Emission of Volatile Organic Compounds from the Residential Combustion of Pyrenean Oak and Black Poplar

Smoke from domestic wood burning has been identified as a major contributor to air pollution, motivating detailed emission measurements under controlled conditions. A series of experiments was performed to characterise the emissions from wood combustion in a fireplace and in a woodstove of two common species of trees grown in Spain: Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) and black poplar (Populus nigra). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaust emissions were collected in Tedlar bags, re-sampled in sorbent tubes and analysed by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-flame ionisation detection. Pyrenean oak presented substantially higher emissions in the woodstove than in the fireplace, for the majority of compounds. The opposite was observed for poplar. Among the 45 identified species, benzene and benzenerelated compounds represent the most abundant group, followed by oxygenated VOCs and aliphatics. Emission factors obtained in this study are generally of the same order than those reported for residential experiments in the USA.

Emissions of Euro 3-5 Passenger Cars Measured Over Different Driving Cycles

The reduction in vehicle exhaust emissions achieved in the last two decades is offset by the growth in traffic, as well as by changes in the composition of emitted pollutants. The present investigation illustrates the emissions of in-use gasoline and diesel passenger cars using the official European driving cycle and the ARTEMIS real-world driving cycle. It was observed that some of the vehicles do not comply with the corresponding regulations. Significant differences in emissions were observed between driving cycles. Not all pollutants showed a tendency to decrease from Euro 3 to Euro 5.