Abstract. Residential solid biomass cookstoves are important sources of aerosol emissions in India. Cookstove emission rates are largely based on laboratory experiments conducted using the standard water-boiling test, but real-world emissions are often higher owing to different stove designs, fuels, and cooking methods. Constraining mass emission factors (EFs) for prevalent cookstoves is important because they serve as inputs to bottom-up emission inventories used to evaluate health and climate impacts. Real-world EFs were measured during winter, 2015, for a traditional cookstove (chulha) burning fuel-wood (FW), agricultural residue (AG) and dung (DG) from different regions of India. Average (±95 % confidence interval) EFs for FW, AG, and DG were: 1) PM2.5 mass: 6.8 (4.7–9.4) g kg−1, 7.1 (3.9–11.8) g kg−1, and 14.5 (7.5–25.3) g kg−1, respectively; 2) elemental carbon (EC): 0.6 (0.4–0.9) g kg−1, 1.0 (0.4–2.0) g kg−1, and 0.6 (0.3–1.3) g kg−1, respectively; and 3) Organic carbon (OC): 3.1 (2.0–4.6) g kg−1, 4.5 (2.3–8.0) g kg−1, and 8.2 (4.2–15.01) g kg−1, respectively. The mean (±95 % confidence interval) OC-to-EC mass ratios were 6.5 (4.5–9.1), 7.6 (4.4–12.2), and 12.7 (8.8–17.8), respectively, with OC and EC quantified by the IMPROVE_A thermal/optical reflectance protocol. These real-world EFs are higher than those from laboratory-based measurements. Combustion conditions have larger effects on EFs than the fuel-types. We also report the carbon mass fractions of our aerosol samples determined using the thermal-optical reflectance method. The mass fraction profiles are consistent between the three fuel categories, but markedly different from those reported in past literature.
Interactive comment on “ Properties and emission factors of CCN from biomass cookstoves – observations of a strong dependency on potassium content in the fuel” by Thomas Bjerring Kristensen et al.
