Contribution of Fine Particles to Air Emission at Different Phases of Biomass Burning

Ordou, Niloofar; Agranovski, Igor E.

doi:10.3390/atmos10050278

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The majority of these transformations occur rapidly, resulting in a typical particle size distribution that ranges from 20 to 250 nm, as shown in Figure 3. The resultant size distribution is characteristic of fresh smoke in accumulation mode and is in good agreement with other studies [73][74][75]. Importantly, in realistic conditions, as wildfire plume undergoes atmospheric transformations (ages), particle size has been found to increase by 100-150 nm, but remaining in a submicron range, as discussed above [25][26][27]75].…”

Section: Generation Of Pine Needle (Pn) Smoke Particles and Their Siz...supporting

confidence: 90%

Evaluation of Filtration Efficiency of Various Filter Media in Addressing Wildfire Smoke in Indoor Environments: Importance of Particle Size and Composition

Shirman,

Liu

2023

Atmosphere

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Sub-micron particles are ubiquitous in the indoor environment, especially during wildfire smoke episodes, and have a higher impact on human health than larger particles. Conventional fibrous air filters installed in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems play an important role in controlling indoor air quality by removing various air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM). However, it is evident that the removal efficiency of wildfire smoke PM and its effect on filter performance is significantly under-studied. This study delves into the size-specific removal efficiency of pine needle smoke, a representative of wildfire smoke and emissions. We test an array of filter media with minimum efficiency reporting values (MERV) spanning 11–15. Both size-resolved particle number concentrations and mass concentrations were measured using an Optical Particle Sizer (OPS, TSI, Inc.) and a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS, TSI, Inc.). Furthermore, we characterize the filter media morphology and smoke particles deposited on filter fibers using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to gain insights into the interaction dynamics of these particles. Our findings add to the comprehension of the relationship between MERV designations and smoke removal efficiency. Such insight can inform standards and guidelines and equip decision-makers with the knowledge needed to initiate measures for mitigating the impact of air pollution, specifically on the indoor environment.

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Section: Generation Of Pine Needle (Pn) Smoke Particles and Their Siz...supporting

confidence: 90%

Evaluation of Filtration Efficiency of Various Filter Media in Addressing Wildfire Smoke in Indoor Environments: Importance of Particle Size and Composition

Shirman,

Liu

2023

Atmosphere

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“…The total particle number concentrations during these dust events were much higher than those measured during dust events at Storm Peak Laboratory in Colorado (Hallar et al, 2011), but this could be attributed to the proximity to the source in this region. The total particle number concentrations during these dust events were much lower than those measured during biomass burning events (Reid et al, 2005;Ordou and Agranovski, 2019), and the emitted particles' sizes are the main cause of this difference.…”

Section: Comparison Of Particle Size Distribution and Total Concentra...mentioning

confidence: 61%

Particle size distribution and particulate matter concentrations during synoptic and convective dust events in West Texas

Ardon‐Dryer

Kelley

2022

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Dust events are an important and complex constituent of the atmospheric system that can impact Earth's climate, the environment, and human health. The frequency of dust events in the Southern High Plains of West Texas has increased over the past 2 decades, yet their impact on air quality in this region is still unclear. This is due to the fact that there is only one air quality monitoring station that measures only PM2.5 concentrations (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 µm), and there is no information on other PM sizes or the particle size distribution. The Aerosol Research Observation Station (AEROS) unit provides insight into the local variation in particle concentration during different dust events and allows for a better understanding of the impact of dust events on air quality. As this area is prone to dust events, we were wondering if dust events generated by different meteorological causes (synoptic vs. convective) would present similar particle concentrations or particle size distributions. Thus, in this project, three different dust events were measured by AEROS and compared. Each dust event originated from a different direction and lasted a different duration. One of the dust events was synoptic (10 April 2019) and two were convective (5 and 21 June 2019). Measurements of particle mass and number concentration, size distribution, and meteorological conditions for each dust event were compared. The synoptic dust event (on 10 April) was longer (12 h) and had stronger wind speed conditions (up to 22.1 m s−1), whereas the two respective convective dust events on 5 and 21 June lasted only 20 and 30 min and had lower wind speeds (up to 16.5 and 13.4 m s−1). Observation of PM based on daily and hourly values showed an impact on air quality, yet measurements based on daily and hourly values underestimate the impact of the convective dust events. Observations based on a shorter timescale (10 min) reveal the true impact of the two convective dust events. A comparison of the particle size distribution showed that all three dust events presented an increase in particles in the 0.3–10 µm size range. Comparisons of the particle concentration for particles > 5 and > 10 µm show very high values during the dust events. Some particle sizes even increase in concentration by ∼ 2 orders of magnitude compared with the time before the dust event. This leads us to speculate that the impact of convective dust events on air quality in this region is underestimated with the current (hourly basis) method.

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“…Many of these effects are driven by the optical properties of the emitted aerosols; therefore, this has created significant interest in the optical properties of biomass burning emissions and their change during atmospheric processing. Extensive work has been conducted on optical properties, including light absorption, for freshly emitted [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] biomass burning aerosols and on the change of their optical properties during atmospheric processing [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. However, work on the optical properties of peat emissions and their changes has been very limited [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical Characterization of Fresh and Photochemically Aged Aerosols Emitted from Laboratory Siberian Peat Burning

Iaukea-Lum¹

2022

Atmosphere

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Carbonaceous aerosols emitted from biomass burning influence radiative forcing and climate change. Of particular interest are emissions from high-latitude peat burning because amplified climate change makes the large carbon mass stored in these peatlands more susceptible to wildfires and their emission can affect cryosphere albedo and air quality after undergoing transport. We combusted Siberian peat in a laboratory biomass-burning facility and characterized the optical properties of freshly emitted combustion aerosols and those photochemically aged in an oxidation flow reactor (OFR) with a three-wavelength photoacoustic instrument. Total particle count increased with aging by a factor of 6 to 11 while the total particle volume either changed little (<8%) for 19 and 44 days of equivalent aging and increased by 88% for 61 days of equivalent aging. The aerosol single-scattering albedo (SSA) of both fresh and aged aerosol increased with the increasing wavelength. The largest changes in SSA due to OFR aging were observed at the shortest of the three wavelengths (i.e., at 405 nm) where SSA increased by less than ~2.4% for 19 and 44 days of aging. These changes were due to a decrease in the absorption coefficients by ~45%, with the effect on SSA somewhat reduced by a concurrent decrease in the scattering coefficients by 20 to 25%. For 61 days of aging, we observed very little change in SSA, namely an increase of 0.31% that was caused a ~56% increase in the absorption coefficients that was more than balanced by a somewhat larger (~71%) increase in the scattering coefficients. These large increases in the absorption and scattering coefficients for aging at 7 V are at least qualitatively consistent with the large increase in the particle volume (~88%). Overall, aging shifted the absorption toward longer wavelengths and decreased the absorption Ångström exponents, which ranged from ~5 to 9. Complex refractive index retrieval yielded real and imaginary parts that increased and decreased, respectively, with the increasing wavelength. The 405 nm real parts first increased and then decreased and imaginary parts decreased during aging, with little change at other wavelengths.

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Contribution of Fine Particles to Air Emission at Different Phases of Biomass Burning

Cited by 14 publications

References 32 publications

Evaluation of Filtration Efficiency of Various Filter Media in Addressing Wildfire Smoke in Indoor Environments: Importance of Particle Size and Composition

Evaluation of Filtration Efficiency of Various Filter Media in Addressing Wildfire Smoke in Indoor Environments: Importance of Particle Size and Composition

Particle size distribution and particulate matter concentrations during synoptic and convective dust events in West Texas

Optical Characterization of Fresh and Photochemically Aged Aerosols Emitted from Laboratory Siberian Peat Burning

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