Real-world Measurements of Particulate Emissions from Domestic Woodheaters
Biomass combustion, particularly from domestic woodheaters, is a significant source of airborne particulates during winter in many urban airsheds in Australia. Where domestic woodheaters are a major source of domestic heating, air quality often fails to meet current air quality standards. State and National air pollution authorities continue to develop policies to combat the problem however two difficulties they have identified are the uncertainties in the emission rates and the daily and weekly usage patterns woodheaters in normal operation. The Commonwealth Government’s Department of Environment and Heritage has commissioned a project to measure the real world emissions behaviour of heaters operated normally in domestic households Most emissions estimates are based on data from AS4013 woodheater compliance tests combined with surveys of household heater usage. An alternative approach is direct measurement of emissions from selected households for extended periods. To achieve this we have developed a system which continuously samples smoke emitted at the exhaust of the woodheater flue and quantitatively measures the particle concentrations and emission rates. In this paper we present results from emissions monitoring on selected households in Launceston and rural Victoria and compare the realworld emissions behaviour of these heaters to AS4013 compliance tests. This implication of these emissions to PM10 concentration measurements in the Launceston air shed is investigated.