formation of products of incomplete combustion (PICs), such as PAHs and PCDD/PCDF precursors, increase PCDD/PCDF emissions. PAH concentrations increased with higher boiler load and/or low oxygen concentrations at the boiler exit, probably because of lower available residence times and insufficient excess air. Our findings are consistent with the current understanding that high ash carbon content generally favours heterogeneous reactions leading to either de novo synthesis of PCDD/PCDFs or their direct formation from precursors. We also found that, in grate-fired boilers, a linear increase in the grate/lower furnace temperature produces an exponential decrease in PCDD/PCDF emissions. Although the extent of this effect appears to be mill-specific, particularly at low temperatures, the results indicate that increasing the combustion temperature may decrease PCDD/PCDF emissions. It must be noted, however, that there are other variables, such as elevated ESP and stack temperatures, a high hog salt content, the presence of large amounts of PICs and a high Cl/S ratio, which contribute to higher PCDD/PCDFs emissions. Therefore, higher combustion temperatures, by themselves, will not necessarily result in low PCDD/PCDFs emissions.

European wood pellet market integration - A study of the residential sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsson, Olle; Hillring, Bengt; Vinterbaeck, Johan

2011-01-01

The integration of European energy markets is a key goal of EU energy policy, and has also been the focal point of many scientific studies in recent years. International markets for coal, oil, natural gas and electricity have previously been investigated in order to determine the extent of the respective markets. This study enhances this field of research to bioenergy markets. Price series data and time series econometrics are used to determine whether residential sector wood pellet markets of Austria, Germany and Sweden are integrated. The results of the econometric tests show that the German and Austrian markets can be considered to be integrated, whereas the Swedish market is separate from the other two countries. Although increased internationalization of wood pellet markets is likely to contribute to European price convergence and market integration, this process is far from completed. (author)

The source apportionment of carbonaceous combustion products by micro-radiocarbon measurements for the integrated air cancer project (IACP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klouda, G.A.; Currie, L.A.; Sheffield, A.E.; Wise, S.A.; Benner, B.A.; Stevens, R.K.; Merrill, R.G.

1987-01-01

Atmospheric particle samples were collected during the winter of 1984-1985 in Albuquerque, NM and Raleigh, NC by the EPA for the Integrated Air Cancer Project (IACP). Selected chemical fractions were analyzed for /sup 14/C to apportion mobile (motor vehicles) and stationary (residential wood combustion) sources. In addition, these results were used to validate the EPA Single Tracer Regression Model (STRM), also a technique for the source apportionment of aerosols. Preliminary /sup 14/C results for the Albuquerque residential site at night showed 79% Contemporary Carbon (CC) compared to 95% CC for Raleight at night for the total carbon; 88% and 94% of the total-C was organic, respectively. The Albuquerque traffic site during the day showed 1.4 to 3.9 times less CC compared to the daytime residential site for total-C. The elemental carbon fraction in all cases showed a lower percentage of contemporary carbon than the total carbon, which indicates that this chemical fraction may be an excellent tracer of mobile sources. These results are consistent with a daytime mobile source at the traffic site and a nighttime Residential Wood Combustion (RWC) source at the residential site. Also, the results from the EPA STRM technique for this study were in good agreement with those obtained by the /sup 14/C Direct Tracer (/sup 14/C-DT) technique for source apportionment of these aerosols

Technologies for the commercial energetic utilisation of waste wood and used wood; Technologien zur energetischen Nutzung von Holzabfaellen und Gebrauchsholz im gewerblichen Bereich

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marutzky, R.

1998-12-31

Due to the frequent contamination of wood with wood preservatives, coatings, adhesives, paints and other non-wood materials the conversion of production residues and various types of used wood to energy appears to be fraught with problems. However, extensive studies conducted during the past years have shown that most problems regarding combustion residues and emissions have been overestimated. Thanks to new technologies it is now possible to avoid or at least reduce the formation of pollutants during combustion of even complexly contaminated waste wood. Environmentally acceptable combustion of wood presupposes complete combustion, effective dedusting, and primary measures for nitrogen oxide control. Depending on the type of feedstock and the relevant emission limit values one may optionally include secondary nitric oxides removal measures and control techniques for partially volatile heavy metals and halocarbons. Moreover, firing plants must be so conditioned as to keep the new synthesis of dioxins at a low level. [Deutsch] Die energetische Verwertung von Produktionsabfaellen und Gebrauchtholzsortimenten scheint wegen der haeufig vorhandenen Belastung der Hoelzer mit Holzschutzmitteln, Oberflaechenbeschichtungen, Klebstoffen, Farbanstrichen und andere holzfremden Bestandteilen schwierig zu sein. Tatsaechlich sind - wie umfangreiche Untersuchungen der letzten Jahre gezeigt haben - die meisten Probleme in Hinblick auf Ausbrand und Emissionen ueberschaetzt worden. Durch Weiterentwicklung von Anlagen- und Regelungstechnik ist es heute moeglich, die Schadstoffbildung bei der Verbrennung auch komplex belasteter Holzabfaelle zu vermeiden oder zu vermindern. Voraussetzungen einer umweltvertraeglichen Verbrennung von Holz sind - ein guter Ausbrand, - eine effektive Entstaubung, - und primaere Massnahmen der Stickstoffoxidminderung. Optional kommen je nach Brennstoff und Emissionsgrenzwert noch sekundaere Entstickungsmassnahmen und Minderungstechniken fuer partiell

Experimental study on combustion characteristics of sodium fire in a columnar flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhigang; Peng Kangwei; Guo Ming; Huo Yan

2014-01-01

In the operation of the sodium-cooled fast reactor, the accident caused by the leakage and combustion of liquid sodium is common and frequent in sodium-related facilities. This paper is based on an experimental study of sodium fire in a columnar flow, which was carried out to focus on the burning characteristics by analyzing the temperature fields in the burner. The injection of 200°C liquid sodium with the flux of 0.5 m 3 /h was poured into a 7.9 m 3 volume stainless steel cylindrical burner to shape a sodium fire, and the data of temperature fields in the burner have been collected by dozens of thermocouples which are laid in the combustion space and sodium collection plate. These results show that the sodium fire in a columnar flow is composed of the foregoing centered columnar fire, the subsequent spray fire caused by atomization and the pool fire on the collection plate. The temperature close to the burning sodium flow maximally reaches up to 950°C. The radial temperatures apart from the sodium flow are relatively low and generally about 200°C, and maximally just 300°C even when close to the sodium collection plate. The maximum temperature of the burning sodium dropping on the collection plate rises in the center of plate, about 528°C. This study is helpful to evaluate the combustion characteristics, formation process and composing forms of the sodium fire in the sodium-related facilities. (author)

Cytotoxic and genotoxic responses of human lung cells to combustion smoke particles of Miscanthus straw, softwood and beech wood chips

Science.gov (United States)

Arif, Ali Talib; Maschowski, Christoph; Garra, Patxi; Garcia-Käufer, Manuel; Petithory, Tatiana; Trouvé, Gwenaëlle; Dieterlen, Alain; Mersch-Sundermann, Volker; Khanaqa, Polla; Nazarenko, Irina; Gminski, Richard; Gieré, Reto

2017-08-01

Inhalation of particulate matter (PM) from residential biomass combustion is epidemiologically associated with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. This study investigates PM0.4-1 emissions from combustion of commercial Miscanthus straw (MS), softwood chips (SWC) and beech wood chips (BWC) in a domestic-scale boiler (40 kW). The PM0.4-1 emitted during combustion of the MS, SWC and BWC were characterized by ICP-MS/OES, XRD, SEM, TEM, and DLS. Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in human alveolar epithelial A549 and human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells were assessed by the WST-1 assay and the DNA-Alkaline Unwinding Assay (DAUA). PM0.4-1 uptake/translocation in cells was investigated with a new method developed using a confocal reflection microscope. SWC and BWC had a inherently higher residual water content than MS. The PM0.4-1 emitted during combustion of SWC and BWC exhibited higher levels of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), a greater variety of mineral species and a higher heavy metal content than PM0.4-1 from MS combustion. Exposure to PM0.4-1 from combustion of SWC and BWC induced cytotoxic and genotoxic effects in human alveolar and bronchial cells, whereby the strongest effect was observed for BWC and was comparable to that caused by diesel PM (SRM 2 975), In contrast, PM0.4-1 from MS combustion did not induce cellular responses in the studied lung cells. A high PAH content in PM emissions seems to be a reliable chemical marker of both combustion efficiency and particle toxicity. Residual biomass water content strongly affects particulate emissions and their toxic potential. Therefore, to minimize the harmful effects of fine PM on health, improvement of combustion efficiency (aiming to reduce the presence of incomplete combustion products bound to PM) and application of fly ash capture technology, as well as use of novel biomass fuels like Miscanthus straw is recommended.

Air pollution from residential wood combustion in a Danish village. Measuring campaign and analysis of results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waahlin, P; Roerdam Olesen, H; Bossi, R; Stubkjaer, J

2010-05-15

A campaign took place in the winter 2006/2007 comprising measurements of many air pollution components at two sites: a wood smoke exposed site within the village Slagslunde, and a background site 500 m outside of the village. The report describes the campaign and its results. A central result is a so-called 'wood smoke source profile', which relates several measures of wood smoke pollution to each other. This is based on a 'cleaned' data set, for which the effect of other sources than wood smoke was small. The wood smoke profile links the measures PM2.5, particle volume, soot, monosaccharide anhydrides (levoglucosan and mannosan) and different PAHs to each other. Particle number N does not have a close link to the other measures. (author)

Bed agglomeration in fluidized combustor fueled by wood and rice straw blends

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thy, Peter; Jenkins, Brian; Williams, R.B.

2010-01-01

Abstract Petrographic techniques have been used to examine bed materials from fluidized bed combustion experiments that utilized wood and rice straw fuel blends. The experiments were conducted using a laboratory-scale combustor with mullite sand beds, firing temperatures of 840 to 1030 °C, and ru...

Bed agglomeration in fluidized combustor fueled by wood and rice straw blends

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thy, P.; Jenkins, B.M.; Williams, R.B.; Lesher, C.E.; Bakker, R.R.

2010-01-01

Petrographic techniques have been used to examine bed materials from fluidized bed combustion experiments that utilized wood and rice straw fuel blends. The experiments were conducted using a laboratory-scale combustor with mullite sand beds, firing temperatures of 840 to 1030 °C, and run durations

The greenhouse gas and energy impacts of using wood instead of alternatives in residential construction in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Upton, Brad; Miner, Reid; Spinney, Mike; Heath, Linda S.

2008-01-01

Data developed by the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials were used to estimate savings of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption associated with use of wood-based building materials in residential construction in the United States. Results indicate that houses with wood-based wall systems require 15-16% less total energy for non-heating/cooling purposes than thermally comparable houses employing alternative steel- or concrete-based building systems. Results for non-renewable energy consumption are essentially the same as those for total energy, reflecting the fact that most of the displaced energy is in fossil fuels. Over a 100-year period, net greenhouse gas emissions associated with wood-based houses are 20-50% lower than emissions associated with thermally comparable houses employing steel- or concrete-based building systems. Assuming 1.5 million single-family housing starts per year, the difference between wood and non-wood building systems represents about 9.6 Mt of CO 2 equivalents per year. The corresponding energy benefit associated with wood-based building materials is approximately 132 PJ year -1 . These estimates represent about 22% of embodied energy and 27% of embodied greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector of the US economy. The results of the analysis are very sensitive to assumptions and uncertainties regarding the fate of forestland that is taken out of wood production due to reduced demand for wood, the continued production of co-products where demand for wood products is reduced, and the rate at which carbon accumulates in forests

Air pollution from residential wood combustion in a Danish village. Measuring campaign and analysis of results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waahlin, P.; Roerdam Olesen, H.; Bossi, R.; Stubkjaer, J.

2010-05-15

A campaign took place in the winter 2006/2007 comprising measurements of many air pollution components at two sites: a wood smoke exposed site within the village Slagslunde, and a background site 500 m outside of the village. The report describes the campaign and its results. A central result is a so-called 'wood smoke source profile', which relates several measures of wood smoke pollution to each other. This is based on a 'cleaned' data set, for which the effect of other sources than wood smoke was small. The wood smoke profile links the measures PM2.5, particle volume, soot, monosaccharide anhydrides (levoglucosan and mannosan) and different PAHs to each other. Particle number N does not have a close link to the other measures. (author)

Efficiency Assessment of Support Mechanisms for Wood-Fired Cogeneration Development in Estonia

Science.gov (United States)

Volkova, Anna; Siirde, Andres

2010-01-01

There are various support mechanisms for wood-fired cogeneration plants, which include both support for cogeneration development and stimulation for increasing consumption of renewable energy sources. The efficiency of these mechanisms is analysed in the paper. Overview of cogeneration development in Estonia is given with the focus on wood-fired cogeneration. Legislation acts and amendments, related to cogeneration support schemes, were described. For evaluating the efficiency of support mechanisms an indicator - fuel cost factor was defined. This indicator includes the costs related to the chosen fuel influence on the final electricity generation costs without any support mechanisms. The wood fuel cost factors were compared with the fuel cost factors for peat and oil shale. For calculating the fuel cost factors, various data sources were used. The fuel prices data were based on the average cost of fuels in Estonia for the period from 2000 till 2008. The data about operating and maintenance costs, related to the fuel type in the case of comparing wood fuel and oil shale fuel were taken from the CHP Balti and Eesti reports. The data about operating and maintenance costs used for peat and wood fuel comparison were taken from the Tallinn Elektrijaam reports. As a result, the diagrams were built for comparing wood and its competitive fuels. The decision boundary lines were constructed on the diagram for the situation, when no support was provided for wood fuels and for the situations, when various support mechanisms were provided during the last 12 years.

Norwegian wood? Biomass co-firing at Drax

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Probert, T.

2009-11-15

PEi reports on a visit to the giant Drax coal fired power station in North Yorkshire, UK. The second largest coal plant in Europe is the site of a co-firing system that will allow for the displacement of ten per cent of its coal throughput in favour of biomass, thus reducing its sizeable carbon footprint by around two million tonnes a year. Tests on a pilot plant have shown that Drax can burn up to 60 types of biomass using existing coal burners. The majority of biomass will be imported - most likely wood from Scandinavia, The Baltics and North America. Drax would be eligible for one-half of a Renewable Obligation Certificate. Carbon dioxide emissions should be reduced by around 2 million tonnes per year. 3 photos.

Development and Validation of a Gas-Fired Residential Heat Pump Water Heater - Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michael Garrabrant; Roger Stout; Paul Glanville; Janice Fitzgerald; Chris Keinath

2013-01-21

For gas-fired residential water heating, the U.S. and Canada is predominantly supplied by minimum efficiency storage water heaters with Energy Factors (EF) in the range of 0.59 to 0.62. Higher efficiency and higher cost ($700 - $2,000) options serve about 15% of the market, but still have EFs below 1.0, ranging from 0.65 to 0.95. To develop a new class of water heating products that exceeds the traditional limit of thermal efficiency, the project team designed and demonstrated a packaged water heater driven by a gas-fired ammonia-water absorption heat pump. This gas-fired heat pump water heater can achieve EFs of 1.3 or higher, at a consumer cost of $2,000 or less. Led by Stone Mountain Technologies Inc. (SMTI), with support from A.O. Smith, the Gas Technology Institute (GTI), and Georgia Tech, the cross-functional team completed research and development tasks including cycle modeling, breadboard evaluation of two cycles and two heat exchanger classes, heat pump/storage tank integration, compact solution pump development, combustion system specification, and evaluation of packaged prototype GHPWHs. The heat pump system extracts low grade heat from the ambient air and produces high grade heat suitable for heating water in a storage tank for domestic use. Product features that include conventional installation practices, standard footprint and reasonable economic payback, position the technology to gain significant market penetration, resulting in a large reduction of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from domestic hot water production.

How EPA's Asbestos Regulations Apply to Residential Buildings Used for Fire Training

Science.gov (United States)

Memos and guidance from the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards that clarify how the Asbestos National Emissions Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants applies to residential buildings used for fire training, also known as acquired structures.

Wood Combustion Behaviour in a Fixed Bed Combustor

Science.gov (United States)

Tokit, Ernie Mat; Aziz, Azhar Abdul; Ghazali, Normah Mohd

2010-06-01

Waste wood is used as feedstock for Universiti Teknologi Malaysia's newly-developed two-stage incinerator system. The research goals are to optimize the operation of the thermal system to the primary chamber, to improve its combustion efficiency and to minimize its pollutants formation. The combustion process is evaluated with the variation of fuel's moisture content. For optimum operating condition, where the gasification efficiency is 95.53%, the moisture content of the fuel is best set at 17%; giving outlet operating temperature of 550°C and exhaust gas concentrations with 1213 ppm of CO, 6% of CO2 and 14% of O2 respectively. In line to the experimental work, a computational fluid dynamics software, Fluent is used to simulate the performance of the primary chamber. Here the predicted optimum gasification efficiency stands at 95.49% with CO, CO2 and O2 concentrations as 1301 ppm, 6.5% and 13.5% respectively.

Chemical mass balance source apportionment of PM10 and TSP in residential and industrial sites of an urban region of Kolkata, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, A K; Karar, Kakoli; Srivastava, Anjali

2007-04-02

Daily average PM(10) (particulate matter which passes through a size selective impactor inlet with a 50% efficiency cut-off at 10 microm aerodynamic diameter), TSP (total suspended particulate matter) and their chemical species mass concentrations were measured at residential and industrial sites of an urban region of Kolkata during November 2003-November 2004. Source apportionment using chemical mass balance model revealed that the most dominant source throughout the study period at residential site was coal combustion (42%), while vehicular emission (47%) dominates at industrial site to PM(10). Paved road, field burning and wood combustion contributed 21%, 7% and 1% at residential site, while coal combustion, metal industry and soil dust contributed 34%, 1% and 1% at industrial site, respectively, to PM(10) during the study period. The contributors to TSP included coal combustion (37%), soil dust (19%), road dust (17%) and diesel combustion (15%) at residential site, while soil dust (36%), coal combustion (17%), solid waste (17%), road dust (16%) and tyre wear (7%) at industrial site. Significant seasonal variations of the particulate matters have been observed during the study period. In the monitoring sites total carbon, organic carbon and iron were found to be the marker species of road dust, while organic carbon, total carbon, chloride and sulfate have been observed as the marker species of soil dust in TSP.

Start-up emissions from residential down-draught wood log boilers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pettersson, E. (Luleaa Univ. of Technology (Sweden). Energy Technology Centre in Piteaa), Email: esbjorn.pettersson@ltu.se

2009-07-01

Start-up emissions can be substantial and even dominating in real use. There are few published investigations regarding the relative importance of different parameters on the start-up emissions. It has though recently been stated that for down-draught boilers, best results are achieved if the wood charge is ignited fairly close to the secondary chamber. The objective of the experimental work was to evaluate the effect of different fuel and design parameters on the start-up emissions, using experimental design which enables a direct comparison between different parameters, using three levels of preheating of secondary air, electric preheating of primary air, different moisture and size of the start wood as well as different amounts of birch bark, which was used to spread the fire during the start. The boiler did not use a bypass damper and the full fuel charge was added before igniting the start wood through an ignition door situated slightly above the grate. The only significant results for the four parameters were that smaller and drier start wood gave lower start-up emissions. Extra amount of birch bark gave the same result. The most important parameters are the fuel parameters, which mean that the result is generally applicable. (orig.)

Nepal Ambient Monitoring and Source Testing Experiment (NAMaSTE): Emissions of particulate matter from wood and dung cooking fires, brick kilns, generators, trash and crop residue burning

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Elizabeth; Jayarathne, Thilina; Stockwell, Chelsea; Christian, Ted; Bhave, Prakash; Siva Praveen, Puppala; Panday, Arnico; Adhikari, Sagar; Maharjan, Rashmi; Goetz, Doug; DeCarlo, Peter; Saikawa, Eri; Yokelson, Robert

2016-04-01

The Nepal Ambient Monitoring and Source Testing Experiment (NAMASTE) field campaign targeted the in situ characterization of widespread and under-sampled combustion sources. In Kathmandu and the Terai, southern Nepal's flat plains, samples of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) were collected from wood and dung cooking fires (n = 22), generators (n = 2), groundwater pumps (n = 2), clamp kilns (n = 3), zig-zag kilns (n = 3), trash burning (n = 4), one heating fire, and one crop residue fire. Co-located measurements of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds allowed for the application of the carbon mass balance approach to estimate emission factors for PM2.5, elemental carbon, organic carbon, and water-soluble inorganic ions. Organic matter was chemically speciated using gas chromatography - mass spectrometry for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, sterols, n-alkanes, hopanes, steranes, and levoglucosan, which accounted for 2-8% of the measured organic carbon. These data were used to develop molecular-marker based profiles for use in source apportionment modeling. This study provides quantitative emission factors for particulate matter and its constituents for many important combustion sources in Nepal and South Asia.

The Spontaneous Combustion of Railway Ties and Asphalt Shingles

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie, Geoffrey

Many Low Carbon Fuels (LCFs) present unknown spontaneous combustion risks, which must be quantified before their use as fossil fuel replacements. Wood and coal spontaneous combustion is well understood; however, LCFs weather, and subsequent chemical changes could affect their spontaneous combustion properties. LCF spontaneous combustion could lead to accidental fires with possible loss of life, limb and property. The spontaneous combustion risks of two LCFs, discarded creosote-treated wooden railway ties and roofing asphalt shingles, were investigated with calorimetry and heat transfer experiments. Chemical changes due to weathering were studied with pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (py-GC/MS). Creosote-treated wooden railway tie dust, roofing asphalt shingle particles, poplar wood pellets, and petroleum coke self-heating were studied with isothermal calorimetry. Railway tie dust and asphalt shingle heat transfer were characterized with a guarded hot plate. Petroleum coke self-heating was consistent with coal, while both poplar pellets and railway tie dust were found to be more reactive compared to oven test results of similar materials. The observed increase in reactivity was probably a result of significant moisture contenint in the pellet and railway tie dust. Critical conditions for spontaneous combustion were evaluated with the Frank-Kamenetskii parameter, assuming an ambient temperature of 40°C and constant moisture content. Kamenetskii calculations indicate that a 1.6 m cube of railway tie dust, or a 58 m cube of asphalt particles, would be unstable and combust. LCF chemistry may have been affected by weathering, which would cause chemical changes that affect their spontaneous combustion properties. Therefore, railway tie wood and roofing asphalt shingle chemistry were investigated by identifying products of 250° and 550°C pyrolysis with py-GC/MS. Railway tie wood pyrolyzates did not show signs of weathering; in contrast, asphalt pyrolysis

Analysis of Architectural Building Design Influences on Fire Spread in Densely Urban Settlement using Cellular Automata

Science.gov (United States)

Tambunan, L.; Salamah, H.; Asriana, N.

2017-03-01

This study aims to determine the influence of architectural design on the risk of fire spread in densely urban settlement area. Cellular Automata (CA) is used to analyse the fire spread pattern, speed, and the extent of damage. Four cells represent buildings, streets, and fields characteristic in the simulated area, as well as their flammability level and fire spread capabilities. Two fire scenarios are used to model the spread of fire: (1) fire origin in a building with concrete and wood material majority, and (2) fire origin in building with wood material majority. Building shape, building distance, road width, and total area of wall openings are considered constant, while wind is ignored. The result shows that fire spread faster in the building area with wood majority than with concrete majority. Significant amount of combustible building material, absence of distance between buildings, narrow streets and limited fields are factors which influence fire spread speed and pattern as well as extent of damage when fire occurs in the densely urban settlement area.

Hot Firing of a Full Scale Copper Tubular Combustion Chamber

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cooley, C

2002-01-01

This paper describes the chamber design and hot firing test results for a full-scale copper tubular combustion chamber that has future application in a high-thrust, upper-stage expander cycle engine...

Emission factors from residential combustion appliances burning Portuguese biomass fuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, A P; Alves, C A; Gonçalves, C; Tarelho, L; Pio, C; Schimdl, C; Bauer, H

2011-11-01

Smoke from residential wood burning has been identified as a major contributor to air pollution, motivating detailed emission measurements under controlled conditions. A series of experiments were performed to compare the emission levels from two types of wood-stoves to those of fireplaces. Eight types of biomass were burned in the laboratory: wood from seven species of trees grown in the Portuguese forest (Pinus pinaster, Eucalyptus globulus, Quercus suber, Acacia longifolia, Quercus faginea, Olea europaea and Quercus ilex rotundifolia) and briquettes produced from forest biomass waste. Average emission factors were in the ranges 27.5-99.2 g CO kg(-1), 552-1660 g CO(2) kg(-1), 0.66-1.34 g NO kg(-1), and 0.82-4.94 g hydrocarbons kg(-1) of biomass burned (dry basis). Average particle emission factors varied between 1.12 and 20.06 g kg(-1) biomass burned (dry basis), with higher burn rates producing significantly less particle mass per kg wood burned than the low burn rates. Particle mass emission factors from wood-stoves were lower than those from the fireplace. The average emission factors for organic and elemental carbon were in the intervals 0.24-10.1 and 0.18-0.68 g kg(-1) biomass burned (dry basis), respectively. The elemental carbon content of particles emitted from the energy-efficient "chimney type" logwood stove was substantially higher than in the conventional cast iron stove and fireplace, whereas the opposite was observed for the organic carbon fraction. Pinus pinaster, the only softwood species among all, was the biofuel with the lowest emissions of particles, CO, NO and hydrocarbons.

Characterisation of PM 10 emissions from woodstove combustion of common woods grown in Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Gonçalves, Cátia; Alves, Célia; Evtyugina, Margarita; Mirante, Fátima; Pio, Casimiro; Caseiro, Alexandre; Schmidl, Christoph; Bauer, Heidi; Carvalho, Fernando

2010-11-01

A series of source tests was performed to evaluate the chemical composition of particle emissions from the woodstove combustion of four prevalent Portuguese species of woods: Pinus pinaster (maritime pine), Eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus), Quercus suber (cork oak) and Acacia longifolia (golden wattle). Analyses included water-soluble ions, metals, radionuclides, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), humic-like substances (HULIS), cellulose and approximately l80 organic compounds. Particle (PM 10) emission factors from eucalyptus and oak were higher than those from pine and acacia. The carbonaceous matter represented 44-63% of the particulate mass emitted during the combustion process, regardless of species burned. The major organic components of smoke particles, for all the wood species studied, with the exception of the golden wattle (0.07-1.9% w/w), were anhydrosugars (0.2-17% w/w). Conflicting with what was expected, only small amounts of cellulose were found in wood smoke. As for HULIS, average particle mass concentrations ranged from 1.5% to 3.0%. The golden wattle wood smoke presented much higher concentrations of ions and metal species than the emissions from the other wood types. The results of the analysis of radionuclides revealed that the 226Ra was the naturally occurring radionuclide more enriched in PM 10. The chromatographically resolved organics included n-alkanes, n-alkenes, PAH, oxygenated PAH, n-alkanals, ketones, n-alkanols, terpenoids, triterpenoids, phenolic compounds, phytosterols, alcohols, n-alkanoic acids, n-di-acids, unsaturated acids and alkyl ester acids.

Ignition and combustion of sodium, fire consequences, extinguishment and prevention

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malet, J.C.

1996-01-01

This document presents the results of work carried out at the IPSN on: sodium inflammation, sodium combustion (pool fires and sprayed jet fires), extinguishment (passive means and extinguishing powder), the physico-chemical behaviour of aerosols and their filtration, the protection means of concretes, intervention during and after a fire, treatment of residues, intervention equipment. The calculation codes developed during these studies are described. The experimental basis which allowed the qualification of these codes and the technological means aimed at prevention and sodium fire fighting, was obtained using programmes carried out in the experimental facilities existing in Cadarache or in collaboration with the German teams of Karlsruhe

Ignition and combustion of sodium, fire consequences, extinguishment and prevention

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malet, J C [Institut de Protection et de Surete Nucleaire, Laboratoire d' Experimentation de Modelisation des Feux, C.E. Cadarache, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France). E-mail: malet at ipsncad.cea.fr

1996-07-01

This document presents the results of work carried out at the IPSN on: sodium inflammation, sodium combustion (pool fires and sprayed jet fires), extinguishment (passive means and extinguishing powder), the physico-chemical behaviour of aerosols and their filtration, the protection means of concretes, intervention during and after a fire, treatment of residues, intervention equipment. The calculation codes developed during these studies are described. The experimental basis which allowed the qualification of these codes and the technological means aimed at prevention and sodium fire fighting, was obtained using programmes carried out in the experimental facilities existing in Cadarache or in collaboration with the German teams of Karlsruhe.

Residential gas-fired sorption heat pumps. Test and technology evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naeslund, M.

2008-12-15

Heat pumps may be the next step in gas-fired residential space heating. Together with solar energy it is an option to combine natural gas and renewable energy. Heat pumps for residential space heating are likely to be based on the absorption or adsorption process, i.e. sorption heat pumps. Manufacturers claim that the efficiency could reach 140-160%. The annual efficiency will be lower but it is clear that gas-fired heat pumps can involve an efficiency and technology step equal to the transition from non-condensing gas boilers with atmospheric burners to condensing boilers. This report contains a review of the current sorption gas-fired heat pumps for residential space heating and also the visible development trends. A prototype heat pump has been laboratory tested. Field test results from Germany and the Netherlands are also used for a technology evaluation. The tested heat pump unit combines a small heat pump and a supplementary condensing gas boiler. Field tests show an average annual efficiency of 120% for this prototype design. The manufacturer abandoned the tested design during the project period and the current development concentrates on a heat pump design only comprising the heat pump, although larger. The heat pump development at three manufacturers in Germany indicates a commercial stage around 2010-2011. A fairly high electricity consumption compared to traditional condensing boilers was observed in the tested heat pump. Based on current prices for natural gas and electricity the cost savings were estimated to 12% and 27% for heat pumps with 120% and 150% annual efficiency respectively. There is currently no widespread performance testing procedure useful for annual efficiency calculations of gas-fired heat pumps. The situation seems to be clearer for electric compression heat pumps regarding proposed testing and calculation procedures. A German environmental label exists and gasfired sorption heat pumps are also slightly treated in the Eco-design work

Properties and Performance of Rubberwood Particleboard Treated With Bp® Fire Retardant

OpenAIRE

Izran K.; Abood F.; Yap K. C.; Abdul Rashid A. M.; Zaidon A.

2011-01-01

Rubberwood composites are available in many sizes and are frequently used as furniture and partitioning inputs. However they are naturally combustible and may limit its usage for other value-added products. Treating wood composites with fire retardant was one of the most effective ways to prevent such occurrence. In this study, Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) particleboards were incorporated with BP® fire retardant through hot and cold soaking processes. Four different concentrations of fire ...

CFD Modelling of Biomass Combustion in Small-Scale Boilers. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xue-Song Bai; Griselin, Niklas; Klason, Torbern; Nilsson, Johan [Lund Inst. of Tech. (Sweden). Dept. of Heat and Power Engineering

2002-10-01

This project deals with CFD modeling of combustion of wood in fixed bed boilers. A flamelet model for the interaction between turbulence and chemical reactions is developed and applied to study small-scale boiler. The flamelet chemistry employs 43 reactive species and 174 elementary reactions. It gives detailed distributions of important species such as CO and NO{sub x} in the flow field and flue gas. Simulation of a small-scale wood fired boiler measured at SP Boraas (50 KW) shows that the current flamelet model yields results agreeable to the available experimental data. A detailed chemical kinetic model is developed to study the bed combustion process. This model gives boundary conditions for the CFD analysis of gas phase volatile oxidation in the combustion chambers. The model combines a Functional Group submodel with a Depolymerisation, Vaporisation and Crosslinking submodel. The FG submodel simulates how functional groups decompose and form light gas species. The DVC submodell predicts depolymerisation and vaporisation of the macromolecular network and this includes bridge breaking and crosslinking processes, where the wood structure breaks down to fragments. The light fragments form tar and the heavy ones form metaplast. Two boilers firing wood log/chips are studied using the FG-DVC model, one is the SP Boraas small-scale boiler (50 KW) and the other is the Sydkraft Malmoe Vaerme AB's Flintraennan large-scale boiler (55 MW). The fix bed is assumed to be two zones, a partial equilibrium drying/devolatilisation zone and an equilibrium zone. Three typical biomass conversion modes are simulated, a lean fuel combustion mode, a near-stoichiometric combustion and a fuel rich gasification mode. Detailed chemical species and temperatures at different modes are obtained. Physical interpretation is provided. Comparison of the computational results with experimental data shows that the model can reasonably simulate the fixed bed biomass conversion process. CFD

The use of remotely-sensed wildland fire radiation to infer the fates of carbon during biomass combustion - the need to understand and quantify a fire's mass and energy budget

Science.gov (United States)

Dickinson, M. B.; Dietenberger, M.; Ellicott, E. A.; Hardy, C.; Hudak, A. T.; Kremens, R.; Mathews, W.; Schroeder, W.; Smith, A. M.; Strand, E. K.

2016-12-01

Few measurement techniques offer broad-scale insight on the extent and characteristics of biomass combustion during wildland fires. Remotely-sensed radiation is one of these techniques but its measurement suffers from several limitations and, when quantified, its use to derive variables of real interest depends on an understanding of the fire's mass and energy budget. In this talk, we will review certain assumptions of wildland fire radiation measurement and explore the use of those measurements to infer the fates of biomass and the dissipation of combustion energy. Recent measurements show that the perspective of the sensor (nadir vs oblique) matters relative to estimates of fire radiated power. Other considerations for producing accurate estimates of fire radiation from remote sensing include obscuration by an intervening forest canopy and to what extent measurements that are based on the assumption of graybody/blackbody behavior underestimate fire radiation. Fire radiation measurements are generally a means of quantifying other variables and are often not of interest in and of themselves. Use of fire radiation measurements as a means of inference currently relies on correlations with variables of interest such as biomass consumption and sensible and latent heat and emissions fluxes. Radiation is an imperfect basis for these correlations in that it accounts for a minority of combustion energy ( 15-30%) and is not a constant as is often assumed. Measurements suggest that fire convective energy accounts for the majority of combustion energy and (after radiation) is followed by latent energy, soil heating, and pyrolysis energy, more or less in that order. Combustion energy in and of itself is not its potential maximum, but is reduced to an effective heat of combustion by combustion inefficiency and by work done to pyrolyze fuel (important in char production) and in moisture vaporization. The effective heat of combustion is often on the order of 65% of its potential

Study of sodium combustion and fire extinction by pulverized substances. Role of additives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reuillon, Marcelline.

1976-01-01

A study is presented on inflammation and combustion of liquid sodium, extinction of the metal fires by comburant concentration reducing and cooling, liquid covering, powder smothering. The role of the additives is discussed. The setting up and the experimental process are given. The sodium combustion residues are analyzed. Various powder mixtures based on alkaline carbonates, NaCl-Na 2 CO 3 , NaCl-Na 2 CO 3 ,H 2 O etc... are studied. An attempt of interpretation on sodium fire extinction is presented [fr

Residential cogeneration systems: review of the current technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onovwiona, H.I.; Ugursal, V.I.

2006-01-01

There is a growing potential for the use of micro-cogeneration systems in the residential sector because they have the ability to produce both useful thermal energy and electricity from a single source of fuel such as oil or natural gas. In cogeneration systems, the efficiency of energy conversion increases to over 80% as compared to an average of 30-35% for conventional fossil fuel fired electricity generation systems. This increase in energy efficiency can result in lower costs and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when compared to the conventional methods of generating heat and electricity separately. Cogeneration systems and equipment suitable for residential and small-scale commercial applications like hospitals, hotels or institutional buildings are available, and many new systems are under development. These products are used or aimed for meeting the electrical and thermal demands of a building for space and domestic hot water heating, and potentially, absorption cooling. The aim of this paper is to provide an up-to-date review of the various cogeneration technologies suitable for residential applications. The paper considers the various technologies available and under development for residential, i.e. single-family ( e ) and multi-family (10-30kW t ) applications, with focus on single-family applications. Technologies suitable for residential cogeneration systems include reciprocating internal combustion engine, micro-turbine, fuel cell, and reciprocating external combustion Stirling engine based cogeneration systems. The paper discusses the state of development and the performance, environmental benefits, and costs of these technologies. (author)

Impact of operating wood-burning fireplace ovens on indoor air quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Salthammer, Tunga; Schripp, Tobias; Wientzek, Sebastian; Wensing, Michael

2014-05-01

The use of combustion heat sources like wood-burning fireplaces has regained popularity in the past years due to increasing energy costs. While the outdoor emissions from wood ovens are strictly regulated in Germany, the indoor release of combustion products is rarely considered. Seven wood burning fireplaces were tested in private homes between November 2012 and March 2013. The indoor air quality was monitored before, during and after operation. The following parameters were measured: ultra-fine particles (5.6-560 nm), fine particles (0.3-20 μm), PM2.5, NOx, CO, CO2, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). Most ovens were significant sources of particulate matter. In some cases, an increase of benzene and BaP concentrations was observed in the indoor air. The results illustrate that wood-burning fireplaces are potential sources of indoor air contaminants, especially ultra-fine particles. Under the aspect of lowering indoor air exchange rates and increasing the use of fuels with a net zero-carbon footprint, indoor combustion sources are an important topic for the future. With regards to consumer safety, product development and inspection should consider indoor air quality in addition to the present fire protection requirements. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Successful experience with limestone and other sorbents for combustion of biomass in fluid bed power boilers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coe, D.R. [LG& E Power Systems, Inc., Irvine, CA (United States)

1993-12-31

This paper presents the theoretical and practical advantages of utilizing limestone and other sorbents during the combustion of various biomass fuels for the reduction of corrosion and erosion of boiler fireside tubing and refractory. Successful experiences using a small amount of limestone, dolomite, kaolin, or custom blends of aluminum and magnesium compounds in fluid bed boilers fired with biomass fuels will be discussed. Electric power boiler firing experience includes bubbling bed boilers as well as circulating fluid bed boilers in commercial service on biomass fuels. Forest sources of biomass fuels fired include wood chips, brush chips, sawmill waste wood, bark, and hog fuel. Agricultural sources of biomass fuels fired include grape vine prunings, bean straw, almond tree chips, walnut tree chips, and a variety of other agricultural waste fuels. Additionally, some urban sources of wood fuels have been commercially burned with the addition of limestone. Data presented includes qualitative and quantitative analyses of fuel, sorbent, and ash.

Post-Fire Soil Respiration in Relation to the Burnt Wood Management

Science.gov (United States)

Marañón Jiménez, Sara; Castro, J.; Kowalski, A.; Serrano-Ortiz, P.; Ruiz, B.; Sancez-Canete, Ep; Zamora, R.

2010-05-01

Wildfires are the main cause of forests and understory destruction in Mediterranean areas. One of the most dramatic consequences is the perturbation of carbon fluxes. A high percentage of the CO2 emitted by the ecosystem after a wildfire is due to soil respiration, which represents the most important uncertainty in the global carbon cycle. In this study we have quantified the soil respiration and its seasonal variability in reforested pine forests in the National and Natural Park of Sierra Nevada which were burned in September of 2005. Measurement campaigns were carried out along two years in two experimental plots at different altitudinal levels (1500 and 2200 m a.s.l.), in which three post-fire silvicultural treatments of burned wood were established: 1) "Non-Intervention" (NI), leaving all of the burnt trees standing. 2) "Cut plus Lopping" (CL), a treatment where most of the trees were cut and felled, with the main branches also lopped off, but leaving all the cut biomass in situ covering partially the ground surface 3) "Salvage Logging" (SL), all trees were cut and the trunks and branches were removed. Soil respiration was highly determined by the effects derived of the altitudinal level, with the highest values at the lowest altitude. The seasonal precipitation regime had also a key role. Soil respiration kept a basal level during the summer drought, during this period the response to the altitudinal level and post-fire treatments were reduced. On the other hand, soil respiration boosted after rain events, when the differences between treatments became more pronounced. In general, especially under these conditions of absence of water limitation, the post-fire burnt wood treatment with the highest CO2 fluxes was that in which all the burnt wood biomass remained covering partially the soil surface ("Cut plus Lopping") while the lowest values were registered in the treatment in which the soil was bared ("Salvage Logging"). Results of this study are especially

Acquisition of wood fuel at the Joseph C. McNeil Generating Station

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kropelin, W. [Burlington Electric Dept., VT (United States)

1993-12-31

The Joseph C. McNeil Generating Station is the world`s largest single boiler, municipally-owned, wood-fired electrical generating plant. The 50 megawatt McNeil Station is located in Burlington, Vermont and is owned by several Vermont public and private electric utilities. The operator and majority owner is the City of Burlington Electric Department (BED). Wood fuel procurement for the McNeil Station has been conducted in an environmentally sensitive way. Harvesting is carried out in conformance with a comprehensive wood chip harvesting policy and monitored by professional foresters. Unpredictable levels of Station operation require rigid adherence to a wood storage plan that minimizes the risk of over heating and spontaneous combustion of stockpiled fuel.

Combustion aerosols from co-firing of coal and solid recovered fuel in a 400 mw pf-fired power plant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Anne Juul; Wu, Hao; Jappe Frandsen, Flemming

2010-01-01

In this work, combustion aerosols (i.e. fine particles fired power plant was sampled with a low-pressure impactor, and analysed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The power plant was operated at both dedicated coal combustion conditions...... and under conditions with cofiring of up to 10% (thermal basis) of solid recovered fuel (SRF). The SRFs were characterized by high contents of Cl, Ca, Na and trace metals, while the coal had relatively higher S, Al, Fe and K content. The mass-based particle size distribution of the aerosols was found...... to be bi-modal, with an ultrafine (vaporization) mode centered around 0.1 μm, and a coarser (finefragmentation) mode above 2 μm. Co-firing of SRF tended to increase the formation of ultrafine particles as compared with dedicated coal combustion, while the coarse mode tended to decrease. The increased...

MITIGATION SCENARIOS FOR RESIDENTIAL FIRES IN DENSELY POPULATED URBAN SETTLEMENTS IN SUKAHAJI VILLAGE, BANDUNG CITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saut Aritua Hasiholan Sagala

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Residential fires are a form of disaster that often occurs in urban areas especially in densely populated settlements. This study looks at possible mitigation scenarios for this kind of disaster. A case study was conducted in Babakan Ciparay Sub-District in Bandung City, among the densely populated settlements, and was focused especially on Sukahaji Village, a sub-unit of Babakan Ciparay, which is the most densely populated village in Bandung City with up to 234.14 people/ha. There have been six structural fires recorded from 2007 until 2010 occurring in Sukahaji. This study applied stratified random sampling as the preferred sampling technique and data collection method from a total population of 3,227 buildings. The data was then examined using risk analysis. The results have led to two intervention measures suggested as mitigation scenarios for residential fires that can be applied within the Sukahaji Village. The study concludes that mitigation measures through strengthening community capacity can be the principal option in reducing risk to fires in densely populated urban settlements.

Experimental study on combustion and suppression characteristics of sodium fire in a columnar flow using extinguishing powder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huo Yan; Zhang Zhigang; Li Jinke; Liu Zhongkun; Ma Yaolong

2017-01-01

In the operation of the sodium-cooled fast reactor, the leakage and fire accident of liquid sodium is common and it is frequent in sodium-related facilities. This study focuses on the combustion and suppression characteristics of sodium fire in a columnar flow. Liquid sodium (250°C) is injected into a 7.9 m"3 cylindrical chamber at a flow rate of about 1.0 m"3/h to create a columnar sodium fire, and 18.4 kg class D extinguishing powder is sprayed after the liquid sodium injection. The temperature in the chamber space and sodium collection plate and the heat release rate from sodium fire are measured and analyzed. Based on the temperature data the sodium fire under suppression could be divided into four phases of dropping sharply, continuously remaining lower, rising and declining mildly, and depressing. The sodium fire in the space could be suppressed and cooled down if the extinguishing agent could spray in the early period of the liquid sodium injection. The extinguishing agent could suppress the combustion and spreading of liquid sodium dropping on the collection plate, limit the pool combustion area and postpone the commencement of sodium pool burning in spite of its later re-ignition happening. This study promises to evaluate the combustion and suppression characteristics of sodium fire in the sodium-related facilities. (author)

Modelling winter organic aerosol at the European scale with CAMx: evaluation and source apportionment with a VBS parameterization based on novel wood burning smog chamber experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Ciarelli, Giancarlo; Aksoyoglu, Sebnem; El Haddad, Imad; Bruns, Emily A.; Crippa, Monica; Poulain, Laurent; Äijälä, Mikko; Carbone, Samara; Freney, Evelyn; O'Dowd, Colin; Baltensperger, Urs; Prévôt, André S. H.

2017-06-01

We evaluated a modified VBS (volatility basis set) scheme to treat biomass-burning-like organic aerosol (BBOA) implemented in CAMx (Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions). The updated scheme was parameterized with novel wood combustion smog chamber experiments using a hybrid VBS framework which accounts for a mixture of wood burning organic aerosol precursors and their further functionalization and fragmentation in the atmosphere. The new scheme was evaluated for one of the winter EMEP intensive campaigns (February-March 2009) against aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) measurements performed at 11 sites in Europe. We found a considerable improvement for the modelled organic aerosol (OA) mass compared to our previous model application with the mean fractional bias (MFB) reduced from -61 to -29 %. We performed model-based source apportionment studies and compared results against positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis performed on OA AMS data. Both model and observations suggest that OA was mainly of secondary origin at almost all sites. Modelled secondary organic aerosol (SOA) contributions to total OA varied from 32 to 88 % (with an average contribution of 62 %) and absolute concentrations were generally under-predicted. Modelled primary hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA) and primary biomass-burning-like aerosol (BBPOA) fractions contributed to a lesser extent (HOA from 3 to 30 %, and BBPOA from 1 to 39 %) with average contributions of 13 and 25 %, respectively. Modelled BBPOA fractions were found to represent 12 to 64 % of the total residential-heating-related OA, with increasing contributions at stations located in the northern part of the domain. Source apportionment studies were performed to assess the contribution of residential and non-residential combustion precursors to the total SOA. Non-residential combustion and road transportation sector contributed about 30-40 % to SOA formation (with increasing contributions at urban and near

Historical and future emission of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from gas-fired combustion in Beijing, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Yifeng; Nie, Lei; Zhou, Zhen; Tian, Hezhong; Yan, Jing; Wu, Xiaoqing; Cheng, Linglong

2017-07-01

The consumption of natural gas in Beijing has increased in the past decade due to energy structure adjustments and air pollution abatement. In this study, an integrated emission inventory of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) emitted from gas-fired combustion in Beijing was developed for the period from 2000 to 2014 using a technology-based approach. Future emission trends were projected through 2030 based on current energy-related and emission control policies. We found that emissions of primary HAPs exhibited an increasing trend with the rapid increase in natural gas consumption. Our estimates indicated that the total emissions of NO X , particulate matter (PM) 10 , PM 2.5 , CO, VOCs, SO 2 , black carbon, Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, and benzo[a]pyrene from gas-fired combustion in Beijing were approximately 22,422 t, 1042 t, 781 t, 19,097 t, 653 t, 82 t, 19 t, 0.6 kg, 0.1 kg, 43 kg, 52 kg, 0.3 kg, 0.03 kg, 4.3 kg, 0.6 kg, 216 μg, and 242 g, respectively, in 2014. To mitigate the associated air pollution and health risks caused by gas-fired combustion, stricter emission standards must be established. Additionally, combustion optimization and flue gas purification system could be used for lowering NO X emissions from gas-fired combustion, and gas-fired facilities should be continuously monitored based on emission limits. Graphical abstract Spatial distribution and typical live photos of gas-fired boiler in Beijing.

Fuel characterization requirements for cofiring biomass in coal-fired boilers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prinzing, D.E.; Tillman, D.A.; Harding, N.S.

1993-01-01

The cofiring of biofuels with coal in existing boilers, or the cofiring of biofuels in combined cycle combustion turbine (CCCT) systems presents significant potential benefits to utilities, including reductions in SO 2 and NO x emissions as a function of reducing the mass flow of sulfur and nitrogen to the boiler, reducing CO 2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels; potentially reducing fuel costs both by the availability of wood residues and by the fact that biofuels are exempt from the proposed BTU tax; and providing support to industrial customers from the forest products industry. At the same time, cofiring requires careful attention to the characterization of the wood and coal, both singly and in combination. This paper reviews characterization requirements associated with cofiring biofuels and fossil fuels in boilers and CCCT installations with particular attention not only to such concerns as sulfur, nitrogen, moisture, and Btu content, but also to such issues as total ash content, base/acid ratio of the wood ash and the coal ash, alkali metal content in the wood ash and wood fuel (including converted fuels such as low Btu gas or pyrolytic oil), slagging and fouling indices, ash fusion temperature, and trace metal contents in the wood and coal. The importance of each parameter is reviewed, along with potential consequences of a failure to adequately characterize these parameters. The consequences of these parameters are reviewed with attention to firing biofuels with coal in pulverized coal (PC) and cyclone boilers, and firing biofuels with natural gas in CCCT installations

Evaluation of methods for the physical characterization of the fine particle emissions from two residential wood combustion appliances

Science.gov (United States)

Kinsey, John S.; Kariher, Peter H.; Dong, Yuanji

The fine particle emissions from a U. S. certified non-catalytic wood stove and a zero-clearance fireplace burning Quercus rubra L. (northern red oak) and Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir) cordwood each at two different moisture levels were determined. Emission testing was performed using both time-integrated and continuous instrumentation for total particle mass, particle number, particle size distribution, and fixed combustion gases using an atmospheric wind tunnel, full-flow laboratory dilution tunnel, and dilution stack sampler with a comparison made between the three dilution systems and two sampling filter types. The total mass emission factors (EFs) for all dilution systems and filter media are extremely variable ranging from fireplace emissions burning wet oak averaged 11 g kg -1. A substantial number of ultrafine particles in the accumulation size range were also observed during all tests as determined by an Electrical Low Pressure Impactor (ELPI) and Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer. The PM-2.5 (particles ≤2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter) fractions determined from the ELPI electrometer data ranged from 93 to 98% (mass) depending on appliance type as reported previously by Hays et al. (Aerosol Science, 34, 1061, 2003).

Working group report: methane emissions from fuel combustion and industrial processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berdowski, J.J.M.; Beck, L.; Piccot, S.; Olivier, J.G.J.; Veldt, C.

1993-01-01

This paper lists the source categories which are currently recognised as minor sources of methane. These fall into five broad groups: stationary fuel combustion (residential combustion of fuels, solid waste incineration at home sites, on-site agricultural waste burning, industrial and utility combustion of coal, wood, oil and gas, commercial and industrial waste incineration); mobile fuel combustion; non-combustion industrial processes (primary metals production, chemical manufacturing processes, petroleum refining, commercial charcoal manufacturing waste treatments); minor energy production sources (storage and distribution of automotive fuels, geothermal energy production; peat mining operations, oil shale mining operations); and miscellaneous sources. The paper also presents a preliminary estimate of global methane emissions from these minor sources and the results of the working group's discussion on recommendations for the IPCC/OECD methodology and specific research needs. A list of control options for emissions from minor sources is provided. 2 tabs

Chemical characterization and stable carbon isotopic composition of particulate Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons issued from combustion of 10 Mediterranean woods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Guillon

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this study were to characterize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from particulate matter emitted during wood combustion and to determine, for the first time, the isotopic signature of PAHs from nine wood species and Moroccan coal from the Mediterranean Basin. In order to differentiate sources of particulate-PAHs, molecular and isotopic measurements of PAHs were performed on the set of wood samples for a large panel of compounds. Molecular profiles and diagnostic ratios were measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS and molecular isotopic compositions (δ13C of particulate-PAHs were determined by gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS. Wood species present similar molecular profiles with benz(aanthracene and chrysene as dominant PAHs, whereas levels of concentrations range from 1.8 to 11.4 mg g−1 OC (sum of PAHs. Diagnostic ratios are consistent with reference ratios from literature but are not sufficient to differentiate the species of woods. Concerning isotopic methodology, PAH molecular isotopic compositions are specific for each species and contrary to molecular fingerprints, significant variations of δ13C are observed for the panel of PAHs. This work allows differentiating wood combustion (with δ13CPAH = −28.7 to −26.6‰ from others origins of particulate matter (like vehicular exhaust using isotopic measurements but also confirms the necessity to investigate source characterisation at the emission in order to help and complete source assessment models. These first results on woodburnings will be useful for the isotopic approach to source tracking.

Reactivity and burnout of wood fuels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dall'Ora, Michelangelo

This thesis deals with the combustion of wood in pulverised fuel power plants. In this type of boiler, the slowest step in the wood conversion process is char combustion, which is one of the factors that not only determine the degree of fuel burnout, but also affect the heat release profile...... of different aspects relevant to wood combustion, including wood structure and composition, wood pyrolysis, wood char properties and wood char oxidation. The full scale campaign, which is the subject of Chapter 3, included sampling of wood fuel before and after milling and sampling of gas and particles...... at the top of the combustion chamber. The collected samples and data are used to obtain an evaluation of the mills in operation at the power plant, the particle size distribution of the wood fuel, as well as the char conversion attained in the furnace. In Chapter 4 an experimental investigation...

Environmental assessment of wood burning in independent heating devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogaume, C.; Rogaume, Y.; Zoulalian, A.; Trouve, G.

2009-01-01

An environmental assessment has been achieved on two domestic wood-heating devices, a closed fireplace and an open fireplace which represent 80% of the sale market of wood small-scale combustion units and around 65% of the use of wood-energy in France. Not only deals this study with the atmospheric polluting emissions produced in the exhaust stack, but also with the indoor air quality. Therefore, different pollutants were measured at the emission stage and as indoor air concentrations: carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), volatile organic compounds (VOC), methane (CH 4 ), nitrogen oxides (NO X ), particulate matter with different sizes (PM 10 to PM 0.1 ), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and dioxines and furans. The results concerning indoor air were compared to measurements that showed the influence of residential heating devices. without exhaust duct like an oil stove or a gas stove (space heater) on indoor air quality. Some combustion emission experiments achieved in normal conditions showed that the combustion in open fireplace pollutes more than the combustion in closed fire-place: around 10 times more of PM 2.5 (mass concentration), more than 4 times of total VOC, 1.5 times more of dioxines and furans. On the other hand, the opposite trend was shown for PAH emissions (between 2 and 3 times less depending on the regulations considered). The comparison of the impact of different heating appliances on indoor air quality shows that the rate of CO is the same for all the devices except for the open fireplace which is higher. The CO 2 rate is 10 times higher for the oil stove and 8 times higher for the gas stove than for the fireplaces, which is due to the lack of exhaust duct. The concentration of PM 2.5 is 16 times higher for the open fireplace, 1.6 times higher for the oil stove and 4.4 times higher for the gas stove than the closed fireplace. The percentage of the number distribution of nano-particles, that represents an enhanced health risk

Impending sources of energy to replace fire wood in semi arid climatic zones: A case study in Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihret Dananto Ulsido

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The present study paper shows an alternative source of energy that can decrease the extensive use of fire wood in Ethiopia. The country’s entire rural area and significant part of urban population is completely dependent on fire wood as a source of energy. This practice takes its own toll, the forest is on the verge of being wiped out and as a result a clear change of climate and loss of natural biodiversity resources is visible. Fire wood is not the only source of energy available in the country. In this paper, based on their low cost, construction material availability and the required unskilled labor it is shown that biogas and solar energy are potentially feasible source of energy to replace firewood for cooking.

The effect of low ceiling on the external combustion of the cabin fire

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Shichuan; Chen, Changyun; Wang, Liang; Wei, Chengyin; Cui, Haibing; Guo, Chengyu

2018-06-01

External combustion is a phenomenon where the flame flares out of the window and burns outside. Because of the particularity of the ship's cabin structure, there is a great danger in the external combustion. In this paper, the numerical calculation and analysis of three kinds of low ceiling ship cabin fire are analyzed based on the large eddy numerical simulation technique. Through the analysis of temperature, flue gas velocity, heat flux density and so on, the external combustion phenomenon of fire development is calculated. The results show that when external combustion occurs, the amount of fuel escaping decreases with the roof height. The temperature above the window increases with the height of the ceiling. The heat flux density in the external combustion flame is mainly provided by radiation, and convection is only a small part; In the plume area there is a time period, in this time period, the convective heat flux density is greater than the radiation heat flux, this time with the ceiling height increases. No matter which ceiling height, the external combustion will seriously damage the structure of the ship after a certain period of time. The velocity distribution of the three roof is similar, but with the height of the ceiling, the area size is also increasing.

Modeling the Pyrolysis and Combustion Behaviors of Non-Charring and Intumescent-Protected Polymers Using “FiresCone”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Long Shi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available A mathematical model, named FiresCone, was developed to simulate the pyrolysis and combustion processes of different types of combustible materials, which also took into account both gas and solid phases. In the present study, some non-charring and intumescent-protected polymer samples were investigated regarding their combustion behaviors in response to pre-determined external heat fluxes. The modeling results were validated against the experimental outcomes obtained from a cone calorimeter. The predicted mass loss rates of the samples were found to fit reasonably well with the experimental data collected under various levels of external irradiation. Both the experimental and modeling results showed that the peak mass loss rate of the non-charring polymer material occurred near the end of burning, whereas for the intumescent-protected polymer it happed shortly after the start of the experiment. “FiresCone” is expected to act as a practical tool for the investigation of fire behavior of combustible materials. It is also expected to model fire scenarios under complicated conditions.

Trace element partitioning in ashes from boilers firing pure wood or mixtures of solid waste with respect to fuel composition, chlorine content and temperature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saqib, Naeem, E-mail: naeem.saqib@oru.se; Bäckström, Mattias, E-mail: mattias.backstrom@oru.se

2014-12-15

Highlights: • Different solids waste incineration is discussed in grate fired and fluidized bed boilers. • We explained waste composition, temperature and chlorine effects on metal partitioning. • Excessive chlorine content can change oxide to chloride equilibrium partitioning the trace elements in fly ash. • Volatility increases with temperature due to increase in vapor pressure of metals and compounds. • In Fluidized bed boiler, most metals find themselves in fly ash, especially for wood incineration. - Abstract: Trace element partitioning in solid waste (household waste, industrial waste, waste wood chips and waste mixtures) incineration residues was investigated. Samples of fly ash and bottom ash were collected from six incineration facilities across Sweden including two grate fired and four fluidized bed incinerators, to have a variation in the input fuel composition (from pure biofuel to mixture of waste) and different temperature boiler conditions. As trace element concentrations in the input waste at the same facilities have already been analyzed, the present study focuses on the concentration of trace elements in the waste fuel, their distribution in the incineration residues with respect to chlorine content of waste and combustion temperature. Results indicate that Zn, Cu and Pb are dominating trace elements in the waste fuel. Highly volatile elements mercury and cadmium are mainly found in fly ash in all cases; 2/3 of lead also end up in fly ash while Zn, As and Sb show a large variation in distribution with most of them residing in the fly ash. Lithophilic elements such as copper and chromium are mainly found in bottom ash from grate fired facilities while partition mostly into fly ash from fluidized bed incinerators, especially for plants fuelled by waste wood or ordinary wood chips. There is no specific correlation between input concentration of an element in the waste fuel and fraction partitioned to fly ash. Temperature and chlorine

Modeling the Emission of CO from Wood Fires using Detailed Chemical Kinetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dederichs, Anne

Carbon monoxide is treated as one of the most common and dangerous of gases evolving in fires. Modeling the formation of the toxic gas CO from in fire enclosures using detailed chemical kinetics is the topic of this manuscript. A semi-empirical model is developed to study the formation of CO from......, the model separately treats the process of pyrolysis and combustion. For under ventilated conditions and at high temperatures during pyrolysis it is found that the process of pyrolysation strongly influences the formation of CO in fire. CO2 follows the same trend....

URBAN WOOD/COAL CO-FIRING IN THE NIOSH BOILER PLANT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

James T. Cobb Jr.

2005-02-10

Phase I of this project began by obtaining R&D variances for permits at the NIOSH boilerplant (NBP), Emery Tree Service (ETS) and the J. A. Rutter Company (JARC) for their portions of the project. Wood for the test burn was obtained from the JARC inventory (pallets), Thompson Properties and Seven D Corporation (construction wood), and the Arlington Heights Housing Project (demolition wood). The wood was ground at ETS and JARC, delivered to the Three Rivers Terminal and blended with coal. Three one-day tests using wood/coal blends of 33% wood by volume (both construction wood and demolition wood) were conducted at the NBP. Blends using hammermilled wood were operationally successful. Emissions of SO{sub 2} and NOx decreased and that of CO increased when compared with combusting coal alone. Mercury emissions were measured and evaluated. During the first year of Phase II the principal work focused upon searching for a replacement boilerplant and developing a commercial supply of demolition wood. The NBP withdrew from the project and a search began for another stoker boilerplant in Pennsylvania to replace it on the project. Three potential commercial demolition wood providers were contacted. Two were not be able to supply wood. At the end of the first year of Phase II, discussions were continuing with the third one, a commercial demolition wood provider from northern New Jersey. During the two-and-a-third years of the contract extension it was determined that the demolition wood from northern New Jersey was impractical for use in Pittsburgh, in another power plant in central New Jersey, and in a new wood gasifier being planned in Philadelphia. However, the project team did identify sufficient wood from other sources for the gasifier project. The Principal Investigator of this project assisted a feasibility study of wood gasification in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. As a result of the study, an independent power producer in the county has initiated a small wood

Determination of Plant-Available Nutrients in Two Wood Ashes: the Influence of Combustion Conditions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Perná, Ivana; Ochecová, P.; Száková, J.; Hanzlíček, Tomáš; Tlustoš, P.

2016-01-01

Roč. 47, 13/14 (2016), 1664-1674 ISSN 0010-3624 R&D Projects: GA MZe QI102A207 Institutional support: RVO:67985891 Keywords : combustion condition * crystal phases * fertilizer * plant-available nutrients * wood ash Subject RIV: DM - Solid Waste and Recycling Impact factor: 0.589, year: 2016

Fire, Climate, and Human Activity: A Combustive Combination

Science.gov (United States)

Kehrwald, N. M.; Battistel, D.; Argiriadis, E.; Barbante, C.; Barber, L. B.; Fortner, S. K.; Jasmann, J.; Kirchgeorg, T.; Zennaro, P.

2017-12-01

Ice and lake core records demonstrate that fires caused by human activity can dominate regional biomass burning records in the Common Era. These major increases in fires are often associated with extensive land use change such as an expansion in agriculture. Regions with few humans, relatively stable human populations and/or unvarying land use often have fire histories that are dominated by climate parameters such as temperature and precipitation. Here, we examine biomass burning recorded in ice cores from northern Greenland (NEEM, (77°27'N; 51°3.6'W), Alaska (Juneau Icefield, 58° 35' N; 134° 29'W) and East Antarctica (EPICA DOME C; 75°06'S; 123°21'E), along with New Zealand lake cores to investigate interactions between climate, fire and human activity. Biomarkers such as levoglucosan, and its isomers mannosan and galactosan, can only be produced by cellulose combustion and therefore are specific indicators of past fire activity archived in ice and lake cores. These fire histories add another factor to climate proxies from the same core, and provide a comparison to regional fire syntheses from charcoal records and climate models. For example, fire data from the JSBACH-Spitfire model for the past 2000 years demonstrates that a climate-only scenario would not increase biomass burning in high northern latitudes for the past 2000 years, while NEEM ice core and regional pollen records demonstrate both increased fire activity and land use change that may be ascribed to human activity. Additional biomarkers such as fecal sterols in lake sediments can determine when people were in an area, and can help establish if an increased human presence in an area corresponds with intensified fire activity. This combination of specific biomarkers, other proxy data, and model output can help determine the relative impact of humans versus climate factors on regional fire activity.

URBAN WOOD/COAL CO-FIRING IN THE BELLEFIELD BOILERPLANT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

James T. Cobb, Jr.; Gene E. Geiger; William W. Elder III; William P. Barry; Jun Wang; Hongming Li

2001-01-01

During the third quarter, important preparatory work was continued so that the experimental activities can begin early in the fourth quarter. Authorization was awaited in response to the letter that was submitted to the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) seeking an R and D variance for the air permit at the Bellefield Boiler Plant (BBP). Verbal authorizations were received from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) for R and D variances for solid waste permits at the J. A. Rutter Company (JARC), and Emery Tree Service (ETS). Construction wood was acquired from Thompson Properties and Seven D Corporation. Forty tons of pallet and construction wood were ground to produce BioGrind Wood Chips at JARC and delivered to Mon Valley Transportation Company (MVTC). Five tons of construction wood were milled at ETS and half of the product delivered to MVTC. Discussions were held with BBP and Energy Systems Associates (ESA) about the test program. Material and energy balances on Boiler No.1 and a plan for data collection were prepared. Presentations describing the University of Pittsburgh Wood/Coal Co-Firing Program were provided to the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, and the Upgraded Coal Interest Group and the Biomass Interest Group (BIG) of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). An article describing the program appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. An application was submitted for authorization for a Pennsylvania Switchgrass Energy and Conservation Program

Production of wood pellets. Influence of additives on production, quality, storage, combustion and life cycle analysis of wood pellets; Herstellung von Holzpellets. Einfluss von Presshilfsmitteln auf Produktion, Qualitaet, Lagerung, Verbrennung sowie Energie- und Oekobilanz von Holzpellets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hasler, P.; Nussbaumer, T. [Verenum, Zuerich (Switzerland); Buerli, J. [Buerli Pellets, Willisau (Switzerland)

2001-07-01

This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a study concerning the influence of additives on the various factors related to the manufacture of wood pellets and their use. Results of tests concerning the production, storage and combustion of wood pellets with and without additives are presented. Process modifications are discussed. The report shows that for all investigated additives neither energy consumption nor pellet throughput was improved. The influence of additives on the mechanical strength of the pellets is discussed, as are the combustion characteristics of the pellets, which emit significantly lower levels of NO{sub x} and particulate matter than typical wood chips. The authors recommend the application of advanced control technology to ensure optimum combustion conditions. A life-cycle analysis is presented which shows that pellets are ecologically more favourable than wood chips. The ecological potential for improvement in the manufacturing process is discussed, including emission reductions and heat recovery.

Laboratory investigation of photochemical oxidation of organic aerosol from wood fires 2: analysis of aerosol mass spectrometer data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. P. Grieshop

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of photo-oxidation on organic aerosol (OA in dilute wood smoke by exposing emissions from soft- and hard-wood fires to UV light in a smog chamber. This paper focuses on changes in OA composition measured using a unit-mass-resolution quadrupole Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS. The results highlight how photochemical processing can lead to considerable evolution of the mass, volatility and level of oxygenation of biomass-burning OA. Photochemical oxidation produced substantial new OA, more than doubling the OA mass after a few hours of aging under typical summertime conditions. Aging also decreased the volatility of the OA and made it progressively more oxygenated. The results also illustrate strengths of, and challenges with, using AMS data for source apportionment analysis. For example, the mass spectra of fresh and aged BBOA are distinct from fresh motor-vehicle emissions. The mass spectra of the secondary OA produced from aging wood smoke are very similar to those of the oxygenated OA (OOA that dominates ambient AMS datasets, further reinforcing the connection between OOA and OA formed from photo-chemistry. In addition, aged wood smoke spectra are similar to those from OA created by photo-oxidizing dilute diesel exhaust. This demonstrates that the OOA observed in the atmosphere can be produced by photochemical aging of dilute emissions from different types of combustion systems operating on fuels with modern or fossil carbon. Since OOA is frequently the dominant component of ambient OA, the similarity of spectra of aged emissions from different sources represents an important challenge for AMS-based source apportionment studies.

NOx emissions from the underfeed combustion of coal and biomass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purvis, M.R.I.; Tadulan, E.L.; Tariq, A.S.

2000-01-01

Underfeed stokers have an inherent ability to minimise smoke emissions, thus providing environmental benefits in the combustion of solid fuels, such as biomass materials, which have a high volatile matter content. An evaluation of this attribute requires comparisons of the performance of combustion equipment using these fuels against reference data for coals. However, the recent literature is virtually devoid of studies of coal combustion in underfeed stokers and, in particular, information on nitrogen oxide emissions. In the UK, this reflects a lack of commercial interest in small-scale coal firing due to the wide availability of inexpensive gas and oil fuels. An experimental investigation has been carried out into the combustion of bituminous coal, anthracite and a 50:50 blend by mass of anthracite and oak wood chips on a modified commercial underfeed stoker. The intention was to obtain operational experiences in burning the fuels and reference data for nitrogen oxide emissions. Problems in the combustion of the fuels are described and related to the determination of nitrogen oxide emission values found under optimised plant conditions. These values, expressed at 6% O 2 , were 265 ppm for bituminous coal, 90 ppm for anthracite and 106 ppm for the anthracite/wood chip blend. (Author)

Elaboration of a Platform for Increasing Straw Combustion in Sweden, based on Danish Experiences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hinge, Joergen (Danish Technological Inst. (Denmark))

2009-05-15

corrosion in boilers seem to have been overcome by using the resistant 'TP 347' material in superheaters. Fluidized bed technology has a number of potential advantages, among these: reduced NOx-formation; very flexible to different fuel mixtures. However, it is not considered a viable technology for straw combustion for two main reasons. The low ash melting point of straw may result in the melted ash particles making the sand particles in the fluid bed stick together, thereby preventing the sand particles from staying fluidized. Therefore, the amount of straw in a coal/straw fuel mixture can be maximum 50%. And whereas 100% of other types of biomass--for instance wood chips--can be used, a 50-50% mixture of wood chips and straw is not applicable. Therefore coal and straw have to be co-combusted in a fluidized bed boiler. Besides coal and straw ash, the mixed ash product from this combustion contains limestone residues and desulphurization products. This mixed ash product cannot be utilized as fertilizer or other known purposes, and therefore it has to be landfilled. A system with the combination of a separate straw boiler and a wood-chip fired superheater has been developed in order to prevent the 'usual' problems with corrosion of straw-fired boilers running at temperatures above 500 deg C by keeping the temperature at 470 deg C. However, after several years of experience with use of new materials for straw-fired boilers, it is no longer considered a problem to operate these at 540 deg C. Therefore, the construction with a combination of two separate boilers will probably not be repeated. And then raise the temperature of the steam to app. 540 deg C in the wood chip-fired superheater. Co-firing of coal and straw (max. 20% straw) in a 'conventional' suspension fired coal boiler will by far be the most feasible solution due to of low investments. If it is not relevant to establish co-firing of coal and straw, a separate boiler with vibrating

Use of residential wood heating in a context of climate change: a population survey in Québec (Canada

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Valois Pierre

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Wood heating is recommended in several countries as a climate change (CC adaptation measure, mainly to increase the autonomy of households during power outages due to extreme climatic events. The aim of this study was to examine various perceptions and individual characteristics associated with wood heating through a survey about CC adaptations. Methods A telephone survey (n = 2,545 of adults living in the southern part of the province of Québec (Canada was conducted in the early fall season of 2005. The questionnaire used closed questions and measured the respondents' beliefs and current adaptations about CC. Calibration weighting was used to adjust the data analysis for the respondent's age and language under stratified sampling based on health regions. Results More than three out of four respondents had access to a single source of energy at home, which was mainly electricity; 22.2% combined two sources or more; 18.5% heated with wood occasionally or daily during the winter. The prevalence of wood heating was higher in the peripheral regions than in the more urban regions, where there was a higher proportion of respondents living in apartments. The prevalence was also higher with participants completely disagreeing (38.5% with the eventual prohibition of wood heating when there is smog in winter, compared to respondents somewhat disagreeing (24.2% or agreeing (somewhat: 17.5%; completely: 10.4% with the adoption of this strategy. It appears that the perception of living in a region susceptible to winter smog, smog warnings in the media, or the belief in the human contribution to CC, did not influence significantly wood heating practices. Conclusion Increased residential wood heating could very well become a maladaptation to climate change, given its known consequences on winter smog and respiratory health. It would thus be appropriate to implement a long-term national program on improved and controlled residential wood

A Pulverized Coal-Fired Boiler Optimized for Oxyfuel Combustion Technology

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Tomáš Dlouhý

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of a study on modifying a pulverized coal-fired steam boiler in a 250 MWe power plant for oxygen combustion conditions. The entry point of the study is a boiler that was designed for standard air combustion. It has been proven that simply substituting air by oxygen as an oxidizer is not sufficient for maintaining a satisfactory operating mode, not even with flue gas recycling. Boiler design optimization aggregating modifications to the boiler’s dimensions, heating surfaces and recycled flue gas flow rate, and specification of a flue gas recycling extraction point is therefore necessary in order to achieve suitable conditions for oxygen combustion. Attention is given to reducing boiler leakage, to which external pre-combustion coal drying makes a major contribution. The optimization is carried out with regard to an overall power plant conception for which a decrease in efficiency due to CO2 separation is formulated.

Advances and challenges of wood polymer composites

Science.gov (United States)

Roger M. Rowell

2006-01-01

Wood flour and fiber have been blended with thermoplastic such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polylactic acid and polyvinyl chloride to form wood plastic composites (WPC). WPCs have seen a large growth in the United States in recent years mainly in the residential decking market with the removal of CCA treated wood decking from residential markets. While there are...

Energy performance of Portuguese and Danish wood-burning stoves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carvalho, Ricardo; Jensen, Ole Michael; Tarelho, Luis A. C.

2011-01-01

In Europe, considerable amounts of renewable energy resources are used for residential heating with wood-burning stoves, which can cause considerable energy losses and environmental impacts. A better understanding of its operating characteristics will permit to improve the buildings energy...... carried out through the measurement of the main operating parameters: flue gas temperature and composition, combustion air flow rate, and fuel consumption rate. The results showed that the appliances emitted energy intermittently, with a mean heat flow rate into the indoors of 5 kWth, representing mean...... efficiency and indoor climate, and to reduce the emission of air pollutants to the environment. This study aimed to analyze the operating conditions of a Portuguese made stove and compare it with the most efficient Danish made stoves tested at the Technological Institute. The combustion experiments were...

Devolatilization and Combustion of Tire Rubber and Pine Wood in a Pilot Scale Rotary Kiln

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Anders R.; Larsen, Morten B.; Glarborg, Peter

2012-01-01

Cement production is highly energy intensive and requires large quantities of fuels. For both economical and environmental reasons, there is an increasing tendency for utilization of alternative fuels in the cement industry, examples being tire derived fuels, waste wood, or different types...... of industrial waste. In this study, devolatilization and combustion of large particles of tire rubber and pine wood with equivalent diameters of 10 mm to 26 mm are investigated in a pilot scale rotary kiln able to simulate the process conditions present in the material inlet end of cement rotary kilns...

The numerical comparison of fire combustion model and water-mist suppression with experiments by FDS code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hsuennien; Ferng Yuhming; Shih Chunkuan; Hsu Wensheng

2007-01-01

FDS [1] code numerically solves a form of the Navier-Stokes equations appropriate for low-speed, thermally driven flow with an emphasis on smoke and heat transport from fires. FDS uses a mixture fraction combustion model. The mixture fraction is a conserved scalar quantity that is defined as the fraction of fuel gas at a given point in the flow field. The model assumes that combustion is mixing-controlled, and that the reaction of fuel and oxygen is infinitely fast. In FDS, Lagrangian particles are used to simulate smoke movement and sprinkling water-mist discharge. In order to evaluate the combustion model and water-mist suppression function of the code, FDS analyses are conducted to simulate two enclosure fire cases available in the literature. Comparisons with other combustion models are also made. For fires suppression by water-mist in FDS, parametric studies are performed to compare various water-mist injection characteristics for maximum suppression. Numerical results indicate that the flame suppression is closely related to characteristics of the water mist, such as droplet diameter, mist injection velocity, injection density. Our present investigations show that the combustion model and water-mist suppression in FDS can provide simulation results that are comparable with the experiments. (author)

[Combustion zone investigation and modelling in fuel flexible suspension fired boilers]. Result summary and status

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lovmand Hvid, S.

2011-12-15

The project has been designed to obtain data from a power plant boiler with co-combustion, partly to gain greater knowledge of particle turnover in the fuel zone, partly to support the development of modeling tools. Data collection occurred at Studstrup Power Station Unit 4, where the fuel is a combination of coal and biomass. The boiler is equipped with 24 dust burners, four of which have been converted to firing with biomass. Measurements have been carried out in the flame zone with different fuels: coal alone, coal + straw and coal + wood. During the experiments velocity fields, temperature fields and gas concentration fields were measured in the firing zone. Also, particle samples from the flame zone ware collected. Several measurements are performed with well-known techniques, but in addition, the project developed new optical measurement methods based on UV spectroscopy. They allow measuring other gases than the hitherto known methods and allow you to gain insight into the dynamic variations beyond just mean fields. The collection of particle samples from the boiler was, as expected, a very challenging task under the given conditions, but was carried out with a largely satisfactory result. Analysis of the samples has initially failed to lead to an increased recognition of the speed of the conversion process, but the samples will be analyzed in more detail in other projects. (LN)

Hazardous air pollutant emissions from gas-fired combustion sources: emissions and the effects of design and fuel type

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

England, G.C.; McGrath, T.P. [GE-Energy and Environmental Research Corp., Irvine, CA (United States); Gilmer, L. [Equilon Enterprises, Bellaire, TX (United States); Seebold, J.G. [Chevron Research and Technology Co., Richmond, CA (United States); Lev-On, M. [ARCO, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Hunt, T. [American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC (United States)

2001-07-01

Air emissions from gas-fired combustion devices such as boilers, process heaters, gas turbines and stationary reciprocating engines contain hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) subjected to consideration under the federal clean air act (CAA). This work presents a recently completed major research project to develop an understanding of HAP emissions from gas-fired boilers and process heaters and new HAP emission factors based on field emission tests of gas-fired external combustion devices used in the petroleum industry. The effect of combustion system design and operating parameters on HAP emissions determined by both field and research tests are discussed. Data from field tests of gas-fired petroleum industry boilers and heaters generally show very low emission levels of organic HAPs. A comparison of the emission data for boilers and process heaters, including units with and without various forms of NO{sub x} emission controls, showed no significant difference in organic HAP emission characteristics due to process or burner design. This conclusion is also supported by the results of research tests with different burner designs. Based on field tests of units fired with natural gas and various petroleum industry process gases and research tests in which gas composition was intentionally varied, organic HAP emissions were not determined to be significantly affected by the gas composition. Research data indicate that elevated organic HAP emission levels are found only under extreme operating conditions (starved air or high excess air combustion) associated with poor combustion. (author)

Hazardous air pollutant emissions from gas-fired combustion sources: emissions and the effects of design and fuel type

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

England, G.C.; McGrath, T.P.; Gilmer, L.; Seebold, J.G.; Lev-On, M.; Hunt, T.

2001-01-01

Air emissions from gas-fired combustion devices such as boilers, process heaters, gas turbines and stationary reciprocating engines contain hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) subjected to consideration under the federal clean air act (CAA). This work presents a recently completed major research project to develop an understanding of HAP emissions from gas-fired boilers and process heaters and new HAP emission factors based on field emission tests of gas-fired external combustion devices used in the petroleum industry. The effect of combustion system design and operating parameters on HAP emissions determined by both field and research tests are discussed. Data from field tests of gas-fired petroleum industry boilers and heaters generally show very low emission levels of organic HAPs. A comparison of the emission data for boilers and process heaters, including units with and without various forms of NO x emission controls, showed no significant difference in organic HAP emission characteristics due to process or burner design. This conclusion is also supported by the results of research tests with different burner designs. Based on field tests of units fired with natural gas and various petroleum industry process gases and research tests in which gas composition was intentionally varied, organic HAP emissions were not determined to be significantly affected by the gas composition. Research data indicate that elevated organic HAP emission levels are found only under extreme operating conditions (starved air or high excess air combustion) associated with poor combustion. (author)

Competitive outcomes between wood-decaying fungi are altered in burnt wood.

Science.gov (United States)

Edman, Mattias; Eriksson, Anna-Maria

2016-06-01

Fire is an important disturbance agent in boreal forests where it creates a wide variety of charred and other types of heat-modified dead wood substrates, yet how these substrates affect fungal community structure and development within wood is poorly understood. We allowed six species of wood-decaying basidiomycetes to compete in pairs in wood-discs that were experimentally burnt before fungal inoculation. The outcomes of interactions in burnt wood differed from those in unburnt control wood for two species:Antrodia sinuosanever lost on burnt wood and won over its competitor in 67% of the trials compared to 40% losses and 20% wins on unburnt wood. In contrast, Ischnoderma benzoinumwon all interactions on unburnt wood compared to 33% on burnt wood. However, the responses differed depending on the identity of the competing species, suggesting an interaction between competitor and substrate type. The observed shift in competitive balance between fungal species probably results from chemical changes in burnt wood, but the underlying mechanism needs further investigation. Nevertheless, the results indicate that forest fires indirectly structure fungal communities by modifying dead wood, and highlight the importance of fire-affected dead wood substrates in boreal forests. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Findings on pollutant formation in wood and chip board combustion. Erkenntnisse zur Schadstoffbildung bei der Verbrennung von Holz und Spanplatten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marutzky, R.

1991-10-01

Combustion experiments were carried out using wood and several types of chip boards with binders on the basis of urea, melamine and phenol formaldehyde resins, polyureas, and PVC. The combustion process was observed, and the flue gas constituents in case of incomplete combustion were analyzed. The origins of the various organic and inorganic materials were discussed taking account of the results of pyrolysis experiments. (orig.).

Modelling carbonaceous aerosol from residential solid fuel burning with different assumptions for emissions

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R. Ots

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Evidence is accumulating that emissions of primary particulate matter (PM from residential wood and coal combustion in the UK may be underestimated and/or spatially misclassified. In this study, different assumptions for the spatial distribution and total emission of PM from solid fuel (wood and coal burning in the UK were tested using an atmospheric chemical transport model. Modelled concentrations of the PM components were compared with measurements from aerosol mass spectrometers at four sites in central and Greater London (ClearfLo campaign, 2012, as well as with measurements from the UK black carbon network.The two main alternative emission scenarios modelled were Base4x and combRedist. For Base4x, officially reported PM2.5 from the residential and other non-industrial combustion source sector were increased by a factor of four. For the combRedist experiment, half of the baseline emissions from this same source were redistributed by residential population density to simulate the effect of allocating some emissions to the smoke control areas (that are assumed in the national inventory to have no emissions from this source. The Base4x scenario yielded better daily and hourly correlations with measurements than the combRedist scenario for year-long comparisons of the solid fuel organic aerosol (SFOA component at the two London sites. However, the latter scenario better captured mean measured concentrations across all four sites. A third experiment, Redist – all emissions redistributed linearly to population density, is also presented as an indicator of the maximum concentrations an assumption like this could yield.The modelled elemental carbon (EC concentrations derived from the combRedist experiments also compared well with seasonal average concentrations of black carbon observed across the network of UK sites. Together, the two model scenario simulations of SFOA and EC suggest both that residential solid fuel emissions may be higher than

Modelling carbonaceous aerosol from residential solid fuel burning with different assumptions for emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Ots, Riinu; Heal, Mathew R.; Young, Dominique E.; Williams, Leah R.; Allan, James D.; Nemitz, Eiko; Di Marco, Chiara; Detournay, Anais; Xu, Lu; Ng, Nga L.; Coe, Hugh; Herndon, Scott C.; Mackenzie, Ian A.; Green, David C.; Kuenen, Jeroen J. P.; Reis, Stefan; Vieno, Massimo

2018-04-01

Evidence is accumulating that emissions of primary particulate matter (PM) from residential wood and coal combustion in the UK may be underestimated and/or spatially misclassified. In this study, different assumptions for the spatial distribution and total emission of PM from solid fuel (wood and coal) burning in the UK were tested using an atmospheric chemical transport model. Modelled concentrations of the PM components were compared with measurements from aerosol mass spectrometers at four sites in central and Greater London (ClearfLo campaign, 2012), as well as with measurements from the UK black carbon network.The two main alternative emission scenarios modelled were Base4x and combRedist. For Base4x, officially reported PM2.5 from the residential and other non-industrial combustion source sector were increased by a factor of four. For the combRedist experiment, half of the baseline emissions from this same source were redistributed by residential population density to simulate the effect of allocating some emissions to the smoke control areas (that are assumed in the national inventory to have no emissions from this source). The Base4x scenario yielded better daily and hourly correlations with measurements than the combRedist scenario for year-long comparisons of the solid fuel organic aerosol (SFOA) component at the two London sites. However, the latter scenario better captured mean measured concentrations across all four sites. A third experiment, Redist - all emissions redistributed linearly to population density, is also presented as an indicator of the maximum concentrations an assumption like this could yield.The modelled elemental carbon (EC) concentrations derived from the combRedist experiments also compared well with seasonal average concentrations of black carbon observed across the network of UK sites. Together, the two model scenario simulations of SFOA and EC suggest both that residential solid fuel emissions may be higher than inventory

Mathematical modelling of the combustion of a single wood particle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Porteiro, J.; Miguez, J.L.; Granada, E.; Moran, J.C. [Departamento de Ingenieria Mecanica, Maquinas y Motores Termicos y Fluidos. Universidad de Vigo, Lagoas Marcosende 9 36200 Vigo (Spain)

2006-01-15

A mathematical model describing the thermal degradation of densified biomass particles is presented here. The model uses a novel discretisation scheme and combines intra-particle combustion processes with extra-particle transport processes, thereby including thermal and diffusional control mechanisms. The influence of structural changes on the physical-thermal properties of wood in its different stages is studied together with shrinkage of the particle during its degradation. The model is used to compare the predicted data with data on the mass loss dynamics and internal temperature of several particles from previous works and relevant literature, with good agreement. (author)

Particulate Matter 2.5 Exposure and Self-Reported Use of Wood Stoves and Other Indoor Combustion Sources in Urban Nonsmoking Homes in Norway.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annah B Wyss

Full Text Available Few studies have examined particulate matter (PM exposure from self-reported use of wood stoves and other indoor combustion sources in urban settings in developed countries. We measured concentrations of indoor PM < 2.5 microns (PM2.5 for one week with the MicroPEM™ nephelometer in 36 households in the greater Oslo, Norway metropolitan area. We examined indoor PM2.5 levels in relation to use of wood stoves and other combustion sources during a 7 day monitoring period using mixed effects linear models with adjustment for ambient PM2.5 levels. Mean hourly indoor PM2.5 concentrations were higher (p = 0.04 for the 14 homes with wood stove use (15.6 μg/m3 than for the 22 homes without (12.6 μg/m3. Moreover, mean hourly PM2.5 was higher (p = 0.001 for use of wood stoves made before 1997 (6 homes, 20.2 μg/m3, when wood stove emission limits were instituted in Norway, compared to newer wood stoves (8 homes, 11.9 μg/m3 which had mean hourly values similar to control homes. Increased PM2.5 levels during diary-reported burning of candles was detected independently of concomitant wood stove use. These results suggest that self-reported use of wood stoves, particularly older stoves, and other combustion sources, such as candles, are associated with indoor PM2.5 measurements in an urban population from a high income country.

Wood burning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winkelmann, H

1955-01-01

Discussed are the use of wood as a fuel, the technique of wood combustion and the operation of wood-burning stoves for cooking and heating. In addition, there is a section which reviews the use of wood stoves in various countries and lists manufacturers of stoves, central heating furnaces and in some cases sawdust burners.

Characterization of Oxy-combustion Impacts in Existing Coal-fired Boilers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradley Adams; Andrew Fry; Constance Senior; Hong Shim; Huafeng Wang; Jost Wendt; Christopher Shaddix

2009-06-30

This report summarizes Year 1 results of a research program designed to use multi-scale experimental studies and fundamental theoretical models to characterize and predict the impacts of retrofit of existing coal-fired utility boilers for oxy-combustion. Through the course of Year 1 activities, great progress was made toward understanding the issues associated with oxy-combustion retrofit of coal-fired boilers. All four Year 1 milestones and objectives have been, or will be, completed on schedule and within budget. Progress in the four milestone areas may be summarized as follows: • University of Utah has performed size segregated ash composition measurements in the Oxy-Fuel Combustor (OFC). These experiments indicate that oxy-combustion retrofit may impact ash aerosol mineral matter composition. Both flame temperature and flue gas composition have been observed to influence the concentration of calcium, magnesium and iron in the fine particulate. This could in turn impact boiler fouling and slagging. • Sandia National Labs has shown that char oxidation rate is dependent on particle size (for sizes between 60 and 100 microns) by performing fundamental simulations of reacting char particles. These predictions will be verified by making time-resolved optical measurements of char particle temperature, velocity and size in bench-scale experiments before the end of Year 1. • REI and Siemens have completed the design of an oxy-research burner that will be mounted on University of Utah’s pilot-scale furnace, the L1500. This burner will accommodate a wide range of O2, FGR and mixing strategies under conditions relevant for utility boiler operation. Through CFD modeling of the different burner designs, it was determined that the key factor influencing flame stabilization location is particle heat-up rate. The new oxy-research burner and associated equipment is scheduled for delivery before the end of Year 1. • REI has completed a literature survey of slagging and

Dual protection of wood surface treated with melamine-modified urea-formaldehyde resin mixed with ammonium polyphosphate against both fire and decay

Science.gov (United States)

Xing-xia Ma; Grant T. Kirker; Ming-liang Jiang; Yu-zhang Wu

2016-01-01

Surface coatings of melamine-modified urea-formaldehyde resins (MUFs) containing ammonium polyphosphate (APP) have been shown to significantly improve the fire retardancy of wood by prolonging the ignition time and reducing the heat release rate, total heat released, and mass loss rate. Dual protection of wood against both decay and fire has been proposed for remedial...

Soot, organics, and ultrafine ash from air- and oxy-fired coal combustion

KAUST Repository

Andersen, Myrrha E.

2016-10-19

Pulverized bituminous coal was burned in a 10. W externally heated entrained flow furnace under air-combustion and three oxy-combustion inlet oxygen conditions (28, 32, and 36%). Experiments were designed to produce flames with practically relevant stoichiometric ratios (SR. =1.2-1.4) and constant residence times (2.3. s). Size-classified fly ash samples were collected, and measurements focused on the soot, elemental carbon (EC), and organic carbon (OC) composition of the total and ultrafine (<0.6. μm) fly ash. Results indicate that although the total fly ash carbon, as measured by loss on ignition, was always acceptably low (<2%) with all three oxy-combustion conditions lower than air-combustion, the ultrafine fly ash for both air-fired and oxy-fired combustion conditions consists primarily of carbonaceous material (50-95%). Carbonaceous components on particles <0.6. μm measured by a thermal optical method showed that large fractions (52-93%) consisted of OC rather than EC, as expected. This observation was supported by thermogravimetric analysis indicating that for the air, 28% oxy, and 32% oxy conditions, 14-71% of this material may be OC volatilizing between 100. C and 550. C with the remaining 29-86% being EC/soot. However, for the 36% oxy condition, OC may comprise over 90% of the ultrafine carbon with a much smaller EC/soot contribution. These data were interpreted by considering the effects of oxy-combustion on flame attachment, ignition delay, and soot oxidation of a bituminous coal, and the effects of these processes on OC and EC emissions. Flame aerodynamics and inlet oxidant composition may influence emissions of organic hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from a bituminous coal. During oxy-coal combustion, judicious control of inlet oxygen concentration and placement may be used to minimize organic HAP and soot emissions.

Combustion Characteristics of Impregnated and Surface-treated Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill. Wood Left Outdoors for One Year

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammed Said Fidan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Treating wood with impregnating materials in order to improve resistance to burning is a commonly employed safety measure. In this study, chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill. wood samples were impregnated using either Tanalith-E or Wolmanit-CB according to ASTM-D 1413-76 and surface-treated using water-based or synthetic varnish according to ASTM-D 3023. These samples were used to investigate the combustion characteristics of samples left outdoors for one year as detailed in ASTM-E 160-50. The combustion temperatures of the samples left outdoors were similar upon impregnation with either Tanalith-E or Wolmanit-CB. However, the combustion temperature of the samples treated with synthetic varnish was lower than those that were treated with water-based varnish. The time to collapse and the total duration of combustion of the samples left outdoors were shorter for those impregnated with Wolmanit-CB. Weight loss of the samples left outdoors was higher for those that were impregnated with Tanalith-E and treated with water-based varnish. Gas analysis of the samples that were left outdoors indicated that the O2 content of flue gas from samples that were impregnated with Wolmanit-CB and treated with synthetic varnish was high and the CO content of flue gas from the same samples was low.

Wood preservative testing

Science.gov (United States)

Rebecca Ibach; Stan T. Lebow

2012-01-01

Most wood species used in commercial and residential construction have little natural biological durability and will suffer from biodeterioration when exposed to moisture. Historically, this problem has been overcome by treating wood for outdoor use with toxic wood preservatives. As societal acceptance of chemical use changes, there is continual pressure to develop and...

Domestic Wood Burning in a Residential Area: PM2.5 Trace Elements and Black Smoke

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molnar, P.; Gustafson, P.; Johannesson, S.; Barregaard, L.; Saellsten, G.; Boman, J.

2005-01-01

Indoor and outdoor levels of PM2.5 have been studied in a residential area in Hagfors, a small town in Sweden. The sampling took place during typical Swedish winter conditions with sub-zero temperatures and full snow cover between February 10th and Mars 6th, 2003. The area consists of single houses having different heating systems. Some of the houses are heated by burning wood; some use heat pumps while others use direct electrical heating. 13 houses burning wood in boilers or similar for heating and 10 houses heated by other means but situated in the same area were selected for this study. Only houses without tobacco smoke were selected since this is one of the major sources of indoor particles. The objectives of the study were to identify levels and differences in composition of aerosol particles outdoors and inside houses with boilers using wood as fuel and houses heated in other ways. For K, Ca, Mn, Zn and Rb significantly higher (p < 0.05) indoor concentration for wood burners were found. The elements most often referred to as markers for wood burning are K and Zn. In addition, Si, S, Cl, Br and Rb are also mentioned as markers (Hedberg et al., 2002, Moloi et al., 2003). Black smoke was linked to wood burning, although not fully significant (p-value 0.07), as seen in figure 1a. Within the wood-burning group, some houses have concentrations comparable to the concentrations in the houses where no wood is used, while the others have much higher concentrations. These houses also have higher concentrations of K compared to the other wood burners. The possible reasons are different types of wood burning appliances and their placement in the houses as well as possible leakage. Sulphur, although sometimes linked to wood burning, shows no relationship to wood burning in this study. In figure 1b it can be seen that the indoor concentrations of sulphur is clearly lower compared to outdoor concentrations and that the levels indoors do not differ between wood and non-wood

Advanced Combustion Diagnostics and Control for Furnaces, Fired Heaters and Boilers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tate, J. D.; Le, Linh D.; Knittel,Trevor; Cowie, Alan

2010-03-20

The objective of this project was to develop and apply enabling tools and methods towards advanced combustion diagnostics and control of fired-equipment in large-scale petrochemical manufacturing. There are a number of technology gaps and opportunities for combustion optimization, including technologies involving advanced in-situ measurements, modeling, and thermal imaging. These technologies intersect most of manufacturing and energy systems within the chemical industry. This project leveraged the success of a previous DOE funded project led by Dow, where we co-developed an in-situ tunable diode laser (TDL) analyzer platform (with Analytical Specialties Inc, now owned by Yokogawa Electric Corp.). The TDL platform has been tested and proven in a number of combustion processes within Dow and outside of Dow. The primary focus of this project was on combustion diagnostics and control applied towards furnaces, fired heaters and boilers. Special emphasis was placed on the development and application of in-situ measurements for O2, CO and methane since these combustion gases are key variables in optimizing and controlling combustion processes safely. Current best practice in the industry relies on measurements that suffer from serious performance gaps such as limited sampling volume (point measurements), poor precision and accuracy, and poor reliability. Phase I of the project addressed these gaps by adding improved measurement capabilities such as CO and methane (ppm analysis at combustion zone temperatures) as well as improved optics to maintain alignment over path lengths up to 30 meters. Proof-of-concept was demonstrated on a modern olefins furnace located at Dow Chemical's facility in Freeport TX where the improved measurements were compared side-by-side to accepted best practice techniques (zirconium oxide and catalytic bead or thick film sensors). After developing and installing the improved combustion measurements (O2, CO, and methane), we also demonstrated

Black carbon in the Arctic: the underestimated role of gas flaring and residential combustion emissions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Stohl

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Arctic haze is a seasonal phenomenon with high concentrations of accumulation-mode aerosols occurring in the Arctic in winter and early spring. Chemistry transport models and climate chemistry models struggle to reproduce this phenomenon, and this has recently prompted changes in aerosol removal schemes to remedy the modeling problems. In this paper, we show that shortcomings in current emission data sets are at least as important. We perform a 3 yr model simulation of black carbon (BC with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART. The model is driven with a new emission data set ("ECLIPSE emissions" which includes emissions from gas flaring. While gas flaring is estimated to contribute less than 3% of global BC emissions in this data set, flaring dominates the estimated BC emissions in the Arctic (north of 66° N. Putting these emissions into our model, we find that flaring contributes 42% to the annual mean BC surface concentrations in the Arctic. In March, flaring even accounts for 52% of all Arctic BC near the surface. Most of the flaring BC remains close to the surface in the Arctic, so that the flaring contribution to BC in the middle and upper troposphere is small. Another important factor determining simulated BC concentrations is the seasonal variation of BC emissions from residential combustion (often also called domestic combustion, which is used synonymously in this paper. We have calculated daily residential combustion emissions using the heating degree day (HDD concept based on ambient air temperature and compare results from model simulations using emissions with daily, monthly and annual time resolution. In January, the Arctic-mean surface concentrations of BC due to residential combustion emissions are 150% higher when using daily emissions than when using annually constant emissions. While there are concentration reductions in summer, they are smaller than the winter increases, leading to a systematic increase of

Energy in the residential building. Electricity, heat, e-mobility. 2. rev. and enl. ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwarzburger, Heiko

2017-01-01

Photovoltaics, heat pumps and fuel cells offer enormous potential for sustainable energy supply in residential buildings. Solar thermal energy and wood-fired boilers also play an important role in refurbishment. Due to the wide range of possible combinations, the wishes of building owners and homeowners for an ecologically and economically individually adapted energy concept can be fulfilled accurately. This book provides you with a holistic approach to the residential building and its supply of electricity, heat and water. All processes that play a role in the house's energy consumption are examined in their entirety for their potentials and potential savings. The author analyses and describes in detail the resources of buildings and their surroundings - and how they can be used for a truly independent supply. The focus is on reducing energy consumption and costs, the generation and supply of energy from renewable sources and energy storage - considered in new construction and modernisation. The supply of water is also dealt with if it touches on energy issues. The author draws attention to standards and regulations and gives practical advice for planning and installation. The focus is on the so-called sector coupling: electricity from the sun, wind and hydrogen is used to supply electrical consumers in the home, charging technology for electric vehicles, hot water and heating. The time of the boilers and combustion engines has elapsed. Clean electricity and digital controls - power and intelligence - determine the regenerative building technology. [de

Particulate and carbon monoxide emissions from small scale firewood combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todd, J.J.

1990-01-01

One of the serious adverse effects of residential firewood use is the deterioration in air quality caused by wood-smoke. Low combustion zone temperatures, flame quenching, poor gas mixing, and lack of oxygen all contribute to relatively high emissions of particulates and CO. Average emission rates for particulates of 11 g/h for modern woodheaters can certainly be improved upon. More research effort is needed to reduce emissions from cooking stoves used in developing countries and more public information on correct heater use is needed in the developed countries. (author)

Development of METHANE de-NOX Reburn Process for Wood Waste and Biomass Fired Stoker Boilers - Final Report - METHANE de-NOX Reburn Technology Manual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

J. Rabovitser; B. Bryan; S. Wohadlo; S. Nester; J. Vaught; M. Tartan (Gas Technology Institute); R. Glickert (ESA Environmental Solutions)

2007-12-31

The overall objective of this project was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the METHANE de-NOX® (MdN) Reburn process in the Forest Products Industry (FPI) to provide more efficient use of wood and sludge waste (biosolids) combustion for both energy generation and emissions reduction (specifically from nitrogen oxides (NOx)) and to promote the transfer of the technology to the wide range of wood waste-fired stoker boilers populating the FPI. This document, MdN Reburn Commercial Technology Manual, was prepared to be a resource to promote technology transfer and commercialization activities of MdN in the industry and to assist potential users understand its application and installation requirements. The Manual includes a compilation of MdN commercial design data from four different stoker boiler designs that were baseline tested as part of the development effort. Design information in the Manual include boiler CFD model studies, process design protocols, engineering data sheets and commercial installation drawings. Each design package is unique and implemented in a manner to meet specific mill requirements.

Dioxin inhalation doses from wood combustion in indoor cookfires

Science.gov (United States)

Northcross, Amanda L.; Katharine Hammond, S.; Canuz, Eduardo; Smith, Kirk R.

2012-03-01

Approximately 3 billion people worldwide rely on solid biomass fuels for household cooking and space heating, and approximately 50-60% use wood, often indoors in poorly ventilated situations. Daily exposures to high concentrations of smoke from cookstoves inside kitchens create large smoke exposures for women cooks and their small children. The smoke from burning the wood fuel contains hundred of toxic compounds, including dioxins and furans some of the most toxic compounds known to science. Health effects from exposure to dioxins include reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interference with hormones and also cause cancer. This study measured concentrations of dioxins and furans in a typical Guatemalan village home during open cookfires. Measured concentrations averaged 0.32 ± 0.07 ng m-3 over 31 fires. A Monte Carlo simulation was conducted using parameter estimates based on 8 years of research experience in the study area. The estimated total daily intake of 17 particle phase dioxin and furans for women, a 5-year-old child and a 6-month-old infant were 1.2 (S.D. = 0.4), 1.7 (S.D. = 0.7) and 2.0 (S.D. = 0.5) respectively. The 46% of babies have and estimated total daily intake (TDI) which exceed the WHO TDI guideline for dioxins and furans, 3% of women and 26% of 5-year-old children based solely inhalation of particle phase dioxins in woodsmoke from an open cooking fire. These values maybe underestimates, as they did not include gas phase concentrations or ingestion of dioxins and furans through food, which is the largest route of exposure in the developed world.

Predicting the formation and the dispersion of toxic combustion products from the fires of dangerous substances

Science.gov (United States)

Nevrlý, V.; Bitala, P.; Danihelka, P.; Dobeš, P.; Dlabka, J.; Hejzlar, T.; Baudišová, B.; Míček, D.; Zelinger, Z.

2012-04-01

Natural events, such as wildfires, lightning or earthquakes represent a frequent trigger of industrial fires involving dangerous substances. Dispersion of smoke plume from such fires and the effects of toxic combustion products are one of the reference scenarios expected in the framework of major accident prevention. Nowadays, tools for impact assessment of these events are rather missing. Detailed knowledge of burning material composition, atmospheric conditions, and other factors are required in order to describe quantitatively the source term of toxic fire products and to evaluate the parameters of smoke plume. Nevertheless, an assessment of toxic emissions from large scale fires involves a high degree of uncertainty, because of the complex character of physical and chemical processes in the harsh environment of uncontrolled flame. Among the others, soot particle formation can be mentioned as still being one of the unresolved problems in combustion chemistry, as well as decomposition pathways of chemical substances. Therefore, simplified approach for estimating the emission factors from outdoor fires of dangerous chemicals, utilizable for major accident prevention and preparedness, was developed and the case study illustrating the application of the proposed method was performed. ALOFT-FT software tool based on large eddy simulation of buoyant fire plumes was employed for predicting the local toxic contamination in the down-wind vicinity of the fire. The database of model input parameters can be effectively modified enabling the simulation of the smoke plume from pool fires or jet fires of arbitrary flammable (or combustible) gas, liquid or solid. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic via the project LD11012 (in the frame of the COST CM0901 Action) and the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic (project no. SPII 1a10 45/70).

Toxic Combustion Product Yields as a Function of Equivalence Ratio and Flame Retardants in Under-Ventilated Fires: Bench-Large-Scale Comparisons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David A. Purser

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In large-scale compartment fires; combustion product yields vary with combustion conditions mainly in relation to the fuel:air equivalence ratio (Φ and the effects of gas-phase flame retardants. Yields of products of inefficient combustion; including the major toxic products CO; HCN and organic irritants; increase considerably as combustion changes from well-ventilated (Φ < 1 to under-ventilated (Φ = 1–3. It is therefore essential that bench-scale toxicity tests reproduce this behaviour across the Φ range. Yield data from repeat compartment fire tests for any specific fuel show some variation on either side of a best-fit curve for CO yield as a function of Φ. In order to quantify the extent to which data from the steady state tube furnace (SSTF [1]; ISO TS19700 [2] represents compartment fire yields; the range and average deviations of SSTF data for CO yields from the compartment fire best-fit curve were compared to those for direct compartment fire measurements for six different polymeric fuels with textile and non-textile applications and for generic post-flashover fire CO yield data. The average yields; range and standard deviations of the SSTF data around the best-fit compartment fire curves were found to be close to those for the compartment fire data. It is concluded that SSTF data are as good a predictor of compartment fire yields as are repeat compartment fire test data.

Development of Cost Effective Oxy-Combustion Retrofitting for Coal-Fired Boilers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamid Farzan

2010-12-31

The overall objective of this project is to further develop the oxy-combustion technology for commercial retrofit in existing wall-fired and Cyclone boilers by 2012. To meet this goal, a research project was conducted that included pilot-scale testing and a full-scale engineering and economic analysis.

Mutagenicity assessment of aerosols in emissions from wood combustion in Portugal.

Science.gov (United States)

Vu, B; Alves, C A; Gonçalves, C; Pio, C; Gonçalves, F; Pereira, R

2012-07-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) extracts of fine particles (PM(2.5)) collected from combustion of seven wood species and briquettes were tested for mutagenic activities using Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. The woods were Pinus pinaster (maritime pine), Eucalyptus globulus (eucalypt), Quercus suber (cork oak), Acacia longifolia (golden wattle), Quercus faginea (Portuguese oak), Olea europea (olive), and Quercus ilex rotundifolia (Holm oak). Burning experiments were done using woodstove and fireplace, hot start and cold start conditions. A mutagenic response was recorded for all species except golden wattle, maritime pine, and briquettes. The mutagenic extracts were not correlated with high emission factors of carcinogenic PAHs. These extracts were obtained both from two burning appliances and start-up conditions. However, fireplace seemed to favour the occurrence of mutagenic emissions. The negative result recorded for golden wattle was interesting, in an ecological point of view, since after confirmation, this invasive species, can be recommended for domestic use. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soot, organics, and ultrafine ash from air- and oxy-fired coal combustion

KAUST Repository

Andersen, Myrrha E.; Modak, Nabanita; Winterrowd, Christopher K.; Lee, Chun Wai; Roberts, William L.; Wendt, Jost O L; Linak, William P.

2016-01-01

-fired combustion conditions consists primarily of carbonaceous material (50-95%). Carbonaceous components on particles <0.6. μm measured by a thermal optical method showed that large fractions (52-93%) consisted of OC rather than EC, as expected. This observation

In individual or collective dwellings, wood-fuel: an enthusiastic market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2007-01-01

The wood-fuel market benefits from the present day development of renewable energy sources, both in the individual residential sector where wood-fuel is becoming a main space-heating solution and not only an auxiliary one, and in the collective residential, tertiary and industrial sectors where more than 1850 wood-burning facilities have been implemented in 6 years under the impulse of the wood-fuel development plan. Sales have raised by 40% in the residential sector in 2006 and a 50% increase of renewable energy sources is expected in the heat generation sector from now to 2010. This article presents the main trends of the French wood-fuel market and the existing offer of wood-fuel boilers. (J.S.)

Preservation of forest wood chips

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kofman, P.D.; Thomsen, I.M.; Ohlsson, C.; Leer, E.; Ravn Schmidt, E.; Soerensen, M.; Knudsen, P.

1999-01-01

As part of the Danish Energy Research Programme on biomass utilisation for energy production (EFP), this project concerns problems connected to the handling and storing of wood chips. In this project, the possibility of preserving wood chips of the Norway Spruce (Picea Abies) is addressed, and the potential improvements by anaerobic storage are tested. Preservation of wood chips aims at reducing dry matter losses from extensive heating during storage and to reduce production of fungal spores. Fungal spores pose a health hazards to workers handling the chips. Further the producers of wood chips are interested in such a method since it would enable them to give a guarantee for the delivery of homogeneous wood chips also during the winter period. Three different types of wood chips were stored airtight and further one of these was stored in accordance with normal practise and use as reference. The results showed that airtight storage had a beneficial impact on the quality of the chips: no redistribution of moisture, low dry matter losses, unfavourable conditions for microbial activity of most fungi, and the promotion of yeasts instead of fungi with airborne spores. Likewise the firing tests showed that no combustion problems, and no increased risk to the environment or to the health of staff is caused by anaerobic storage of wood chips. In all, the tests of the anaerobic storage method of forest wood chips were a success and a large-scale test of the method will be carried out in 1999. (au)

Analysis of U.S. household wood energy consumption: 1967-2009

Science.gov (United States)

Nianfu. Song; Francisco X. Aguilar; Stephen R. Shifley; Michael E. Goerndt

2012-01-01

The residential sector consumes about 23% of the energy derived from wood (wood energy) in the U.S. An estimated error correction model with data from 1967 to 2009 suggests that residential wood energy consumption has declined by an average 3% per year in response to technological progress, urbanization, accessibility of non-wood energy, and other factors associated...

Quantification and characterization of emissions from small-scale biofuel combustion; Kvantifiering och karakterisering av faktiska utslaepp fraan smaaskalig biobraensleeldning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johansson, Linda; Gustavsson, Lennart; Johansson, Mathias; Oesterberg, Stefan; Tullin, Claes; Persson, Henrik [Swedish National Testing and Research Inst., Boraas (Sweden); Cooper, David; Sjoedin, Aake; Potter, Annika; Brorstroem-Lunden, Eva [Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Goeteborg (Sweden)

2003-09-01

This report is the final report of a project within the BHM research program. A comprehensive set of emission measurements has been conducted on domestic biomass boilers for wood logs and wood pellets. Within the project development of a simple method for field sampling has also been included. During the emission studies, different boilers with respect to age, design, and biomass fuels are included in the study, which also covers two oil-fired boilers for comparison. The total number of measurements cases was 29, from which 25 were measured at the laboratory and the remaining in field. Two of the cases were domestic oil burning, and were included as a comparison. The gas measurements comprised carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2} ), oxygen (O{sub 2} ), total organic carbons (TOC), nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x} ), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and 33 volatile organic compounds (VOC). Particle emissions were characterised by mass concentration, number concentration, and the corresponding particle size distributions. The mass concentration of particles ranged from 13 mg/MJ (wood pellets) up to 2200 mg/MJ for a water cooled wood boiler without heat storage tank. The CO emission increased with increased air ratio, which indicates that air supply was not the limiting parameter for CO burnout. Poor combustion conditions could instead be explained by poor mixing conditions, or that the excess air was that large that it can be suspected to cool the combustion chamber, resulting in high CO emissions. The TOC emission was shown to correlate to the CO emission. TOC varied between 1 and 4800 mg/MJ, presented as methane-equivalents, and CO-emissions between 30 and 16400 mg/MJ. Both TOC and CO are indicators of combustion conditions. The large variations in concentrations can be explained by the large differences in combustion devices, operation of the equipment, and fuel-quality, investigated. Methane made up the largest fraction of the VOC emissions in all of

Trace element partitioning in ashes from boilers firing pure wood or mixtures of solid waste with respect to fuel composition, chlorine content and temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Saqib, Naeem; Bäckström, Mattias

2014-12-01

Trace element partitioning in solid waste (household waste, industrial waste, waste wood chips and waste mixtures) incineration residues was investigated. Samples of fly ash and bottom ash were collected from six incineration facilities across Sweden including two grate fired and four fluidized bed incinerators, to have a variation in the input fuel composition (from pure biofuel to mixture of waste) and different temperature boiler conditions. As trace element concentrations in the input waste at the same facilities have already been analyzed, the present study focuses on the concentration of trace elements in the waste fuel, their distribution in the incineration residues with respect to chlorine content of waste and combustion temperature. Results indicate that Zn, Cu and Pb are dominating trace elements in the waste fuel. Highly volatile elements mercury and cadmium are mainly found in fly ash in all cases; 2/3 of lead also end up in fly ash while Zn, As and Sb show a large variation in distribution with most of them residing in the fly ash. Lithophilic elements such as copper and chromium are mainly found in bottom ash from grate fired facilities while partition mostly into fly ash from fluidized bed incinerators, especially for plants fuelled by waste wood or ordinary wood chips. There is no specific correlation between input concentration of an element in the waste fuel and fraction partitioned to fly ash. Temperature and chlorine content have significant effects on partitioning characteristics by increasing the formation and vaporization of highly volatile metal chlorides. Zinc and cadmium concentrations in fly ash increase with the incineration temperature. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combustion chambers for wood furnaces with low particle emissions; Brennkammern fuer Holzfeuerstaetten mit geringen Partikelemissionen. Erste Messergebnisse zum Stand der Technik

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaegauf, Ch.; Sattler, M.

2007-12-15

This interim report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at the results of a study made on the particle emissions of wood-burning ovens and furnaces by the Eco-Centre Langenbruck, Switzerland, in co-operation with the North-West Switzerland University of Applied Sciences. The work concentrated on finding innovative ways of reducing the emission of fine dust and aerosols by domestic heating units. Initial analysis has shown that present-day installations exhibit a potential for improvement both when firing-up as well as when in full operation. The measurement and analysis methods used in the tests are described. The results obtained are presented in graphical form and discussed. Measurements made on a storage-oven are presented and the results of extended particle analysis are discussed. Further development of the combustion technologies used in this area is suggested in the report's conclusions.

Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials. Volume 3. Smoke and Toxicity (Combustion Toxicology of Polymers)

Science.gov (United States)

1978-01-01

complete combustion of these polymers and thus minimize cyanide formation (Ball and Boettner, 1973; Junod , 1976). This one example shows the critical...34Visibility Through Fire Smoke," II. Report of Fire Research Institute of Japan. No. 33. pp. 31-49, 1971. T. L. Junod , "Gaseous Emissions and Toxic Hazard

Volatile Organic Compounds from Logwood Combustion: Emissions and Transformation under Dark and Photochemical Aging Conditions in a Smog Chamber.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartikainen, Anni; Yli-Pirilä, Pasi; Tiitta, Petri; Leskinen, Ari; Kortelainen, Miika; Orasche, Jürgen; Schnelle-Kreis, Jürgen; Lehtinen, Kari E J; Zimmermann, Ralf; Jokiniemi, Jorma; Sippula, Olli

2018-04-17

Residential wood combustion (RWC) emits high amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into ambient air, leading to formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), and various health and climate effects. In this study, the emission factors of VOCs from a logwood-fired modern masonry heater were measured using a Proton-Transfer-Reactor Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer. Next, the VOCs were aged in a 29 m 3 Teflon chamber equipped with UV black lights, where dark and photochemical atmospheric conditions were simulated. The main constituents of the VOC emissions were carbonyls and aromatic compounds, which accounted for 50%-52% and 30%-46% of the detected VOC emission, respectively. Emissions were highly susceptible to different combustion conditions, which caused a 2.4-fold variation in emission factors. The overall VOC concentrations declined considerably during both dark and photochemical aging, with simultaneous increase in particulate organic aerosol mass. Especially furanoic and phenolic compounds decreased, and they are suggested to be the major precursors of RWC-originated SOA in all aging conditions. On the other hand, dark aging produced relatively high amounts of nitrogen-containing organic compounds in both gas and particulate phase, while photochemical aging increased especially the concentrations of certain gaseous carbonyls, particularly acid anhydrides.

Numerical study on NO formation in a pulverized coal-fired furnace using oxy-fuel combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Aiyue; Chen, Yuan; Sheng, Changdong [Southeast Univ., Nanjing (China). School of Energy and Environment

2013-07-01

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach was employed to numerically investigate NO formation in a 600 MW wall-fired pulverized coal-fired furnace retrofitted for oxy-coal combustion, aimed at the impacts of flue gas recycle ratio, O{sub 2} staging and recycled NO with the recycled flue gas (RFG) on NO formation and emission. An in-house CFD research code for conventional air combustion was developed and extended to simulate O{sub 2}/RFG combustion with specific considerations of the change of gas properties and its impact on coal particle combustion processes. The extended De Soete mechanisms including NO reburning mechanism were applied to describe transformations of fuel nitrogen. It was shown that CFD simulation represented the significant reduction of NO formation during O{sub 2}/RFG combustion compared to that during air combustion. The in-burner and particularly the in-furnace O{sub 2} staging were confirmed still to play very important roles in NO formation control. Changing the recycle ratio had significant impact on the combustion performance and consequently on NO formation and emission. With the combustion performance ensured, decreasing the flue gas recycle ratio or increasing the inlet O{sub 2} concentration of combustion gas led to reduction of NO formation and emission. Although NO formation and emission was found to increase with increasing the inlet NO concentration of combustion gas, CFD simulation indicated that {proportional_to}74% of the inlet NO was reduced in the furnace, consistent with the experimental data reported in the literature. This demonstrated the significant contribution of reburning mechanism to the reduction of the recycled NO in the furnace.

Lab-scale co-firing of virgin and torrefied bamboo species Guadua angustifolia Kunth as a fuel substitute in coal fired power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fryda, Lydia; Daza, Claudia; Pels, Jan; Janssen, Arno; Zwart, Robin

2014-01-01

Bamboo is a potential sustainable biomass source for renewable heat and power production as it presents common fuel characteristics with other biomass feedstocks regarding heating value and chemical composition. This paper presents an evaluation of the combustion behaviour of the bamboo species Guadua angustifolia Kunth, virgin as well as torrefied, in blends with coal or pure, comparing with other biomass feedstocks such as wood and herbaceous biomass. The bamboo pre-treatment and the combustion experiments were carried out at dedicated installations at ECN, including a laboratory scale batch torrefaction reactor and a combustion simulation test facility. The results on combustion and co-firing reveal that in terms of fouling, the untreated bamboo shows behaviour closer to herbaceous biomass rather than to wood, with specific fouling factors of wood, bamboo and herbaceous biomass of 0.91·10 −3 , 2.9·10 −3 , 3.1·10 −3  K·m 2 ·W −1 ·g −1 respectively. Dry torrefaction improves its physical properties by increasing the density and grindability without improving significantly its fouling behaviour while the fouling behaviour of wet torrefied bamboo is similar to woody biomass; the specific fouling factors of dry torrefied and wet torrefied bamboo are 2.4·10 −3 and 0.89·10 −3  K·m 2 ·W −1 ·g −1 respectively. The fouling behaviour of biomass and coal blends lies between the fuels of the blend. Alternative bamboo species were evaluated using the alkali index A i based on their fuel composition. It appears that the fouling behaviour of alternative species is better than for G. angustifolia, therefore these should be further analysed. - Highlights: • Bamboo species Guadua angustifolia is a promising feedstock for power generation. • Dry and wet torrefaction of selected samples were carried out at ECN. • Virgin (untreated) and pretreated samples were fired pure or in coal blends. • Pretreated bamboo is suitable for large scale power

Ninth wood energy symposium - Reduction of fine-dust emissions and power generation as part of a future power supply system; 9. Holzenergie-Symposium - Feinstaubminderung und Stromerzeugung im Rahmen der zukuenftigen Energieversorgung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nussbaumer, T. (ed.)

2006-07-01

This comprehensive report is published by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). A total of fourteen papers were presented at the symposium on the following subjects: Federal Action-Plan in the wood-firing area and emission limits, Fair-Firing - an Action Plan for the prevention of increased emissions and illegal incineration of wastes, fine-dust from wood-fired systems in comparison with diesel soot from the health point of view, practical experience with low-particle, pellets-fired systems, basics and technologies for the precipitation of fine-dust and the influence of particle characteristics and mode of operation as well as two papers on the development of electrical precipitators for wood-fired systems from 200 kW upwards and the practical experience gained with them. Further, papers are presented that deal with small-size electrostatic precipitators, flameless combustion for NO{sub x} reduction and modern pellets technology. The potential and economic viability of wood fuels for the generation of electricity are discussed and a 7 MW{sub e} wood-fired power station is looked at. Finally, the options open for providing a secure supply of energy in Europe are discussed and the role to be played by biomass is examined.

Electrodialytic remediation of fly ash from co-combustion of wood and straw

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Wan; Jensen, Pernille Erland; Ottosen, Lisbeth M.

2015-01-01

The heavy metal content in fly ash from biomass combustion, such as straw, wood and sludge, often needs reducing before the ash can be used as fertilizer for agricultural land or as a component in the production of construction materials. In this study, fly ash from a boiler fueled with wood chips...... and straw was treated either by electrodialytic remediation (EDR) directly or by a combination of EDR and pre-wash with distilled water to investigate the possibilities of reducing the heavy metal content and reusing nutrients as fertilizer and bulk material in construction materials. Different experimental....../pre-wash-EDR treated ash mainly contained quartz, and the X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks of K salts had disappeared. This shows that the potassium fertilizer potential was lost in the treated ashes, but the quartz mineral is beneficial in construction materials, such as ceramics. The K fertilizer could be recovered...

Experimental Investigation into the Combustion Characteristics on the Co-firing of Biomass with Coal as a Function of Particle Size and Blending Ratio

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lkhagvadorj, Sh; Kim, Sang In; Lim, Ho; Kim, Seung Mo; Jeon, Chung Hwan [Pusan National Univ., Busan (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Byoung Hwa [Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, Ltd., Changwon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-01-15

Co-firing of biomass with coal is a promising combustion technology in a coal-fired power plant. However, it still requires verifications to apply co-firing in an actual boiler. In this study, data from the Thermogravimetric analyzer(TGA) and Drop tube furnace(DTF) were used to obtain the combustion characteristics of biomass when co-firing with coal. The combustion characteristics were verified using experimental results including reactivity from the TGA and Unburned carbon(UBC) data from the DTF. The experiment also analyzed with the variation of the biomass blending ratio and biomass particle size. It was determined that increasing the biomass blending ratio resulted in incomplete chemical reactions due to insufficient oxygen levels because of the rapid initial combustion characteristics of the biomass. Thus, the optimum blending condition of the biomass based on the results of this study was found to be 5 while oxygen enrichment reduced the increase of UBC that occurred during combustion of blended biomass and coal.

Integrating multi-objective optimization with computational fluid dynamics to optimize boiler combustion process of a coal fired power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Xingrang; Bansal, R.C.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A coal fired power plant boiler combustion process model based on real data. • We propose multi-objective optimization with CFD to optimize boiler combustion. • The proposed method uses software CORBA C++ and ANSYS Fluent 14.5 with AI. • It optimizes heat flux transfers and maintains temperature to avoid ash melt. - Abstract: The dominant role of electricity generation and environment consideration have placed strong requirements on coal fired power plants, requiring them to improve boiler combustion efficiency and decrease carbon emission. Although neural network based optimization strategies are often applied to improve the coal fired power plant boiler efficiency, they are limited by some combustion related problems such as slagging. Slagging can seriously influence heat transfer rate and decrease the boiler efficiency. In addition, it is difficult to measure slag build-up. The lack of measurement for slagging can restrict conventional neural network based coal fired boiler optimization, because no data can be used to train the neural network. This paper proposes a novel method of integrating non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA II) based multi-objective optimization with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to decrease or even avoid slagging inside a coal fired boiler furnace and improve boiler combustion efficiency. Compared with conventional neural network based boiler optimization methods, the method developed in the work can control and optimize the fields of flue gas properties such as temperature field inside a boiler by adjusting the temperature and velocity of primary and secondary air in coal fired power plant boiler control systems. The temperature in the vicinity of water wall tubes of a boiler can be maintained within the ash melting temperature limit. The incoming ash particles cannot melt and bond to surface of heat transfer equipment of a boiler. So the trend of slagging inside furnace is controlled. Furthermore, the

Resin duct characteristics in the wood of fire-scarred North American conifers

Science.gov (United States)

Estelle Arbellay; Markus Stoffel; Elaine K. Sutherland; Kevin T. Smith; Donald A. Falk

2013-01-01

Traumatic resin ducts form in xylem and phloem tissue of conifers in response to abiotic wounding, fungal invasion, and insect attack. Little is known about resin duct characteristics in the wood of fire-scarred trees. The aim of this study is to quantify changes in traits of both axial and radial resin ducts, along with those of associated epithelial cells and...

Some relevant parameters for assessing fire hazards of combustible mine materials using laboratory scale experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Litton, Charles D; Perera, Inoka E; Harteis, Samuel P; Teacoach, Kara A; DeRosa, Maria I; Thomas, Richard A; Smith, Alex C

2018-04-15

When combustible materials ignite and burn, the potential for fire growth and flame spread represents an obvious hazard, but during these processes of ignition and flaming, other life hazards present themselves and should be included to ensure an effective overall analysis of the relevant fire hazards. In particular, the gases and smoke produced both during the smoldering stages of fires leading to ignition and during the advanced flaming stages of a developing fire serve to contaminate the surrounding atmosphere, potentially producing elevated levels of toxicity and high levels of smoke obscuration that render the environment untenable. In underground mines, these hazards may be exacerbated by the existing forced ventilation that can carry the gases and smoke to locations far-removed from the fire location. Clearly, materials that require high temperatures (above 1400 K) and that exhibit low mass loss during thermal decomposition, or that require high heat fluxes or heat transfer rates to ignite represent less of a hazard than materials that decompose at low temperatures or ignite at low levels of heat flux. In order to define and quantify some possible parameters that can be used to assess these hazards, small-scale laboratory experiments were conducted in a number of configurations to measure: 1) the toxic gases and smoke produced both during non-flaming and flaming combustion; 2) mass loss rates as a function of temperature to determine ease of thermal decomposition; and 3) mass loss rates and times to ignition as a function of incident heat flux. This paper describes the experiments that were conducted, their results, and the development of a set of parameters that could possibly be used to assess the overall fire hazard of combustible materials using small scale laboratory experiments.

Preliminary study about refining wood fuel with torrefaction; Esiselvitys puupolttoaineen jalostamisesta torrefiointitekniikalla

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haemaelaeinen, E.; Heinimoe, J.

2006-07-01

The EU has started to reduce greenhouse gases which are the result of using fossil fuels. One way to do this is emission trade. There are plans to generate biofuels to replace non-renewable fuels. These biofuels can be processed with the old equipment in power plants. The advantage of biofuels is that their emission factor of carbon dioxide is agreed to be zero because wood consumes the same amount of carbon dioxide while it grows as it releases in combustion. One of these refined biofuels is torrefied wood. Its characteristics mostly correspond to coal, and it can be used in coal-fired power plants without changing equipment. Torrefaction means, in a manner of speaking, roasting wood in 250-270 deg C in oxygen-free conditions. In this process all the water is removed, as well as some of the volatile gases. The colour of the wood changes to chocolate brown, it gets lighter, does not smoke in combustion, repels water, is pulverized easily and releases only small amounts of particulate emissions. The durability and operating properties of torrefied wood are significantly different compared to the raw material. Torrefied wood also has better properties than e.g. wood coal. Torrefaction has been studied a little, and its combustion on the power plant scale has been tested on a small scale. Torrefied material is difficult and expensive to transport because of its proper-ties, so its density must be raised for transporting, e.g. by pelleting. Torrefaction combined with pelleting is, at its best, would be a competitive alternative when biomass, substituting coal, is processed off-site and transported in bulk by sea. Based on the data collected in this preliminary study it can be estimated that producing torrefied wood fuel in Finland has technical-economical possibilities. However, the application of the torrefaction process to Finnish conditions and domestic raw material demands investment in further studies before moving on to the actual implementation phase. (orig.)

A chemometric investigation of aromatic emission profiles from a marine engine in comparison with residential wood combustion and road traffic: Implications for source apportionment inside and outside sulphur emission control areas

Science.gov (United States)

Czech, Hendryk; Stengel, Benjamin; Adam, Thomas; Sklorz, Martin; Streibel, Thorsten; Zimmermann, Ralf

2017-10-01

Ship emissions are known to cause severe impacts on human health, but are less restricted than land-based emissions. A regulation to improve air quality in coastal regions and frequented waterways is the limitation of fuel sulphur content to 0.1% in sulphur emission control areas (SECAs), which has caused a switch from heavy fuel oil (HFO) towards diesel-like marine gas oil (MGO) or marine diesel oil (MDO). The fraction of aromatic organic vapours in the exhaust from a marine engine, operating on HFO and MGO, was investigated by resonance-enhanced multi-photon ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (REMPI-TOFMS). MGO with fuel sulphur content (FSC) below 0.1% and HFO with an average FSC of 2.7% denote representative marine fuels inside and outside SECAs, respectively. The obtained emission spectra were combined with data of previous REMPI-TOFMS studies of combustion engines and wood combustion in statistical analyses to derive marker substances for ship emissions inside and outside SECAs. A diagnostic ratio of C2-naphthalenes to methyl-naphthalenes was found to hold for a good discriminator between ship emissions on the one hand and road traffic and wood combustion on the other hand. Furthermore, random REMPI spectra from all emission sources were mixed with different proportions in a simulation to create a model based on partial least square (PLS) regression for the prediction of ship contribution to aromatic organic vapours. We point out that in particular PAHs with higher degree of alkylation are significant markers for primary ship emissions which may support source apportionment studies inside and outside SECAs to assess the benefits of fuel sulphur content regulation on air quality.

Characteristics of an open-cut coal mine fire pollution event

Science.gov (United States)

Reisen, Fabienne; Gillett, Rob; Choi, Jason; Fisher, Gavin; Torre, Paul

2017-02-01

On 9 February 2014, embers from a nearby grass/shrub fire spotted into an unused part of the Hazelwood open-cut brown coal mine located in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia and started a fire that spread rapidly and extensively throughout the mine under strong south-westerly winds and burned over a period of 45 days. The close proximity of the town to the coal mine and the low buoyancy of the smoke plume led to the accumulation of dense smoke levels in the township of Morwell (population of 14,000) particularly under south-westerly winds. A maximum daily PM2.5 concentration of 731 μg m-3 and 8-h CO concentration of 33 ppm were measured at Morwell South, the closest residential area located approximately 500 m from the mine. These concentrations were significantly higher than national air quality standards. Air quality monitoring undertaken in the Latrobe Valley showed that smoke from the Hazelwood mine fire affected a wide area, with particle air quality standards also exceeded in Traralgon (population of 25,000) located approximately 13 km from the mine. Pollutant levels were significantly elevated in February, decreased in March once the fire abated and then returned to background levels once the fire was declared safe at the end of March. While the smoke extent was of a similar order of magnitude to other major air pollution events worldwide, a closer look at emissions ratios showed that the open combustion of lignite brown coal in the Hazelwood mine was different to open combustion of biomass, including peat. It suggested that the dominant combustion process was char combustion. While particle and carbon monoxide monitoring started approximately 4 days after the fire commenced when smoke levels were very high, targeted monitoring of air toxics only began on 26 February (17 days after the fire) when smoke levels had subsided. Limited research on emission factors from open-cut coal mine fires make it difficult to assess the likely concentrations of air

Development of a fire detector for underground coal mines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hemingway, M.A.; Walsh, P.T.; Hunneyball, S.R.; Williams, M.; Jobling, S.; Pell, B.; West, N.G. [Health and Safety Laboratory, Buxton (United Kingdom)

2005-07-01

Current fire detectors in use in UK coal mines, based on semiconductor sensors which detect gaseous products of combustion, are under-utilised, are not user-friendly, have performance limitations due to interferences and are obsolete. A joint research project was therefore instigated to develop an improved fire detector. This paper describes tests performed in an experimental mine roadway on various types of sensor. The sensors were exposed to smouldering conveyor belt, coal, wood, oil and grease, and diesel exhaust fume. A potential advanced detector is based on the combination of blue and infrared optical smoke sensors which distinguish fires and diesel exhaust from coal dust, nitric oxide or nitrogen dioxide sensors to distinguish smoulderi8ng fires form diesel exhaust, and carbon monoxide sensors for general body monitoring. 6 refs., 5 figs.

Chemical characterisation of PM10 emissions from combustion in a closed stove of common woods grown in Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Gonçalves, C.; Alves, C.; Pio, C.; Rzaca, M.; Schmidl, C.; Puxbaum, H.

2009-04-01

A series of source tests were conducted to determine the wood elemental composition, combustion gases and the chemical constitution of PM10 emissions from the closed stove combustion of four species of woods grown in Portugal: Eucalyptus globulos, Pinus pinaster, Quercus suber and Acacia longifolia. The burning tests were made in a closed stove with a dilution source sampler. To ascertain the combustion phase and conditions, continuous emission monitors measured O2, CO2, CO, NO, hydrocarbons, temperature and pressure, during each burning cycle. Woodsmoke samples have been collected and analysed to estimate the contribution of plant debris and biomass smoke to atmospheric aerosols. At this stage of work, cellulose, anhydrosugars and humic-like substances (HULIS) have been measured. Cellulose was determined photometrically after its conversion to D-Glucose. The determination of levoglucosan and other anhydrosugars, including mannosan and galactosan, was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. HULIS determination was made with a total organic carbon analyser and an infrared non dispersive detector, after the isolation of substances. Cellulose was present in PM10 at mass fractions (w/w) of 0.13%, 0.13%, 0.05% and 0.08% for Eucalyptus globulos, Pinus pinaster, Quercus suber and Acacia longifolia, respectively. Levoglucosan was the major anhydrosugar present in the samples, representing mass fractions of 14.71%, 3.80%, 6.78% and 1.91%, concerning the above mentioned wood species, respectively. The levoglucosan-to-mannosan ratio, usually used to evaluate the proportion of hardwood or softwood smoke in PM10, gave average values of 34.9 (Eucalyptus globulos), 3.40 (Pinus pinaster), 24.8 (Quercus suber) and 10.4 (Acacia longifolia). HULIS were present at mass fractions of 2.35%, 2.99%, 1.52% and 1.72% for the four wood species listed in the same order as before.

Emission of toxic air pollutants from biomass combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Houck, J.E.; Barnett, S.G.; Roholt, R.B.; Rock, M.E.

1991-01-01

Combustion of biomass for power generation, home heating, process steam generation, and waste disposal constitutes a major source of air pollutants nationwide. Emissions from hog-fueled boilers, demolition wood-fired power plants, municipal waste incinerators, woodstoves, fireplaces, pellet stoves, agricultural burning, and forestry burning have been characterized for a variety of purposes. These have included risk assessment, permitting, emission inventory development, source profiling for receptor modeling, and control technology evaluations. From the results of the source characterization studies a compilation of emission factors for criteria and non-criteria pollutants are presented here. Key among these pollutants are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, priority pollutant metals, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, and PM 10 particles. The emission factors from the biomass combustion processes are compared and contrasted with other pollutant sources. In addition, sampling and analysis procedures most appropriate for characterizing emissions from the biomass combustion sources are also discussed

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Commercial Portable Air Purifier in Homes with Wood Burning Stoves: A Preliminary Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie F. Hart

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Wood burning for residential heating is prevalent in the Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Studies have shown that wood stoves can be a significant source of PM2.5 within homes. In this study, the effectiveness of an electrostatic filter portable air purifier was evaluated (1 in a home where a wood stove was the sole heat source and (2 in a home where a wood stove was used as a supplemental heat source. Particle count concentrations in six particle sizes and particle mass concentrations in two particle sizes were measured for ten 12-hour purifier on and ten purifier off trials in each home. Particle count concentrations were reduced by 61–85 percent. Similar reductions were observed in particle mass concentrations. These findings, although limited to one season, suggest that a portable air purifier may effectively reduce indoor particulate matter concentrations associated with wood combustion during home heating.

Combustion characteristics and retention-emission of selenium during co-firing of torrefied biomass and its blends with high ash coal.

Science.gov (United States)

Ullah, Habib; Liu, Guijian; Yousaf, Balal; Ali, Muhammad Ubaid; Abbas, Qumber; Zhou, Chuncai

2017-12-01

The combustion characteristics, kinetic analysis and selenium retention-emission behavior during co-combustion of high ash coal (HAC) with pine wood (PW) biomass and torrefied pine wood (TPW) were investigated through a combination of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and laboratory-based circulating fluidized bed combustion experiment. Improved ignition behavior and thermal reactivity of HAC were observed through the addition of a suitable proportion of biomass and torrefied. During combustion of blends, higher values of relative enrichment factors in fly ash revealed the maximum content of condensing volatile selenium on fly ash particles, and depleted level in bottom ash. Selenium emission in blends decreased by the increasing ratio of both PW and TPW. Higher reductions in the total Se volatilization were found for HAC/TPW than individual HAC sample, recommending that TPW have the best potential of selenium retention. The interaction amongst selenium and fly ash particles may cause the retention of selenium. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental analysis of a combustion reactor under co-firing coal with biomass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereira, Fabyo Luiz; Bazzo, Edson; Oliveira Junior, Amir Antonio Martins de [Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, SC (Brazil). LabCET], e-mail: ebazzo@emc.ufsc.br; Bzuneck, Marcelo [Tractebel Energia S.A., Complexo Termeletrico Jorge Lacerda, Capivari de Baixo, SC (Brazil)], e-mail: marcelob@tractebelenergia.com.br

2010-07-01

Mitigation of greenhouse gases emission is one of the most important issues in energy engineering. Biomass is a potential renewable source but with limited use in large scale energy production because of the relative smaller availability as compared to fossil fuels, mainly to coal. Besides, the costs concerning transportation must be well analysed to determine its economic viability. An alternative for the use of biomass as a primary source of energy is the co-firing, that is the possibility of using two or more types of fuels combined in the combustion process. Biomass can be co-fired with coal in a fraction between 10 to 25% in mass basis (or 4 to 10% in heat-input basis) without seriously impacting the heat release characteristics of most boilers. Another advantage of cofiring, besides the significant reductions in fossil CO{sub 2} emissions, is the reduced emissions of NO{sub x} and SO{sub x}. As a result, co-firing is becoming attractive for power companies worldwide. This paper presents results of some experimental analysis on co-firing coal with rice straw in a combustion reactor. The influence of biomass thermal share in ash composition is also discussed, showing that alkali and earth alkaline compounds play the most important role on the fouling and slagging behavior when co-firing. Some fusibility correlations that can assist in the elucidation of these behavior are presented and discussed, and then applied to the present study. Results show that for a biomass thermal share up to 20%, significant changes are not expected in fouling and slagging behavior of ash. (author)