Laboratory and Field Investigations of Particulate and Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Traditional and Improved Cookstoves
We implemented a program in which emission characterization is enabled through
collaborations between academic, US and international non-governmental entities that
focus on evaluation, dissemination, and in-use testing, of improved cookstoves. This effort
resulted in a study of field and laboratory emissions from traditional and improved biofuel
cookstoves. We found that field measured particulate emissions of actual cooking average
three times those measured during simulated cooking in the laboratory. Emission factors
are highly dependent on the care and skill of the operator and the resulting combustion;
these do not appear to be accurately reproduced in laboratory settings. The single scattering
albedo (SSA) of the emissions was very low in both lab and field measurements,
averaging about 0.3 for lab tests and around 0.5 for field tests, indicating that the primary
particles are climate warming. Over the course of three summers in Honduras, we
measured field emissions from traditional cookstoves, relatively new improved cookstoves,
and ‘‘broken-in’’ improved cookstoves. We found that well-designed improved
cookstoves can significantly reduce PM and CO emission factors below traditional cookstoves.
For improved stoves, the presence of a chimney generally resulted in lower
emission factors but left the SSA unaffected. Traditional cookstoves had an average PM
emission factor of 8.2 g kg 1 – significantly larger than previous studies. Particulate
emission factors for improved cookstoves without and with chimneys averaged about
6.6 g kg 1 and 4.5 g kg 1, respectively. The elemental carbon (EC) fraction of PM varied
significantly between individual tests, but averaged about 25% for each of the categories.
