scholarly journals Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Content in Ash from Solid Fuel Combustion in Low-Power Boilers

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6801
Author(s):  
Ewa Szatyłowicz ◽  
Wojciech Walendziuk

The production of thermal energy is one of the sources of environmental pollution, especially when it uses traditional fossil fuels (in particular hard and brown coal). Burning conventional fuels contributes to air pollution because of emitting gases and producing waste after the process of burning in the form of ash. The work below was aimed at determining the indirect emission of PAHs in the form of fly ash, depending on the type of fuel burned. The conducted research showed which solid fuel combustion content leaves the lowest content of PAH in the fly ash. This work contains the analysis and assessment of the content of 16 PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in fly ash from the combustion of five selected solid fuels in low-power boilers. The following fuels were chosen for the research: hard coal with granulation above 60 mm, coal with the grain size of 25–80 mm, coal with the grain size of 8–25 mm, pellets with the grain size of 6 mm, and mixed dry wood. The results of the research showed that the most frequent and most concentrated compounds were naphthalene and acenaphthylene from the PAH group. These hydrocarbons have the smallest number of rings in a molecule. It was also found that the content of the LMW (Low Molecular Weight Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) fractions in the fly ash from the analyzed fuels in ∑PAHs exceeds 57% in the case of 6 mm pellets and in the case of the ash from wood and hard coal when the grain size >60 mm. The opposite dependence can be observed in the case of the HMW (High Molecular Weight Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) fraction.

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 88-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Košnář Zdeněk ◽  
Tlustoš Pavel

Phytoremediation using maize (Zea mays L.) assisted by the compost or vermicompost amendments was the most appropriate strategy for bioremediation of soil contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) derived from biomass fly ash. Higher removal of low molecular weight PAHs than medium and high molecular weight PAHs within the same treatment were observed. The total PAH content in planted soil with compost or vermicompost was decreased in a range between 62.9–64.9%. There were no significant differences (P < 0.05) between the compost and vermicompost amendments on the total removal of ash-PAHs. The content of PAH derived by ash did not have adverse effect on maize cultivation and biomass yield. The contribution of PAH reduction by maize roots on the soil total PAH removal was negligible. Therefore, maize significantly boosted the PAH removal in soil. The harvested maize shoots did not represent any environmental risk.


Author(s):  
Sultan Hassan Alamri ◽  
Nadeem Ali ◽  
Hussain Mohammed Salem Ali Albar ◽  
Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid ◽  
Nisreen Rajeh ◽  
...  

To control the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Saudi Arabia’s government imposed a strict lockdown during March–July 2020. As a result, the public was confined to indoors, and most of their daily activities were happening in their indoor places, which might have resulted in lower indoor environment quality. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in household dust (n = 40) collected from different residential districts of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the lockdown period. PAHs’ levels were two folds higher than the previously reported PAHs in indoor dust from this region. We detected low molecular weight (LMW) with two to four aromatic ring PAHs in all the samples with a significant contribution from Phenanthrene (Phe), present at an average concentration of 1590 ng/g of dust. Although high molecular weight (HMW) (5–6 aromatic ring) PAHs were detected at lower concentrations than LMW PAHs, however, they contributed >90% in the carcinogenic index of PAHs. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of specific PAHs was above the reference dose (RfD) for young children in high-end exposure and the calculated Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) was >1.00 × 10−4 for both Saudi adults and young children. The study highlighted that indoor pollution has increased significantly during lockdown due to the increased indoor activities and inversely affect human health. This study also warrants to conduct more studies involving different chemicals to understand the indoor environment quality during strict lockdown conditions.


Author(s):  
Laura DOBOS ◽  
Carmen PUIA

Crude oil is a highly complex mixture of hydrocarbons amounting to hundreds of individual compounds with different chemical structure and molecular weight plus a series of lower molecular weight compounds other than hydrocarbons (phenols, thiols, naphthenic acids, heterocyclic compounds with N (pyridines, pyrrole, indole, s.o.) compounds S (alkyl thiols, thiophene, etc.) (Zarnea, 1994). Mineral oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) creates larger environmental problems. They are considered particularly dangerous. In this regard, EPA Agency from U.S.A. includes a number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons under 16 priority pollutants, which require special attention. IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) has identified 15 types of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons including six of the 16 types of PAHs, identifiable by the USEPA as having carcinogenic properties (Chauhan Archana et al., 2008).


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