Gaseous Ammonia Emissions from Coal and Biomass Combustion in Household Stoves with Different Combustion Efficiencies

This study reports on the emission characteristics of NH 3 from coal and biomass combustion in the household stoves. The average NH 3 emission factors (EFs) for burning 13 coal and four biomass briquette samples in a traditional heating stove were 1.01 and 0.95 mg/g, respectively, whereas the biomass EF in a traditional cooking stove was 0.96 mg/g. These NH 3 EFs did not present significant differences and were not well-correlated with the tested fuel properties. However, the modified combustion efficiency (MCE) appeared to be well-correlated with the NH 3 EFs measured from various fuel–stove combinations. For the same fuel samples, the advanced heating stove with a high MCE had a much lower average NH 3 EF of 0.13 mg/g. Our findings indicate that household combustion may be a significant NH 3 emission source in developing countries such as China, and demonstrate that utilizing improved combustion technologies is an effective method for reducing these emissions.