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• França, D
• Longo, K
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• Santos, J
• Freitas, S
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• Carvalho, J
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• França, D
• Longo, K
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• Santos, J
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• Rudorff, B
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• Longo, K
• Neto, T
• Santos, J
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Atmosphere 2012, 3(1), 164-180; doi:10.3390/atmos3010164

Article

Pre-Harvest Sugarcane Burning: Determination of Emission Factors through Laboratory Measurements

Daniela de Azeredo França ^1,* , Karla Maria Longo ² , Turibio Gomes Soares Neto ³ , José Carlos Santos ³ , Saulo R. Freitas ⁴ , Bernardo F. T. Rudorff ¹ , Ely Vieira Cortez ³ , Edson Anselmo ³  and João Andrade Carvalho Jr. ⁵

¹ Remote Sensing Division (DSR), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, SP 12227-010, Brazil ² Earth System Science Center (CCST), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, SP 12227-010, Brazil ³ Combustion and Propulsion Associated Laboratory (LCP), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Cachoeira Paulista, SP 12630-000, Brazil ⁴ Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (CPTEC), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Cachoeira Paulista, SP 12630-000, Brazil ⁵ Energy Department, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Guaratinguetá, SP 12516-410, Brazil

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 2 January 2012; in revised form: 20 January 2012 / Accepted: 31 January 2012 / Published: 15 February 2012

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass Emissions)

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Abstract: Sugarcane is an important crop for the Brazilian economy and roughly 50% of its production is used to produce ethanol. However, the common practice of pre-harvest burning of sugarcane straw emits particulate material, greenhouse gases, and tropospheric ozone precursors to the atmosphere. Even with policies to eliminate the practice of pre-harvest sugarcane burning in the near future, there is still significant environmental damage. Thus, the generation of reliable inventories of emissions due to this activity is crucial in order to assess their environmental impact. Nevertheless, the official Brazilian emissions inventory does not presently include the contribution from pre-harvest sugarcane burning. In this context, this work aims to determine sugarcane straw burning emission factors for some trace gases and particulate material smaller than 2.5 μm in the laboratory. Excess mixing ratios for CO₂, CO, NO_X, UHC (unburned hydrocarbons), and PM_2.5 were measured, allowing the estimation of their respective emission factors. Average estimated values for emission factors (g kg⁻¹ of burned dry biomass) were 1,303 ± 218 for CO₂, 65 ± 14 for CO, 1.5 ± 0.4 for NO_X, 16 ± 6 for UHC, and 2.6 ± 1.6 for PM_2.5. These emission factors can be used to generate more realistic emission inventories and therefore improve the results of air quality models.

Keywords: sugarcane burning; emission factors; experimental fires; CO₂; CO; NO_X; Hydrocarbons; PM_2.5

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