Characterization of gaseous emission from field burning of maize crop residues for estimation of annual emission load in Thailand | |
| Author | Athiwat Yongstar |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-16-01 |
| Subject(s) | Air quality--Thailand Burning of land--Thailand Crop residues Air--Pollution--Thailand |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. EV-16-01 |
| Abstract | Maize crop residues field burning is commonly practiced in Thailand after harvesting. This activity produces large amounts of toxic air pollutants and greenhouse gases. The emissions need to be comprehensively characterized and quantified. This study conducted both field and hood experiments to measure gaseous pollutants, including carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH4), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) to determine emission factors. A survey was also conducted by interviewing farmers to obtain the activity data (amount of biomass burned) for development an emission inventory of maize crop residues for Thailand. Three maize crop residues field burning experiments were done by following the local maize burning practice to provide representative data. The same sample was burned in the hood(3 experiments) to compare the results. Emission factors in field experiments were calculated using the carbon balance method while emission factors in hood experiments were directly calculated using the flue gas volume and concentrations of the air pollutants. More pollutants were detected in the hood concentrated smoke than in the field burning plume. However, the largely uncontrolled combustion conditions in the field burning experiments produced higher emission factors of the pollutants belonging to the product of incomplete combustion as compared to the hood experiment but opposite for CO₂. The emission factors in field experiments in g/kg of dry maize crop residues were 60.4 ± 1.2 for CO, 1,130 ± 111 for CO₂, and in mg/kg were 402 ± 80 for SO₂, 396 ± 60 for NO₂, 293 ± 50 for benzene and 166 ± 65 for toluene. The emission factors in hood experiment in g/kg were 39.0 ± 4.3 for CO, 1,161 ± 56 for CO₂ and 3.12 ± 0.4 for CH4, and in mg/kg were 196 ± 25 for SO₂, 189 ± 7.6 for NO₂, 85.6 ± 2.7 for benzene, 20.5 ± 1.3 for toluene, 0.9 ± 0.1 for ethylbenzene and 4.4 ± 0.7 for xylenes. For Thailand in 2014, 1.2 million tonnes of maize crop residues was burned directly in the field to prepare the land for the next crop cycle. This activity could annually generate the amount of CO; CO₂; CH4; SO₂; NO₂ and BTEX in Gg, of 72.40 ± 2.05; 1,364 ± 189; 3.77 ± 0.68; 0.49 ± 0.14; 0.48 ± 0.10 and 0.56 ± 0.01, respectively. The particulate matter emission was obtained from a parallel study (Phitsucha, 2016) which showed the annual emission rate of PM10, PM2.5 and black carbon in Gg, were 4.90 ± 2.65; 4.46 ± 2.66 and 0.25 ± 0.17, respectively. The emission of maize crop residue field burning contributed about 5-6% on average to the total crop residue field burning emission in Thailand, ranging from 3.5% for CH4 to 12 % for SO₂. Other pollutants such as semi-VOCs (PAHs), aldehydes and dioxins should be characterized in further studies. |
| Year | 2016 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Shipin, Oleg V. ;Wanna Laowagul; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government;Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2016 |