11.2
Laboratory study of particulate emissions factors of prescribed wildland fires
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16th Joint Conference on the Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology with the A&WMA, 90th AMS Annual Meeting
January 17-21, 2010
Atlanta, Georgia
Laboratory study of particulate emissions factors of prescribed wildland fires
Abstract
The prescribed burning of wildland areas is an integral tool of forestry management, providing numerous ecological benefits and reducing the probability of severe wildfires. However, prescribed burns may also present a significant impact on local and regional air quality. The generation and transport of particulate matter (PM) emissions is of special concern, as PMs have been identified as a significant public health risk. Particulate emissions factors provide a measure of particulate production in relation to the amount and type of fuel burned.
Experiments to measure particulate emissions factors of common wildland fuels from the western United States, including numerous species of chamise, ceanothus oak, manzanita, and coastal sagebrush, were conducted at the US Forest Service Fire Science Laboratory in Missoula, MT. The environmentally controlled combustion laboratory consisted of a fuel bed placed below an adjustable 22m high exhaust flue. Sampling instruments were placed in the flue at a height of 17m above the fuel bed. Instrumentation included laser photometer particle detectors, aerosol and proton transfer reaction mass spectrometers, open-path FTIR, fast mobility particle sizers, condensation particle counter, particle mass monitor, filter sampling, and fuel bed load cells to provide real-time fuel mass. Particulate emissions were measured using direct (particle capture) methods. This presentation will focus on newly obtained emissions factors of PM2.5 and PM10, using a direct (mass) method, for western chaparral and oak/savannah woodland fuels. Emissions factors will be compared with published EPA AP-42 values. In general, the newly calculated emission factors are lower than the published AP-42 values.