Size distribution and number concentration of particles at the stack of a municipal waste incinerator

A large number of particles and gaseous products are generated by waste combustion processes. Of particular importance are the ultrafine particles (less than 0.1 microm in aerodynamic diameter) that are emitted in large quantities from all the combustion sources. Recent findings of toxicological and epidemiological studies indicate that fine and ultrafine particles could represent health and environmental risks. Quantifying particulate emissions from combustion sources is important: (i) to examine the source status in compliance with regulations; (ii) to create inventories of such emissions at local, regional and national levels, for developing appropriate management and control strategies in relation to air quality; (iii) to predict ambient air quality in the areas involved at the source and (iv) to perform source apportionment and exposure assessment for the human populations and/or ecological systems involved. In order to control and mitigate the particles in the view of health and environmental risk reduction, a good understanding of the relative and absolute contribution from the emission sources to the airborne concentrations is necessary. For these purposes, the concentration and size distribution of particles in terms of mass and number in a waste gas of a municipal waste incineration plant were measured in the stack gas. The mass concentrations obtained are well below the imposed daily threshold value for both incineration lines and the mass size distribution is on average very stable. The total number concentrations are between 1 x 10(5) and 2 x 10(5)particles/cm(3) and are on average relatively stable from one test to another. The measured values and the comparison with other point sources show a very low total number concentration of particles at the stack gas, revealing the importance of the flue gas treatment also for ultrafine particles. Also in respect to linear sources (high and light duty vehicles), the comparison shows a negligible emission in terms of the total number of particles.