Morphology and Nanostructure of Soot Particles Emitted by a Domestic Boiler Using Pine Pellets

Abstract

Particulate aerosols derived from combustion processes are a major contributor to climate change, but quantifying this effect is difficult because the optical and radiative properties of these aerosol depend on their composition, size, and structure. In the case of biomass boiler exhaust, five types of particles can be found in the chimney: soot agglomerates, organic films, organic particles with impregnated fibrous structures, condensed tars and condensed organic particles. All attention has so far been focused on the morphological and nanostructure characterization of soot agglomerates in internal combustion engines and in pre-mixed or diffusive flames. Similar works in boilers are scarce. In this work, the morphology and nanostructure of these agglomerates sampled in a domestic boiler using pine pellets is analysed. The relationship between the fractal dimension, the number of primary particles forming the agglomerate, the interlaminar distance and the degree of graphitization of these agglomerates versus diameter of gyration or electrical mobility diameter are presented.