Emissions of air pollutants from indoor charcoal barbecue.

Ten types of commercial charcoal commonly used in Taiwan were investigated to study the potential health effects of air pollutants generated during charcoal combustion in barbecue restaurants. The charcoal samples were combusted in a tubular high-temperature furnace to simulate the high-temperature charcoal combustion in barbecue restaurants. The results indicated that traditional charcoal has higher heating value than green synthetic charcoal. The amount of PM10 and PM2.5 emitted during the smoldering stage increased when the burning temperature was raised. The EF for CO and CO2 fell within the range of 68-300 and 644-1225 g/kg, respectively. Among the charcoals, the lowest EF for PM2.5 and PM10 were found in Binchotan (B1). Sawdust briquette charcoal (I1S) emitted the smallest amount of carbonyl compounds. Charcoal briquettes (C2S) emitted the largest amount of air pollutants during burning, with the EF for HC, PM2.5, PM10, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde being the highest among the charcoals studied. The emission of PM2.5, PM10, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde were 5-10 times those of the second highest charcoal. The results suggest that the adverse effects of the large amounts of air pollutants generated during indoor charcoal combustion on health and indoor air quality must not be ignored.

Removal of vaporous naphthalene using polyoxyethylenated nonionic surfactants.

Previous research has demonstrated that an anionic surfactant can increase the solubility of the vapor phases of both naphthalene and sulfur dioxide in water. This study examines the feasibility of removing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during gas absorption by adding the polyoxyethylenated nonionic surfactants tetraethylene glycol monodecyl ether (C10E4), octaethylene glycol monodecyl ether (C10E8), and octaethylene glycol monotetradecyl ether (C14E8), to water. The apparent solubility and absorption rates of naphthalene in surfactant solution were slightly higher than in pure water at a concentration lower than the critical micelle concentration (CMC). However, the apparent equilibrium naphthalene solubility increased linearly in proportion to the concentrations of nonionic surfactants because of the solubilization effect of micelles at concentrations above the CMC. The solubilization effect exceeded that of the reduced mass transfer coefficient, increasing the rate of absorption of vaporous naphthalene. For the four surfactants, the capacity to solubilize naphthalene was in the order C10E4 > C14E8 > C10E8 > sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and was related to the hydrophile-lipophile balance values of the surfactants. The enrichment factors, which can express the degree of naphthalene solubility in solution, were 6.09-14.2 at a surfactant concentration of 0.01 M for the three polyoxyethylenated nonionic surfactants. Empirical findings confirm that adding nonionic surfactants increases the absorption efficiency of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) using spray or packed tower.