Wood fuel | EPFL Graph Search

Wood fuel (or fuelwood) is a fuel such as firewood, charcoal, chips, sheets, pellets, and sawdust. The particular form used depends upon factors such as source, quantity, quality and application. In many areas, wood is the most easily available form of fuel, requiring no tools in the case of picking up dead wood, or few tools, although as in any industry, specialized tools, such as skidders and hydraulic wood splitters, have been developed to mechanize production. Sawmill waste and construction industry by-products also include various forms of lumber tailings. The discovery of how to make fire for the purpose of burning wood is regarded as one of humanity's most important advances. The use of wood as a fuel source for heating is much older than civilization and is assumed to have been used by Neanderthals. Today, burning of wood is the largest use of energy derived from a solid fuel biomass. Wood fuel can be used for cooking and heating, and occasionally for fueling steam engines

Characterization of primary and aged wood burning and coal combustion organic aerosols in an environmental chamber and its implications for atmospheric aerosols

Nikunj Dudani, Satoshi Takahama, Amir Yazdani

Particulate matter (PM) affects visibility, climate, and public health. Organic matter (OM), a uniquely complex portion of PM, can make up more than half of total atmospheric fine PM mass. We investigated the effect of aging on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentration and composition for wood burning (WB) and coal combustion (CC) emissions, two major atmospheric OM sources, using mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy and aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS). For this purpose, primary emissions were injected into an environmental chamber and aged using hydroxyl (diurnal aging) and nitrate (nocturnal aging) radicals to reach an atmospherically relevant oxidative age. A time-of-flight AMS instrument was used to measure the high-time-resolution composition of non-refractory fine PM, while fine PM was collected on PTFE filters before and after aging for MIR analysis. AMS and MIR spectroscopy indicate an approximately 3-fold enhancement of organic aerosol (OA) concentration after aging (not wall-loss corrected). The OM:OC ratios also agree closely between the two methods and increase, on average, from 1.6 before aging to 2 during the course of aging. MIR spectroscopy, which is able to differentiate among oxygenated groups, shows a distinct functional group composition for aged WB (high abundance of carboxylic acids) and CC OA (high abundance of non-acid carbonyls) and detects aromatics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in emissions of both sources. The MIR spectra of fresh WB and CC aerosols are reminiscent of their parent compounds with differences in specific oxygenated functional groups after aging, consistent with expected oxidation pathways for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of each emission source. The AMS mass spectra also show variations due to source and aging that are consistent with the MIR functional group (FG) analysis. Finally, a comparison of the MIR spectra of aged chamber WB OA with that of ambient samples affected by residential wood burning and wildfires reveals similarities regarding the high abundance of organics, especially acids, and the visible signatures of lignin and levoglucosan. This finding is beneficial for the source identification of atmospheric aerosols and interpretation of their complex MIR spectra.

European Geosciences Union2021

Mitigation of Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from Log Wood Burning Emissions by Catalytic Removal of Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Davide Ferri, Oliver Kröcher

Log wood burning is a significant source of volatile organic compounds including aromatic hydrocarbons (ArHC). ArHC are harmful, are reactive in the ambient atmosphere, and are important secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursors. Consequently, SOA represents a major fraction of the sub-micron organic aerosol pollution from log wood burning. ArHC reduction is thus critical in the mitigation of adverse health and environmental effects of log wood burning. In this study, two Pt-based catalytic converters were prepared and tested for the mitigation of real-world log wood burning emissions, including ArHC and SOA formation, as well as toxic carbon monoxide and methane, a greenhouse gas. Substantial removal of mono- and polycyclic ArHC and phenolic compounds was achieved with both catalysts operated at realistic chimney temperatures (50% conversion was achieved at 200 and 300 degrees C for non-methane hydrocarbons in our experiments for Pt/Al2O3 and Pt/CeO2-Al2O3, respectively). The catalytically cleaned emissions exhibited a substantially reduced SOA formation already at temperatures as low as 185-310 degrees C. This reduces the sub-micron PM burden of log wood burning significantly. Thus, catalytic converters can effectively reduce primary and secondary log wood burning pollutants and, thereby, their adverse health impacts and environmental effects.

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2018

Mitigation of Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from Log Wood Burning Emissions by Catalytic Removal of Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Davide Ferri, Oliver Kröcher

Log wood burning is a significant source of volatile organic compounds including aromatic hydrocarbons (ArHC). ArHC are harmful, are reactive in the ambient atmosphere, and are important secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursors. Consequently, SOA represents a major fraction of the sub-micron organic aerosol pollution from log wood burning. ArHC reduction is thus critical in the mitigation of adverse health and environmental effects of log wood burning. In this study, two Pt-based catalytic converters were prepared and tested for the mitigation of real-world log wood burning emissions, including ArHC and SOA formation, as well as toxic carbon monoxide and methane, a greenhouse gas. Substantial removal of mono- and polycyclic ArHC and phenolic compounds was achieved with both catalysts operated at realistic chimney temperatures (50% conversion was achieved at 200 and 300 °C for non-methane hydrocarbons in our experiments for Pt/Al2O3 and Pt/CeO2-Al2O3, respectively). The catalytically cleaned emissions exhibited a substantially reduced SOA formation already at temperatures as low as 185–310 °C. This reduces the sub-micron PM burden of log wood burning significantly. Thus, catalytic converters can effectively reduce primary and secondary log wood burning pollutants and, thereby, their adverse health impacts and environmental effects.

Characterization of primary and aged wood burning and coal combustion organic aerosols in an environmental chamber and its implications for atmospheric aerosols

Nikunj Dudani, Satoshi Takahama, Amir Yazdani

European Geosciences Union2021