AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Integrating Laboratory and Field Measurements to Reduce Uncertainties in Cookstove Emissions Estimates
KELSEY BILSBACK, Rose Eilenberg, Kristen Fedak, Michael Johnson, Jack Kodros, Eric Lipsky, Christian L'Orange, Jennifer Peel, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Allen Robinson, R. Subramanian, John Volckens, Colorado State University
Abstract Number: 431 Working Group: Combustion
Abstract Solid fuel cooking technologies are widely used in developing countries. Most of these rudimentary cookstoves operate with inefficient combustion, which produces high levels of air pollution. Development of accurate inventories that account for cookstove emissions has been limited given the diversity of stoves, fuels, and cooking practices used throughout the world and the complexity of combustion chemistry. Additionally, inventories often rely on emissions measurements from laboratory tests because logistics and cost restraints limit testing cookstoves in the developing world. However, many studies have demonstrated that laboratory conditions do not reproduce realistic cookstove performance. A novel testing approach entitled the Firepower Sweep was designed to address some of these gaps. The protocol has shown a 35% improvement in predicting field emissions over laboratory data in the literature. After designing the protocol, we conducted laboratory tests, using the Firepower Sweep, and uncontrolled field tests in China, Honduras, Uganda, and India. Data from these studies are being used to develop predictive models between stove performance parameters and emissions factors. Emissions of C1-C12 organics are highest for traditional wood stoves and lowest for charcoal stoves. Multivariate regression models indicate that firepower explains a larger percent of the variance in particulate matter emissions (R^2 = 0.53-0.93) than combustion efficiency (R^2 = 0.01-0.03). Furthermore, high particulate matter emissions occur during high firepower and transient firepower events (e.g., refueling). These events are also associated with black carbon emissions, while lower firepower events are associated with more organics. Preliminary results indicate that parameterizations developed using the Firepower Sweep hold under field conditions, although, field conditions tend to produce more low-power smoldering events. This work will help inform global emissions inventories for cookstoves, which will allow for the development of more representative models to predict both climate impacts and the global burden of disease from solid fuel combustion.