2024 journal article
Evaluating a simplified oxidation flow reactor configuration to characterize fresh and aged emissions from traditional and plancha-type cookstoves under field-like conditions
Atmospheric Environment.
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
3. Good Health and Well-being
(Web of Science)
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
(OpenAlex)
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
(Web of Science)
Source: ORCID
Added: April 8, 2024
Plancha-type stoves have been distributed for decades in Mexico to reduce household air pollution, but the influence of photochemical processing ('aging') of their emissions is unknown. Secondary organic aerosols (SOA), formed from aging biomass combustion emissions, has typically been studied in laboratories with complex setups and sophisticated instrumentation. Here, we present an evaluation of a simplified measurement approach using an oxidation flow reactor (OFR), portable instrumentation and filter samples, and its subsequent deployment in characterizing Plancha-type stove emissions in a simulated-field setting in Mexico. Evaluation of field-portable optical measurements for tracking SOA mass for a range of combustion conditions in a laboratory suggested that a field portable nephelometer/filter sampling instrument could effectively quantify time-varying fresh and aged organic aerosol (OA). However, these experiments showed that correction of the optical response with filter measurements was particularly important for aged aerosol. Next, we deployed this measurement ensemble with an OFR to measure fresh and aged emissions from two plancha-type stoves (Patsari and ONIL) and a traditional three stone fire (TSF) under field-like conditions at a test kitchen facility in Pátzcuaro, Mexico. Plancha-type stoves offered significant reductions in primary PM emissions factors (EFs) relative to TSF, with mean Patsari and ONIL elemental carbon, EC (organic matter, OM) EFs lower by ∼19% (65%) and ∼49%(83%) than TSF EFs, respectively. Further, mean Patsari and ONIL SOA emission factors (emission rates) were lower than TSF by 47% (46%) and 61% (73%), respectively, indicating that plancha stoves have the potential to reduce secondary PM formation along with fresh emissions. However, using an OFR to age time-varying real-world emissions is complex, as changes in emission concentrations and composition directly affect the OFR's chemistry, with the interaction between combustion efficiency and OH reactivity in the OFR influencing the extent of tropospheric aging emissions undergo. We outline the challenges associated with such real-time aging experiments and recommend strategies like implementing staged dilution of the flue gas or batch sampling in a smog chamber.