Online measurement of PM from residential wood heaters in a dilution tunnel.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) requires residential wood heaters (RWHs) to meet particulate matter (PM) emission limits in order to lower ambient concentrations and reduce public exposure.

Development of an integrated duty cycle test method to assess cordwood stove performance.

The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Residential Wood Heaters (RWH) require certification emission testing of prototype appliances. In 2015, EPA revised those standards to further reduce particulate matter emissions from this critical source. However, to achieve that goal, lower emissions measured in certification tests must reflect lower emissions when the appliance is operated in homes.

Impacts of wood species and moisture content on emissions from residential wood heaters.

Homeowners burn wood of a wide range of species and moisture content (MC) in residential cordwood and pellet stoves. An effective emission certification test protocol must account for and accurately measure the impact of those variables in order to ensure a reasonable correlation between laboratory results and in-use emissions and to promote the design and manufacture of cleaner burning appliances. This study explored the effect of wood species and MC on emissions and efficiency in four cordwood and four pellet stoves.

Impact of fueling protocols on emission outcomes for residential wood-fired appliances.

Many believe that certification testing of residential wood heat appliances should provide data indicative of installed performance. Operationally, test methods typically only assess steady-state emissions and fail to include other typical conditions for batch appliances such as start-up. From a fueling perspective, protocols should ensure a consistent approach reflecting common use practices.

Residential wood heating: An overview of U.S. impacts and regulations.

Air pollution from residential wood heating poses a significant public health risk and is a primary cause of PM nonattainment in some areas of the United States. Those emissions also play a role in regional haze and climate change. While regulatory programs have focused on emissions reductions from large facilities, the residential heating sector has received limited attention.

Investigation of real-life operating patterns of wood-burning appliances using stack temperature data.

A study was undertaken to identify patterns of consumer use of outdoor wood boilers or outdoor wood furnaces (technically referred to as outdoor wood-fired hydronic heaters (OWHHs)) and indoor wood stoves (IWSs) to inform the development of performance testing protocols that reflect real-life operating conditions. These devices are manually fed, and their usage protocols are a function of a number of variables, including user habits, household characteristics, and environmental factors. In this study, researchers logged the stack wall temperatures of 4 OWHH and 20 IWS units in the states of New York and Washington over two heating seasons.

Evaluation of alternative filter media for particulate matter emission testing of residential wood heating devices.

Unlabelled: The performance of Teflon-coated glass fiber filter media (Pallflex Emfab TX40) is evaluated for particulate matter (PM) sampling of residential wood heating devices in a dilution tunnel. Thirty samples of varying duration and PM loading and concentration were collected from an U.S.

A cost-benefit analysis of a pellet boiler with electrostatic precipitator versus conventional biomass technology: A case study of an institutional boiler in Syracuse, New York.

Background: Biomass facilities have received increasing attention as a strategy to increase the use of renewable fuels and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from the electric generation and heating sectors, but these facilities can potentially increase local air pollution and associated health effects. Comparing the economic costs and public health benefits of alternative biomass fuel, heating technology, and pollution control technology options provides decision-makers with the necessary information to make optimal choices in a given location.

Methods: For a case study of a combined heat and power biomass facility in Syracuse, New York, we used stack testing to estimate emissions of fine particulate matter (PM) for both the deployed technology (staged combustion pellet boiler with an electrostatic precipitator) and a conventional alternative (wood chip stoker boiler with a multicyclone).