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

This study reports on the emission characteristics of NH3 from coal and biomass combustion in the household stoves. The average NH3 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 NH3 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 NH3 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 NH3 EF of 0.13 mg/g. Our findings indicate that household combustion may be a significant NH3 emission source in developing countries such as China, and demonstrate that utilizing improved combustion technologies is an effective method for reducing these emissions.