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Project title

Solid-fuel emissions to air in Ireland

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

University College Dublin (UCD)

Lead Applicant

William Smith

Project Abstract

Current estimates of air pollution associated with residential combustion of solid fuels are based on emission factors (EF) in the EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook (GB2019). However, the Irish market for solid fuels relies heavily on peat-based fuels and "smokeless" coals, and on the use of open fireplaces for combustion of solid fuels. Data on exhaust emissions from these fuels, and from open fireplaces, is sparse, and the associated EF presented in the Guidebook therefore incorporate a high degree of uncertainty. This project will provide comprehensive emission factor data for peat (sod and briquette), wood logs (seasoned and wet), and two "smokeless" solid fuels, burned in an open fireplace and in a conventional stove characteristic of those used in the Irish residential sector. The emission factors will encompass the complete combustion cycle, from ignition in a cold appliance through to extinction, and will therefore represent the true, real-world emissions from each fuel. The uncertainty associated with reported EF is greatest with respect to emissions of particulate matter (PM) - the pollutant of greatest concern from an air-quality perspective. As combustion products travel up through the flue, and then emerge and mix with ambient air, they are cooled and diluted. This can lead to condensation of embedded volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOC/SVOC), usually onto the surface of pre-existing PM (which act as condensation nuclei). Consequently, the mass, physical characteristics, and chemical composition of the PM all evolve as it passes from the fuel bed into the environment, and measurements of these parameters are therefore highly sensitive to the measurement technique employed, and/or to the location of that measurement within the exhaust plume. In this project, PM measurements will be made: a) within the flue ("hot filter" measurements) and b) following cooling and dilution to ambient temperature. Cooling and dilution will be achieved using a Dekat eDiluter, to ensure a consistent, repeatable dilution ratio. The "ambient" PM generated following dilution will be analysed using a combination of ACSM (aerosol chemical speciation monitor), aethalometer, and SMPS (scanning mobility particle sizer). This combination of measurement techniques and locations will allow both the "hot filterable" and condensable components of PM emissions to be quantified, and will provide highly detailed, time-resolved, physico-chemical descriptions of the particulate matter emissions generated by each fuel-appliance combination. The dynamic nature of PM formation means that test-to-test variability can be significant, even for a single fuel-appliance combination. To mitigate this effect, and to provide further insight into the nature and extent of the variability, the project will perform six tests on each fuel-appliance pair. In summary, the SOLIDAIR project will harness and reinforce existing expertise and capabilities, and by combining them will provide Ireland with a comprehensive, highly-resolved suite of emission factors for wood logs (seasoned and wet), peat (sod and briquettes), and two "smokeless" solid fuels, when burned in a heating appliance of the kind typically used in Ireland's residential sector.

Grant Approved

�449,897.26

Research Hub

Healthy Environment

Research Theme

n/a

Start Date

31/03/2024

Initial Projected Completion Date

30/03/2027