Kuwaiti oil fires: Composition of source smoke

Journal Article · Sun Sep 20 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Journal of Geophysical Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/92JD00967· OSTI ID:81152

Cofer, III, W R; Cahoon, D R ^[1]; Stevens, R K; Pinto, J P ^[2]; Winstead, E L; Sebacher, D I ^[3]; Abdulraheem, M Y ^[4]; Al-Sahafi, M ^[5]; Mazurek, M A ^[6]; Rasmussen, R A ^[7]

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1. Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (United States)
2. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States)
3. Hughes STX Corp., Hampton, VA (United States)
4. Kuwait Environmental Protection Dept., Kuwait City (Kuwait)
5. Ministry of Defense and Aviation, Eastern Province (Saudi Arabia)
6. Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
7. Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, Beaverton, OR (United States); and others

While the Kuwaiti oil-fire smoke plumes manifested a pronounced impact on solar radiation in the Gulf region (visibility, surface temperatures, etc.), smoke plume concentrations of combustion-generated pollutants suggest that the overall chemical impact on the atmosphere of the smoke from these fires was probably much less than anticipated. Combustion in the Kuwaiti oil fires was surprisingly efficient, releasing on average more than 93% of the combusted hydrocarbon fuels as carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}). Correspondingly, combustion-produced quantities of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbonaceous particles were low, each {approximately} 2% by weight. The fraction of methane (CH{sub 4}) produced by the fires was also relatively low ({approximately} 0.2%), but source emissions of nonmethane hydrocarbons were high ({approximately} 2%). Processes other than combustion (e.g., volatilization) probably contributed significantly to the measured in-plume hydrocarbon concentrations. Substantially, different elemental to organic carbon ratios were obtained for aerosol particles from several different types of fires/smokes. Sulfur emissions (particulate and gaseous) measured at the source fires were lower ({approximately} 0.5%) than predicted based on average sulfur contents in the crude. Sulfur dioxide measurements (SO{sub 2}) reported herein, however, were both limited in actual number and in the number of well fires sampled. Nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O) emissions from the Kuwaiti oil fires were very low and often could not be distinguished from background concentrations. About 25-30% of the fires produced white smoke plumes that were found to be highly enriched in sodium and calcium chlorides. 18 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 81152
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research Journal Issue: D13 Vol. 97; ISSN JGREA2; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CARBON
CARBON MONOXIDE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
FIRES
KUWAIT
METHANE
NITROUS OXIDE
OIL WELLS
SMOKES
SULFUR DIOXIDE
VOLATILE MATTER