The effects of an electrostatic precipitator and a flue gas condenser on size resolved fly ash particle concentration and composition were studied in a 6 MW biomass combustion unit, fired with moist forest residue. The boiler was of moving grate type. The fly ash particles were sampled upstream and downstream of the electrostatic precipitator and flue gas condenser, respectively. Fine particle number size distributions were measured using an electric mobility spectrometer (SMPS) and coarse particle number size distributions were measured using a time-of-flight instrument (APS). The mass size distributions were measured using a multi-jet low pressure cascade impactor (DLPI). For chemical analyses of the impactor substrates particle induced X-ray emission analysis (PIXE) was used. After the flue gas passed the electrostatic precipitator (ESP), the fly ash particle concentration was reduced by approximately 96% by number and 83% by mass. After the particles passed the flue gas condenser, particle number concentration was only marginally altered, whereas the mass concentration was reduced by half. Both the ESP and the condenser showed, size dependent particle separation efficiency. The main elements (Z > 12) in the fine fly ash fraction were K, S, and Cl, whereas the main elements in the coarse fraction were Ca, K, S, and Cl. After passing the ESP the mass ratio of Ca decreased in the coarse fraction, while the ratios of K, S, and Cl increased, indicating transference of fly ash material from the fine to the coarse particle fraction. There was no significant difference in the elemental composition for any particle size fraction sampled upstream or downstream of the condenser.

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The emissions of particles, and gaseous compounds, into the ambient air from biomass-fired moving grate boilers were characterized under different boiler operation conditions. The boilers had a thermal capacity of ∼1 MW. The flue gas cleaning systems consisted of multicyclones for the removal of coarse particles. Dry wood fuel that consisted of shavings, wood chips, and sawdust from a local wood industry and wood pellets were fired at two plants. The influence of boiler load on the emissions was characterized. An electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI) was used to determine the particle number concentration with high time resolution. A low-pressure cascade impactor (LPI) was utilized for the mass size distribution and the size-differentiated chemical composition. Elemental analysis of the fly ash collected on impactor substrates was made by particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis. The concentration of elemental carbon under different load conditions was also measured. In addition, emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the boiler that was operating on dry wood fuel were compared with PAH emissions from two different biomass-fired boilers (one was operating on forest residues and the other on pellets). The boiler load had little influence on the particle mass concentration of submicrometer-sized particles, which was in the range of 50-75 mg/m 3 (0°C, 101.3 kPa, dry gas, 13% CO 2 ). The total particle number concentration increased and the particle size decreased as the boiler load increased. The elemental analysis revealed that potassium and sulfur were the dominating components in the submicrometer size range, whereas potassium and calcium were major components in the coarse fraction. The PAH emissions between the three boilers varied by almost 3 orders of magnitude.