DETERMINATION OF EMISSION FACTOR OF METHANE AND NON-METHANE HYDROCARBONS FROM FOREST BIOMASS COMBUSTION

Simone Simões Amaral¹; Maria Angélica Martins Costa²; João Andrade de Carvalho Junior¹; Turíbio Gomes Soares Neto³; Thales de Faria⁴; Rafael Ribeiro Cardoso⁵; Luiz Henrique Scavacini Leite⁴

¹ Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Guaratingueta Campus; ² Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Araraquara Campus; ³ Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, INPE, Cachoeira Paulista; ⁴ Escola de Engenharia de Lorena, USP, Lorena Campus; ⁵ Universidade de Taubaté, UNITAU

doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-1645

Resumo

Biomass combustion releases several compounds into the atmosphere, among them are hydrocarbons. These compounds can be classified as methane and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC). Hydrocarbons are emitted in low concentration, but nevertheless, they significantly affect the biogeochemical cycles in the atmosphere. Non-methane hydrocarbons, for example, play a very important role as precursors of O3 and particulate matter. NMHCs emissions are little known, since they require more complex analytical procedures for its determination. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the emissions of hydrocarbons, methane and non-methane, generated during forest biomass combustion. In the laboratory, Araucaria and Amazon biomass were burned. The gas generated during combustion was stored and subjected to analysis by Gas Chromatography coupled with Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) method. The burning of Amazon biomass resulted in higher emissions. Emission factors for Amazon biomass (g/kg) were of 2.24±0.59, 0.56±0.16, 0.21±0.07, 0.18±0.05, 0.13±0.06 and 0.20±0.09, respectively for CH4, (C2H2+C2H4), C2H6, C3H6, C3H4 and C3H8. The method of Gas Chromatography showed good sensitivity in the detection of hydrocarbons from biomass combustion.

Palavras-chave: Gas Chromatography; Methane; Non-methane hydrocarbons; Forest biomas; Combustion