Title:
Characterization of Biomass Burning Tracers in PM2.5 Aerosols
Author(s):
Vincenti, B., Paris, E., Palma, A., Carnevale, M., Manganiello, R. , Salerno, M. , Borello, D., Guerriero, E., Colantoni, A., Tonolo, A., Drigo, C., Proto, A.R., Gallucci, F.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
It is well known that biomass is widely used today as an alternative energy source to the use of fossil fuels and could be used to meet most of the energy demand in the future. As environmentally friendly renewable energy source, its environmental disadvantages such as NOx, SO2and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, have a lower environmental impact than fossil fuel sources. Nevertheless, uncontrolled biomass combustion processes release considerable amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere on a global scale. The principal combustion processes include open burning of biomass, either in the form of agricultural residue burning or wildland fires, as well as domestic use of biofuels for cooking and heating. Molecular tracer techniques have been applied in several investigations to assess the contributions of biomass burning smoke to the ambient aerosol burden. Particularly, potassium is a well-known tracer of biomass burning deriving from the extensive use of fertilizers that aim to increase the biomass production. More recently, the anhydrosugars levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan, derived from the thermal breakdown of cellulose and hemicellulose at temperatures above 300°C, have been recognized as suitable markers due to their source-specific generation and stability.In this work, orange tree prunings have been collected, chipped and then used as fuel for a 80 kWth biomass boiler. A simple analytical method, based on Ion Chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (IC-PAD), was developed and utilized to measure anhydrosugars in PM2.5filter. Furthermore, potassium content was estimated by means of an ICP-MS analyzer.Unlike what is done through auto-samplers for atmospheric monitoring, sampling was carried out at a single site directly at the stack of the biomass boiler, so as to simulate the open burning process, without any pollutants abatement systems.
Keywords:
biomass, biomass burning, tracers, ion chromatography, levoglucosan, PM2.5
Topic:
Sustainable Bioeconomy: Impacts and Policies
Subtopic:
Environmental Impacts
Event:
29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
4AV.3.13
Pages:
1165 - 1167
ISBN:
978-88-89407-21-9
Paper DOI:
10.5071/29thEUBCE2021-4AV.3.13
Price:
FREE
