Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 10 4 2010 10.5194/acpd-10-8595-2010 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/10/8595/2010/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/10/8595/2010/acpd-10-8595-2010.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/10/8595/2010/acpd-10-8595-2010.pdf 8595 8621 2010-04-06 Particle size distributions from laboratory-scale biomass fires using fast response instruments S. Hosseini L. Qi D. Cocker D. Weise A. Miller M. Shrivastava W. Miller S. Mahalingam M. Princevac H. Jung heejung@engr.ucr.edu University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Fire Laboratory, Riverside, CA, USA National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), GA, USA Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA Particle size distribution from biomass combustion is an important parameter as it affects air quality, climate modelling and health effects. To date particle size distributions reported from prior studies vary not only due to difference in fuels but also difference in experimental conditions. This study aims to report characteristics of particle size distribution in a well controlled repeatable lab scale biomass fires for southwestern US fuels. The combustion facility at the USDA Forest Service's Fire Science Laboratory (FSL), Missoula, MT provided repeatable combustion and dilution environment ideal for particle size distribution study. For a variety of fuels tested the major mode of particle size distribution was in the range of 29 to 52 nm, which was attributable to dilution of the fresh smoke. Comparing volume size distribution from Fast Mobility Particle Sizer (FMPS) and Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS) measurements, ~30% of particle volume was attributable to the particles ranging from 0.5 to 10 μm for PM₁₀. Geometric mean diameter rapidly increased during flaming and gradually decreased during mixed and smoldering phase combustion. Most of fuels gave unimodal distribution during flaming phase and strong biomodal distribution during smoldering phase. The mode of combustion (flaming, mixed and smoldering) could be better distinguished using slopes in Modified Combustion Efficiency (MCE) vs. geometric mean diameter from each mode of combustion than only using MCE values. Byun, D. W. and Schere, K. L.: Review of Governing equations, Computational Algorithms, and Other Components of the Models-3 Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) Modeling Systems, Appl. Mech. Rev., 59, 51–77, 2006. Capes, G., Johnson, B., McFiggans, G., Williams, P. I., Haywood, J., and Coe, H.: Aging of biomass burning aerosols over West Africa: Aircraft measurements of chemical composition, microphysical properties, and emission ratios, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 113, D00c15, doi:10.1029/2008jd009845, 2008. Chakrabarty, R. K., Moosmuller, H., Garro, M. A., Arnott, W. P., Walker, J., Susott, R. A., Babbitt, R. E., Wold, C. E., Lincoln, E. N., and Hao, W. M.: Emissions from the laboratory combustion of wildland fuels: Particle morphology and size, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 111, D07204, doi:10.1029/2005jd006659, 2006. Chi, C. T., Horn, D. A., Reznik, R. B., Zanders, D. L., Opferkuch, R. E., Nyers, J. M., Pierovich, J. M., Lavdas, L. G., Mcmahon, C. K., Nelson, R. M., Johansen, R. W., and Ryan, P. W.: Source assessment: prescribed burning, state of the art., US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C., 1979. Christensen, N. L.: Vegetation of thesoutheatern costal plain, in: North American Terrestial Vegetation, edited by: Barbour, M. G. W. D. B., Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, 1999. Christian, T. J., Kleiss, B., Yokelson, R. J., Holzinger, R., Crutzen, P. J., Hao, W. M., Shirai, T., and Blake, D. R.: Comprehensive laboratory measurements of biomass-burning emissions: 2. First intercomparison of open-path FTIR, PTR-MS, and GC- MS/FID/ECD, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D02311, doi:10.1029/2003jd003874, 2004. Countryman, C. M.: Physical characteristics of some northern California brush fuels., USDA Forest Serivce, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, General Technical Report 1982. Engling, G., Lee, J. J., Tsai, Y. W., Lung, S. C. C., Chou, C. C. K., and Chan, C. Y.: Size-Resolved Anhydrosugar Composition in Smoke Aerosol from Controlled Field Burning of Rice Straw, Aerosol Sci. Technol., 43, 662–672, 2009. Goldammer, J. G., Statheropoulos, M., and Andreae, M. O., Goldammer, J. G., Statheropoulos, M., and Andreae, M. O.: Impacts of vegetation fire emissions on the environment, human health, and security: a global perspective, in: Wildland Fires and Air Pollution, edited by: Bytnerowicz, A., Arbaugh, M., Riebau, A., and Andersen, C., Elsevier, 2009. Hays, M. D., Geron, C. D., Linna, K. J., Smith, N. D., and Schauer, J. J.: Speciation of gas-phase and fine particle emissions from burning of foliar fuels, Environ. Sci. Technol., 36, 2281–2295, 2002. Hays, M. D., Fine, P. M., Geron, C. D., Kleeman, M. J., and Gullett, B. K.: Open burning of agricultural biomass: Physical and chemical properties of particle-phase emissions, Atmos. Environ., 39, 6747–6764, 2005. Hedberg, E., Kristensson, A., Ohlsson, M., Johansson, C., Johansson, P. A., Swietlicki, E., Vesely, V., Wideqvist, U., and Westerholm, R.: Chemical and physical characterization of emissions from birch wood combustion in a wood stove, Atmos. Environ., 36, 4823–4837, 2002. Keeley, J. E.: Chaparral, in: North American Terrestrial Vegetation, edited by: Barbour, M. G. and Billing, W. D., Cambridge University Press, N.Y., 397–448, 1999. Keshtkar, H. and Ashbaugh, L. L.: Size distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon particulate emission factors from agricultural burning, Atmos. Environ., 41, 2729–2739, 2007. Levine, J. S.: Biomass Burning and Global Change, MIT Press, 1996. Le Canut, P., Andreae, M. O., Harris, G. W., Wienhold, F. G., and Zenker, T.: Airborne studies of emissions from savanna fires in southern Africa, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 8483, doi:10.1029/2002jd002291, 1996. Pope, C. A. and Dockery, D. W.: Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: Lines that connect, J. Air Waste Manage., 56, 709–742, 2006. Posfai, M., Simonics, R., Li, J., Hobbs, P. V., and Buseck, P. R.: Individual aerosol particles from biomass burning in southern Africa: 1. Compositions and size distributions of carbonaceous particles, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 108, D06213, doi:10.1029/2003jd004169, 2003. Posfai, M., Gelencser, A., Simonics, R., Arato, K., Li, J., Hobbs, P. V., and Buseck, P. R.: Atmospheric tar balls: Particles from biomass and biofuel burning, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D22302, doi:10.1029/2008jd010216, 2004. Reid, J. S., Koppmann, R., Eck, T. F., and Eleuterio, D. P.: A review of biomass burning emissions part II: intensive physical properties of biomass burning particles, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 799–825, 2005. Janhäll, S., Andreae, M. O., and Pöschl, U.: Biomass burning aerosol emissions from vegetation fires: particle number and mass emission factors and size distributions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 1427–1439, 2010. Sullivan, A. P., Holden, A. S., Patterson, L. A., McMeeking, G. R., Kreidenweis, S. M., Malm, W. C., Hao, W. M., Wold, C. E., and Collett, J. L.: A method for smoke marker measurements and its potential application for determining the contribution of biomass burning from wildfires and prescribed fires to ambient PM2.5 organic carbon, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 113, D22302, doi:10.1029/2008jd010216, 2008. Susott, R. A.: Characterization of the thermal properties of forest fuels by combustible gas analysis., Forest Sci., 28, 404–420, 1982. Ward, D. E., Hao, W. M., Susott, R. A., Babbitt, R. E., Shea, R. W., Kauffman, J. B., and Justice, C. O.: Effect of fuel composition on combustion efficiency and emission factors for African savanna ecosystems, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 101, 23569–23576, 1996. Ward, D. E. and Radke, L. E.: Emission measurements from vegetation fires: a comparative evaluation of methods and results, in: Fire in Environment. The Ecological, Atmospheric and Climatic Importance of Vegetation Fires, edited by: Crutzen, P. J. and Goldammer, J. G., John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 53–76, 1993. Weise, D. R., Zhou, X. Y., Sun, L. L., and Mahalingam, S.: Fire spread in chaparral – `go or no-go?', Int. J. Wildland Fire, 14, 99–106, 2005.