Saccharides and furfural are derived from biomass burning and contribute to aerosol composition. This study examined the potential of saccharides and furfural to be tracers of biomass combustion. Furfural is likely to be oxidized quickly so comparison with saccharides may give a sense of the age of the aerosols in biomass smoke. However, few furfural emissions are available for biomass combustion. Saccharides and furfural were determined in coarse aerosols (diameter> 2.4/lm ) and fine aerosols (diameter < 2.4/lm ) collected in 24 hour periods during different seasons in the United Kingdom and PMIO collected from Thailand and Malaysia including biomass burning areas such as haze episodes and forest fires. Also total suspended particulate matter (TSP) was collected from Taiwan. Saccharides and furfural dominated in fine fractions, especially in the UK autumn. The Principle component analysis showed that the fine mode UK aerosols probably originate from long-range transport emissions from Europe. This was also an important contribution for the crustal group and the biomass burning emission. Sea salt and combustion emission may contribute to coarse mode aerosols. Fraction of saccharides and furfural in aerosols were higher during Southeast Asian haze episodes and forest fires. They were also correlated to potassium and total carbon. Collection of aerosol particles led to blackening on filter papers. The oxidation processes in the atmosphere may lead to more yellowness of aerosols. The yellowness of aerosols collected from forest fires correlated with saccharides and furfural. This may indicate that the organic carbons from forest fires are related to the oxidation process. Although the emission rates of saccharides and furfural from biomass burning were found to have similar levels, furfural was detected at low concentration suggesting loss from atmospheric aerosols. Laboratory experimental simulation suggested furfural is more rapid destroyed by UV, sunlight and ozone than saccharides.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:551251 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Srithawirat, Thunwadee |
| Publisher | University of East Anglia |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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