Status: this preprint has been withdrawn by the authors.
Chemical characterization of particle emissions from controlled burns of biomass fuels using a high resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer
L. Qi,S. Hosseini,H. Jung,B. Yokelson,D. Weise,D. Cocker III,and Y. Huang
Abstract. A total of forty-nine burns were conducted at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab consisting of nine fuel types; i.e., chamise scrub oak, ceanothus, maritime chaparral, coastal sage scrub, California sage brush, Manzanita, oak savanna, oak woodland and masticated mesquite. This paper focuses on the chemical characterization of fine particle emissions collected for flaming, mixed and smoldering phases using a HR ToF-AMS. The evolution of OM/OC, H/C, O/C and N/C from fire ignition to extinction was measured to capture the transient and integrated chemical composition of the non-refractory portion of bulk particles. Real time elemental ratios and empirical formulas derived with respect to modified combustion efficiency (MCE) are reported. For each fuel, the hydrogen fragment ions dominate the unit mass resolution (UMR) mass spectra with no specific fragment ions attributable to an individual ecological combination. An interference ion in the UMR m/z 73, a fragment normally attributed to levoglucosan, is noted. Therefore, the results imply that C2H4O2+ (m/z 60.021) plus C3H5O2+ (m/z 73.029) are more sufficient to estimate the contribution of levoglucosan. The results did not show significant variations of levoglucosan content in the organic particle with the overall average contribution fraction ranging from 0.74% for coastal sage to 1.93% for chamise.
This preprint has been withdrawn.
Received: 28 Feb 2012 – Discussion started: 29 Mar 2012
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Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
State Key Laboratory of Dioxin Pollution Control, National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurements, Beijing 100029, China
S. Hosseini
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
H. Jung
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
B. Yokelson
Department of Chemistry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
D. Weise
Foreset Fire Laboratory, 4955 Canyon Crest Drive, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
D. Cocker III
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
Y. Huang
State Key Laboratory of Dioxin Pollution Control, National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurements, Beijing 100029, China
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