Structure of inorganic and carbonaceous particles emitted from heavy oil combustion

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) 2003-06, Vol.51 (10), p.1091-1096
• Main Authors: Allouis, C., Beretta, F., D’Alessio, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Air pollution caused by fuel industries; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Carbon - analysis; Cenosphere; Characteristics of pollutants and their action; Combustion and energy production; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Fuel Oils; Incineration; Metals; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Particle Size; Plerosphere; Pollution; Pollution sources. Measurement results; Power Plants
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/S0045-6535(02)00714-2

The combustion of heavy fuel oil for power generation is a great source of carbonaceous and inorganic particle emissions, even though the combustion technologies and their efficiency are improving. The information about the size distribution function of the particles originated by trace metals present into the fuels is not adequate. In this paper, we focused our attention on the larger distribution mode of both the carbonaceous and metallic particles. Isokinetic sampling was performed at the exhausts of two typical heavy oil flames and the samples were size-segregated by mean of an 8-stages Andersen impactor. Further investigation performed on the samples using electronic microscopy coupled with X-ray analysis (EDX) evidenced the presence of solid spherical particles, called plerosphere 1 An interesting discussion arised during the review of this paper about the Greek etymology of the full/solid spheres found in our study. The Greek dictionary gave as contrary prefix of ceno-(empty) the prefixes pleo, pleio or plero. Therefore, either of the following three words could be used: pleosphere, pleiosphere and plerosphere. So in respect of the basis of usage, the correct word is plerosphere; but another interesting discussion could be biased toward the structure of those spheres. Raask [Mineral Impurities in Coal Combustion, Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, Washington, DC, 1985] described plerospheres as spheres containing other smaller solid spheres. The question could concern how to define these smallest spheres which are solid and non-containing others spheres. These small-contained spheres should be plerospheres as correct analogy of cenospheres, while the container should be pleospheres using the pleo meaning as more? 1 as analogy with cenosphere, with typical dimensions ranging between 200 nm and 2–3 μm, whose atomic composition contains a large amount of the trace metals present in the parent oils (Fe, V, Ni, etc). EDX analyses revealed that the metal concentration increases as the plerosphere dimension decreases.