AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
The Field-Potential Aerosol Mass (F-PAM) Reactor: Development and Preliminary Lab Measurements of Cook-stove Emissions
STEPHEN REECE, Roshan Wathore, Provat Saha, Andrew Grieshop, North Carolina State University
Abstract Number: 725 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Combustion in rudimentary and improved cook-stoves used by billions in developing countries emits organic aerosols (OA) and black carbon (BC) with vast health and climate implications. Recently, research has focused on the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) that results from photo-oxidation and atmospheric aging of primary emissions. Here we present the initial development and characterization of a field portable potential aerosol mass reactor (F-PAM) designed to assess aging of cook-stove emissions in both laboratory and rural field settings. The F-PAM was characterized to quantify hydroxyl radicals (OH) exposures as function of external OH reactivity (OHR), Ozone (O$_3), and residence time. To assess the impact of varying stove activity, initial lab testing will compare emissions from the standard water boiling test (WBT) protocol and a protocol which includes low power combustion to simulate field operation not present in the WBT.
In this study diluted biomass emissions from a distinct phase of stove operation will be injected into a smog chamber to provide a fixed emission population. These emissions will then be exposed to a range of OH and O$_3 concentrations in the F-PAM. OH exposure is measured in real time by monitoring the decay of carbon monoxide (CO) through the F-PAM. Various particle (SMPS, ACSM, PAX) and gas-phase (CO, CO$_2, O$_3) instruments will measure up and down stream of the FPAM. Primary emissions are measured during the injection period using the Stove Emission Measurement System (STEMS), a portable instrument which measures real-time concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO$_2), CO, PM$_(2.5) along with integrated samples for offline analysis. Emission factors will be derived before and after aging for emissions from different burn conditions via carbon balance. Results from this study will help assess the F-PAM reactor’s operating range for incorporating the high and variable aerosols concentrations observed during the varying cook-stoves activity.