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• 1. [Article] Tracers of Wood Smoke

  Smoke from wood burning is a significant source of air pollution in many parts of the world. When several sources simultaneously cause air pollution, it is often difficult to determine how much comes from ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Tracers of Wood Smoke Author: Khalil, M. A. K., Rasmussen, R. A. Year: 2003 Smoke from wood burning is a significant source of air pollution in many parts of the world. When several sources simultaneously cause air pollution, it is often difficult to determine how much comes from wood burning. Woodsmoke has unique chemical characteristics that can be used as indicators, including elemental composition, particularly potassium and chlorine, the ratios of organic and elemental carbon, and gases such as methyl chloride. This paper deals with formulating and applying the chemical mass balance approach incorporating both gas- and aerosol-phase tracers to a study carried out at Olympia-Lacey in Washington. In this study, three types of tracers were measured simultaneously and used to estimate woodsmoke pollution during Winter, namely elemental composition and organic carbon in the particle phase and methyl chloride in the gas phase. The results from the different tracers are found to be in agreement. The air pollution at the study site was dominated by woodsmoke mostly from low-temperature combustion (about 80%), with additional but smaller contributions from oil furnaces (15%), automobiles (4%) and occasionally from other nearby sources. Title: Tracers of Wood Smoke Author: Khalil, M. A. K., Rasmussen, R. A. Year: 2003 Smoke from wood burning is a significant source of air pollution in many parts of the world. When several sources simultaneously cause air pollution, it is often difficult to determine how much comes from wood burning. Woodsmoke has unique chemical characteristics that can be used as indicators, including elemental composition, particularly potassium and chlorine, the ratios of organic and elemental carbon, and gases such as methyl chloride. This paper deals with formulating and applying the chemical mass balance approach incorporating both gas- and aerosol-phase tracers to a study carried out at Olympia-Lacey in Washington. In this study, three types of tracers were measured simultaneously and used to estimate woodsmoke pollution during Winter, namely elemental composition and organic carbon in the particle phase and methyl chloride in the gas phase. The results from the different tracers are found to be in agreement. The air pollution at the study site was dominated by woodsmoke mostly from low-temperature combustion (about 80%), with additional but smaller contributions from oil furnaces (15%), automobiles (4%) and occasionally from other nearby sources. Close