Laboratory measurements of carbonyl sulfide and total sulfur emissions from open burning of forest biomass

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · Proc., Annu. Meet., Air Pollut. Control Assoc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7065343

Ward, D E; Adams, D F; McMahon, C K

The information presented is directed to environmental scientists and resource managers concerned with sulfur emissions from combustion processes. Atmospheric chemists believe these emissions accumulate in the stratosphere and affect the earth's radiation balance. Some of these emissions result from the practice of burning forest biomass, which can release a high percentage of the sulfur nutrient reserve. This loss of sulfur may be damaging to site productivity. This paper reports on a series of controlled-environment combustion laboratory experiments. The experiments showed that 50% to 75% of the total fuel sulfur was released from the samples of biomass burned. Of this, less than 0.2% was in the form of carbonyl sulfide (COS), hydrogen sulfide, dimethylsulfide, carbon disulfide, and dimethyldisulfide. Emission factors for COS ranged from 0.18 to 2.36 mg of sulfur per kg of biomass consumed, well below previous estimates. Our work indicated that production of COS was strongly dependent on fuel and combustion variables. As the production of COS increased from the burning of forest fuels, carbon monoxide production also increased; and both were inversely related to fire intensity.

• Research Organization: USDA Forest Service Seattle, Washington
• OSTI ID: 7065343
• Journal Information: Proc., Annu. Meet., Air Pollut. Control Assoc.; (United States), Journal Name: Proc., Annu. Meet., Air Pollut. Control Assoc.; (United States) Vol. 82-51.9; ISSN PRAPA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
ATMOSPHERES
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOMASS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CARBON OXYSULFIDE
CARBON SULFIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTION CONTROL
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
CONTROL
CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FOREST LITTER
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN SULFIDES
MATERIALS
NONMETALS
OXIDATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
STRATOSPHERE
SULFIDES
SULFUR
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WOOD
WOOD FUELS