Organic emissions from a wood stove and a pellet stove before and after simulated atmospheric aging

Logwood and pellet stoves are popular heating sources around the world. The particulate matter emitted from such stoves contains organic particulate matter (OM), soot and ash, each of which may have significant effects on climate and health. In this study, the primary OM (POM) emitted from a wood stove and a pellet stove operated according to standard Swiss testing protocols were characterized using aerosol mass spectrometry. The POM mass spectra were found to be highly reproducible, and contained CO⁺ as the dominant ion. Because the POM emitted by such stoves is typically enhanced by the condensation of gaseous organics following atmospheric aging, the secondary OM (SOM) formation potential of these stoves was simulated using the Micro Smog Chamber (MSC) designed by Keller and Burtscher (2012). In general, OM emission factors from MSC-aged aerosols were comparable to lower-time-resolution results from the literature, although the MSC exposed aerosols to much higher concentrations of oxidants and therefore produced OM that was more oxidized than expected for atmospheric samples. In addition, the logwood-stove particles remained highly aspherical even after oxidation, indicating that mixing with an external aerosol is required for these particles to become spherical. The one exception to this observation occurred when the wood failed to ignite and appeared to generate tar-ball OM particles.