Emission factors, ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation potential of volatile organic compounds emitted from industrial biomass boilers

To evaluate the potential benefits of biomass use for air pollution control, this paper identified and quantified the emissions of major reactive organic compounds anticipated from biomass-fired industrial boilers. Wood pellets (WP) and straw pellets (SP) were burned to determine the volatile organic compound emission profiles for each biomass-boiler combination. More than 100 types of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured from the two biomass boilers. The measured VOC species included alkanes, alkenes and acetylenes, aromatics, halocarbons and carbonyls. A single coal-fired boiler (CB) was also studied to provide a basis for comparison. Biomass boiler 1 (BB1) emitted relatively high proportions of alkanes (28.9%–38.1% by mass) and alkenes and acetylenes (23.4%–40.8%), while biomass boiler 2 (BB2) emitted relatively high proportions of aromatics (27.9%–29.2%) and oxygenated VOCs (33.0%–44.8%). The total VOC (TVOC) emission factors from BB1 (128.59–146.16 mg/kg) were higher than those from BB2 (41.26–85.29 mg/kg). The total ozone formation potential (OFP) ranged from 6.26 to 81.75 mg/m3 with an average of 33.66 mg/m3 for the two biomass boilers. The total secondary organic aerosol potential (SOAP) ranged from 61.56 to 211.67 mg/m3 with an average of 142.27 mg/m3 for the two biomass boilers. The emission factors (EFs) of TVOCs from biomass boilers in this study were similar to those for industrial coal-fired boilers with the same thermal power. These data can supplement existing VOC emission factors for biomass combustion and thus enrich the VOC emission inventory.