1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Determination of emission factors and compositions of particulate matter emitted from field burning of maize crop residue in Thailand

AuthorPhitsucha Deeharing
Call NumberAIT Thesis no.EV-16-13
Subject(s)Air quality--Thailand
Air--Pollution--Thailand
Burning of land--Thailand
Crop residues

NoteA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Management
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
Series StatementThesis ; no. EV-16-13
AbstractOpen burning (OB) of maize crop residues (MCR) is widely done in Thailand because it is a quick and inexpensive way to manage this waste and this activity releases a large amount of toxic pollutants and greenhouse gases. This research determined emission factors (EFs) and compositions of particulate matter (PM) emitted from field burning of maize crop residue. Three field experiments and three hood experiments were conducted in this research during harvesting season (December 2015 to February 2016). The results from field experiments were fluctuating depending on the degree of plume capture with PM10 and PM2.5. The largest PM fraction was PM1 (measured by GRIMM). BC in PM was measured by OT21 and the levels in PM10 and PM2.5 were 195 ± 87.2 μg/m³ and 173 ± 63.0 μg/m³, respectively. The PM composition profiles for ions and BC showed that BC contributed the most to PM mass with 5.17 ± 2.14 % while the major ion species was Cl-, SO42- and K+ that contributed 2.51 ±1.88, 2.12 ± 1.19 and 1.76 ± 1.32% of PM mass, respectively. EFs in the field burning experiments were determined by the carbon balance method with CO₂ as the reference specie. EF of PM2.5 was 3.70 ± 1.56 g/kg, equivalent to 2.62 ± 1.29 g/m² maize crop residue burned. The average EF of PM10 was 4.06 ± 0.7 g/kg or 2.88 ± 1.34 g/m². The EFs of BC associated with PM10 and PM2.5 were 0.21 ± 0.10 g/kg and 0.19 ± 0.07g/kg, respectively. In the hood experiments, PM was sampled using a cascade impactor that was designed to provide isokinetic sampling. The EFs of SPM (PM>10) and PM2.1 were 1.16 ± 0.35 g/kg and 0.54 ± 0.14 g/kg, respectively. More controlled conditions of the hood burning experiments resulted in lower PM EFs. Among the ions, the highest EF was measured for Cl-of 30.0 ± 25.9 mg/kg, followed by K+ of 21.6 ± 12.7mg/kg and SO42-of 20.1 ± 8.56 mg/kg. The annual pollution loads from Maize crop residue burning of Thailand in 2014 were 4.90 Gg of PM10, 4.46 Gg of PM2.5 and 0.24 Gg of BC. Further studies should include more pollutants species emitted from MCR burning that provide more complete emission characterization for health effect studied.
Year2016
TypeThesis
SchoolSchool of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
DepartmentDepartment of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC))
Academic Program/FoSEnvironmental Engineering and Management (EV)
Chairperson(s)Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh;
Examination Committee(s)Annachhatre, Ajit P.;Garivait, Hathairatana;
Scholarship Donor(s)Royal Thai Government Fellowship;
DegreeThesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2016


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