A Laboratory Comparison of Emission Factors, Number Size Distributions, and Morphology of Ultrafine Particles from 11 Different Household Cookstove-Fuel Systems

Ultrafine particle (UFP) emissions and particle number size distributions (PNSD) are critical in the evaluation of air pollution impacts; however, data on UFP number emissions from cookstoves, which are a major source of many pollutants, are limited. In this study, 11 fuel-stove combinations covering a variety of fuels and different stoves are investigated for UFP emissions and PNSD. The combustion of LPG and alcohol (∼10 11 particles per useful energy delivered, particles/MJ d ), and kerosene (∼10 13 particles/MJ d ), produced emissions that were lower by 2–3 orders of magnitude than solid fuels (10 14 –10 15 particles/MJ d ). Three different PNSD types—unimodal distributions with peaks ∼30–40 nm, unimodal distributions with peaks <30 nm, and bimodal distributions—were observed as the result of both fuel and stove effects. The fractions of particles smaller than 30 nm ( F 30 ) varied among the tested systems, ranging from 13% to 88%. The burning of LPG and alcohol had the lowest PM 2.5 mass emissions, UFP number emissions, and F 30 (13–21% for LPG and 35–41% for alcohol). Emissions of PM 2.5 and UFP from kerosene were also low compared with solid fuel burning but had a relatively high F 30 value of approximately 73–80%.