Development and Evaluation of an Innovative Method Based on Dilution to Sample Solid and Condensable Fractions of Particles Emitted by Residential Wood Combustion

Benjamin Cea (1) , Isaline Fraboulet (1) , Océane Feuger (1) , Francesca Hugony (2) , Carmen Morreale (3) , Gabriele Migliavacca (3) , Jes Sig Andersen (4) , Morten Gottlieb Warming-Jespersen (4) , Daniel Bäckström (5) , Sara Janhäll (5) , Jes Sig Andersen

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
2 ENEA - Agenzia Nazionale per le nuove Tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile = Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
3 ISSI - Innovhub Stazioni Sperimentali per l’Industria
4 DTI - Danish Technological Institute
5 RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

An innovative and simple method based on dilution, named as the dilution chamber (DC), allowing the measurement of solid and condensable fractions of particulate matter emitted by residential wood combustion appliances has been developed, and its performances have been evaluated. The DC method was then tested by five European institutes (Ineris, ISSI/ENEA, DTI, and RISE) on advanced residential wood log/pellet stoves, under nominal output and low output combustion conditions and using different fuel types. The aim of the study was to evaluate the capability of the DC method to collect the condensable fraction. The DC method was compared with another manual method used to collect the solid and condensable fractions at the same time, the dilution tunnel (DT), on four sampling platforms. A third method, a combining heated filter and impinger filled in with isopropanol collection (SPC-IPA), was also used by Ineris only for comparison with the DC method. PM measurements based on the DC method globally showed a linear correlation with PM measurements based on DT (R2 ranged between 0.81 and 0.99, p < 0.05) specifically for the residential wood stoves under low output conditions when the condensable fraction contributes the most. An analysis and quantification of PAHs related to the total mass of PM of samples taken by the DC method and performed by ENEA/ISSI showed that it produces a condensation effect of semivolatile species comparable or even greater than the DT method. PM emission factors calculated from PM measurements based on the DC method were (i) about 2- to 20-fold higher for the residential wood stoves (EF ranged between 201 to 2420 g GJ–1) compared to those obtained for the residential pellet stoves (EF ranged between 108 to 556 g GJ–1) and (ii) of the same magnitude of PM emission factors from the literature or the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook.

Mots clés: Solid and condensable fractions; PM; SVOCs; PAHs; Dilution chamber; Dilution Tunnel

Domaines: Ingénierie de l'environnement

Benjamin Cea, Isaline Fraboulet, Océane Feuger, Francesca Hugony, Carmen Morreale, et al.. Development and Evaluation of an Innovative Method Based on Dilution to Sample Solid and Condensable Fractions of Particles Emitted by Residential Wood Combustion. Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 2021, ⟨10.1021/acs.energyfuels.1c02595⟩. ⟨ineris-03436128⟩