Quantifying Emissions from Burning Kentucky Bluegrass Seed Fields. (3877)
Authors:
W.J. Johnston* - Washington State Univ.
C.T. Golob - Washington State Univ.
M.D. Schaaf - Air Sciences Inc.
M.D. Schreuder - Air Sciences Inc.
Abstract:
Concern over the health impact of emissions from open-field burning of grass seed fields has pointed to the need for information on grass fire emissions. The objective of this study was to quantify emissions from grass seed production fields where residue had been removed by baling and fields with typical post-harvest residue loads. There were six, 1.62-ha burn units at three sites in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Bailing reduced the residue on fields by 4940 kg ha-1; however, following burning the same amount of residue remained on the field regardless of initial loading. Residue consumption (RC) increased with pre-burn residue loading;
therefore, baling was an effective method to reduce residue consumption. There was no relationship between consumption and soil moisture or any environmental factor monitored. There was a positive relationship between EFCO2 and combustion efficiency (CE) and negative relationships between CE and EFCO and EFCH4. Both RCabsolute and EFPM2.5 were required to predict total PM2.5 emissions at any site.
Baling did not reduced total PM2.5 emissions at one site, but did reduce total PM2.5 emissions by 66% at other sites.
Speaker Information: William Johnston, Washington State Univ., Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Pullman, WA 99164-6420; Phone: 509-335-3620; E-mail:
Session Information: Tuesday, November 2, 2004, 1:00 PM-3:00 PM Presentation Start: 1:00 PM (Poster Board Number: 0933)
Keywords: Emissions; Post-harvest field burning; Kentucky bluegrass; Seed production fields