Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657

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Fuel Processing Technology

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Invited review article

An overview of inorganic particulate matter emission from coal/biomass/

MSW combustion: Sampling and measurement, formation, distribution,
inorganic composition and influencing factors
Wu Yang a, b, Deepak Pudasainee b, Rajender Gupta b, Wei Li a, b, Ben Wang a, *, Lushi Sun a
a
State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
b
Department of Chemical and Material Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This paper systematically reviews the PM sampling and measurement methods, formation mechanisms, distri­
Particulate matter (PM) bution, inorganic composition and the factors influencing PM emission during combustion of coal/biomass/
Emission MSW. Particle sampling and measurement methods are developing rapidly utilizing various techniques, however,
Coal
the direct sampling techniques for particle in the high temperature flue gas is still lacking. Particle is generated
Biomass
by a series of physical processes (evaporation, condensation, fragmentation etc.) and chemical reaction processes
MSW
Combustion of inorganic mineral components and organically bound metal compounds in the solid fuels. The available
literature data shows that the emission of coarse particles from coal combustion is generally higher than that
from biomass, while the emission of ultrafine and fine particle from biomass combustion is higher than that of
coal. Particle emission is related to a variety of influencing factors such as solid fuels particle size, inherent ash
content, mineral properties, binding form of inorganic elements, combustion parameters (temperature, pressure,
residence time, oxygen concentration etc.) and ash chemical composition. The content of Na, K, S, Cl, Si and Al
plays a decisive role in PM10 emissions, the (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) ratio of ash can be used as an index to
predict the yield of PM0.3 in coal and biomass combustion.

1. Introduction
Combustion of solid fuels (coal, biomass and MSW (municipal solid
waste)) inevitably generate atmospheric pollutants such as SO2, NOx,
CO, and PM (particulate matter) [1–4]. When these pollutants are
released into the atmosphere in large quantities, they cause serious harm
to the human health and pollute the ecological environment. Although
countries around the world have imposed strict regulatory limit on the
release of such pollutants from the thermal utilization of solid fuels, it is
estimated that annually number of premature deaths caused by atmo­
spheric pollutants (mainly caused by PM2.5) is about 3.3 million people
worldwide, mainly in Asia [5]. PM emission has become the main cause
of air pollution in most of the industrially developed urban areas [6].
The size, source and chemical composition have a significant effect
on the properties of the particles. Generally, PM can be classified ac­
cording to particle size. PM0.1, PM2.5 and PM10 refers to ultrafine par­
ticles, fine particles and coarse particles, respectively, and their
aerodynamic diameters are respectively less than 0.1 μm, 2.5 μm and 10
μm. The chemical composition and source of particles of different sizes
in the atmospheric environment are different [7,8], as shown in Fig.1.
Although ultrafine and fine particles only account for a relatively
small portion of the particles emitted from the combustion sources, since
they have characteristics of long residence time, long distance transport
and high toxic adsorption capacity they do a great harm to the envi­
ronment [9,10]. Medical research have shown that particles with
different size have different deposition trends in the human respiratory
system [7]. PM10 is mainly deposited in the upper airways through
sedimentation impaction. PM2.5 can be deposited in the lungs and
bronchi through sedimentation and Brownian diffusion. Ultrafine par­
ticles PM0.1 can reach to the alveoli via breathing [11]. Ultrafine par­
ticles can migrate into the blood circulation and deposit in the spleen,
liver or brain, depending upon the chemical nature it can cause various
diseases such as cancer, heart disease and asthma [12,13]. Particulate
emissions during the combustion of solid fuels have become one of the

* Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
430074 Wuhan, China.
E-mail address: benwang@hust.edu.cn (B. Wang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2020.106657
Received 20 August 2020; Received in revised form 24 October 2020; Accepted 27 October 2020
Available online 5 November 2020
0378-3820/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
W. Yang et al.
major sources of atmospheric PM pollution [14].
In the past few decades, with the increasingly problems related to PM
emission and the rapid development of particulate sampling and mea­
surement technologies, the researches on the formation and emission of
PM from the combustion process are increasing. The PM sampling is
affected by many factors. High- temperature flue gas particle sampling
requires high corrosion resistant and high temperature resistant equip­
ment materials. In addition, the sampling process is greatly affected by
flue gas cooling rate and flue gas dilution [15]. Low- temperature flue
gas particle sampling does not require high performance of equipment
materials, but it is easy to be affected by condensable gases (SO2, etc.)
and water vapor condensation [16]. When studying the PM formation in
the combustion process of solid fuels, the selection of particle sampling
technology and temperature affect the physical and chemical properties
of the collected particles.
The available literature shows that the particle size distribution and
inorganic elements composition of the PM generated during combustion
of different types of solid fuels (coal, biomass and MSW) are significantly
different [17–25]. From the perspective of solid fuel characteristics, coal
has relatively higher ash content and usually contains high content of S
and Na [26,27], biomass contains high content of K [24], and MSW
composition is complex and contains more Na, K, Cl and heavy metals
[28]. K, Na, Cl, S are the main constituent elements of particulate
matter, the difference in composition and content of these elements in
raw materials will greatly affect the characteristics of PM generated
from combustion [29].
PM formation during solid fuels combustion has been widely studied,
the published literature review mainly focuses on the mechanism of PM
formation during coal combustion [29], PM formation and emission
from biomass combustion [30,31], PM emission from MSW incineration
[32], ash particle sticking and rebound behavior [33], industrial particle
removal technology [34], etc. These reviews mainly focus on the PM
formation mechanism or emission characteristic of a certain type of solid
fuel, or the physical and chemical properties of particle. A review is
required to provide detailed information on the latest PM sampling and
measurement techniques, as well as particle formation, emission and
characteristics during combustion of various solid fuels.
This paper reviews the emission characteristics and the factors
influencing PM formation during combustion of solid fuels such as coal/
Fig. 1. Comparison of characteristics of PM with different particle sizes [7]. Particle size of PM0.1, PM2.5 and PM10 compared with human hair and fine beach
sand [8].
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Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
biomass/MSW. The paper strives to explore the commonalities of PM
generation and emission characteristics during the combustion of solid
fuels. The major focus of this review paper is as follows:
(1) Particulate sampling/measurement methods and technologies at
low- and high-temperature flue gas environment.
(2) The formation mechanism, particle size distribution, character­
istics and inorganic elements composition of PM generated from
solid fuels combustion.
(3) The influence of solid fuels particle size and mineral properties;
inorganic elements binding form, ash content and composition;
combustion temperature and residence time, pressure and oxy­
gen concentration; co-combustion, pre-treatment and additives
on particulate emissions.
This review will be helpful to improve the understanding of partic­
ulate formation and emission characteristics during solid fuels com­
bustion and will be of great significance for future research on particle
formation inhibition and development of more efficient emission control
technologies.
2. Development of PM sampling and measurement methods and
technologies
2.1. Particle sampling and measurement methods
With the aerosol particle gradually attracting researcher’s attention
in the last century, PM sampling and measurement technologies are also
booming. In the early period, PM sampling methods were mainly based
on impaction, thermal and electrostatic precipitation and filtration. The
particulate sampling equipment during this period mainly included
Konimeters, Cascade Impactors, Impingers, Thermal Precipitators,
Electric Precipitators, Filters, etc. [35]. These sampling instruments are
usually manufactured in the laboratory, rather than commercial pro­
duction. With the improvement of particle sampling theory and the
development of technologies, commercial particle sampling equipment
was designed and manufactured. According to the research purpose, flue
gas particle sampling methods can be divided into low- and high- tem­
perature flue gas sampling technology. The main purpose of sampling
W. Yang et al. Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657

flue gas particles at high-temperature is to study the condensation quite different, and the application environment is different too. For
nucleation process of aerosol particles [15,36], while the main purpose example, LPI, DLPI, DLPI+ and BLPI are suitable for large particle
of sampling flue gas particles at low-temperature is to study the sampling, commonly used to measure particle size distribution. These
morphology, physical and chemical properties and nucleation mecha­ are currently the most frequently used particle sampling equipments in
nism of particles [16,37]. laboratories around the world [40–44]. SMPS, FMPS, APS are suitable
At present, the relatively advanced and commercially available low for real-time online measurement of particle size concentration and
temperature particle sampling and measurement techniques are mainly distribution of nanoparticles and submicron particles [44]. DMA is
LPI, DLPI, DLPI+, ELPI, ELPI+, FMPS, TEOM, APS, SMPS, MOUDI, OPC, suitable for measuring the particle size distribution with smaller particle
DMA, etc., as shown in Table 1. The temperature range of low- tem­ sizes [43]. ELPI and ELPI+ have a wider particle size measurement range
perature particle sampling technology is about 25–150 ◦ C, it can be used [30], their application frequency in laboratory research are less than
to classify and collect particulate of different sizes and also measure the DLPI, and the particle size distribution and concentration can be
particle number concentrations and mass size distributions. measured online [45,46]. TEOM can be used for a real-time continuous
Sampling temperature has a great influence on the concentration, concentration measurement of PM and is usually used to monitor the
morphology and chemical composition of particles. In industrial boilers, concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 in the air. OPC is often used to count
the high-temperature flue gas cooling process can cause significant the number of particles in the micron or nanometer range. MOUDI is one
changes in particle concentration and chemical compositions. The flue of the most widely used aerosol particle multi-stage collision samplers in
gas temperature inside the boiler even can be above 1000 ◦ C, when the the world, commonly used in atmospheric environment and engine
PM from high-temperature flue gas in the boiler needs to be measured, exhaust aerosol measurement. MOUDI is commonly used in 10- and 13-
the particulate sampling methods presented in Table 1 cannot be stages with a cut diameter of 56 nm-18 μm or 0.18 μm–18 μm,
directly used. In order to solve this problem, some researchers [38,39] respectively.
have designed high-temperature aerosol particulate sampling device
that can work in a higher temperature environment (more than 2.1.2. Direct particle sampling and measurement methods for high
1000 ◦ C), based on the principle of impact sampling. The details of temperature flue gas
particle sampling and measurement methods at low- and high- Particulate matter and fly ash particles in high temperature flue gas
temperature are discussed in section 2.1.1 and 2.1.2. of boiler cause serious corrosion and ash deposition to superheater pipe
and boiler wall [50,51]. The chemical composition of particulate matter
2.1.1. Particle sampling and measurement methods for flue gas at low changes under high temperature and low temperature condensation. In
temperature order to study the formation process of particulate matter in flue gas at
The particle sampling equipments, particle collection size range and high temperature, flue gas sampling at high temperature is a difficult
measurement principle for particle sampling from combustion flue gas technical problem at present.
are summarized in Table 1. The particle sampling size range and particle Schumacher et al. [39] directly sampled particles in the high-
distribution measurement method of different sampling equipments are temperature flue gas from the waste incinerator by using a custom-
made two-stage high-temperature sampling tube as shown in Fig. 2
(b). The sampler was made up of high-temperature- and corrosion-
Table 1 resistant 1.4841 steel (SUS 314). A layer of ceramic paste on the screw
Summary of laboratory low temperature particle sampling and measurement heads was used to prevent screw corrosion and melting. The sampling
methods. [30,40,47–49]. probe can be used directly in the MSW incineration boiler for a long
Sampling Full name of Sample size Measurement time. The internal structure of the probe is shown in Fig. 2 (a). The
methods sampling methods range sampling substrate was cooled in an inert nitrogen atmosphere to avoid
LPI Low Pressure 30 nm-10 μm Mass size distribution excessive temperature. After the high-temperature flue gas enters the
Impactor probe, larger particles are sampled on the impaction plate under the
DLPI Dekati Low Pressure 30 nm-10 μm Mass size distribution action of inertia. This process avoids clogging of the filter substrate used
Impactor
to collect small particles. The two-stage probe can collect a wide range of
DLPI +
Dekati Low Pressure 16 nm-10 μm Mass size distribution
Impactor Plus
particles from several 10 nm to several 100 μm. Fig. 2 (c) shows the
BLPI Berner-type Low 10 nm-10 μm Mass size distribution sampler after being used at 1250 ◦ C inside the furnace.
Pressure Impactor In order to explore the formation pathways of aerosol particles in the
DMA Differential 10 nm-0.8 μm Mass size distribution process of waste incineration, Brunner et al. [38] designed a high-
Electrical Mobility
temperature low-pressure impactor (HTI), which can be directly used
Method
ELPI Electrical Low 7 nm-10 μm Number concentration to sample and measure high-temperature flue gas particles. As shown in
Pressure Impactor and distribution Fig. 2 (d), HTI is divided into 8 levels, and each level includes stagnation
ELPI Electrical Low 6 nm-10 μm Number concentration plate, orifice plate and spacer ring. The high-temperature flue gas
+

Pressure Impactor and distribution entrained with aerosol particles flow with the internal pores and chan­
plus
FMPS First Mobility 5.6 nm-0.56 number concentrations
nels after being inhaled. The larger particles stay on the stagnation plate
Particle Sizer μm and size distributions covered with platinum (Pt) sampling foil after impact under the inertia,
TEOM Tapered Element Depends on Real-time concentration and the smaller particles enter the next stage with the flue gas flow. The
Oscillating Micro precutting of PM10 or PM2.5 cutting diameter of each stage is determined by the volume flow inside
Balance
the impactor, the number and diameter of the same orifice, and the
APS Aerodynamic 0.5 μm–20 μm Number size distribution
Particle Sizer distance between the orifice and the stop plate, which has a functional
Spectrometer relationship with flue gas temperature.
SMPS Scanning Mobility 2.5 nm-1 μm Number concentration Although the above mentioned techniques have been continuously
Particle Sizer and corresponding size improved over time, direct flue gas sampling technology still encounters
distribution
MOUDI Micro-Orifice 56 nm-18 μm Mass size distribution
difficulties in sampling high- temperature mixtures of gases, particles,
Uniform Deposition or 0.18 μm–18 and inorganic vapors in the furnace [52,53]. Since the saturation pres­
Impactor μm sure of the inorganic salt vapor basically disappears at low temperature,
OPC Optical Particle 0.1 μm–10 μm Number of particles nucleation or condensation processes occur when the sample tempera­
Counter
ture decreases, which will lead to changes in the properties of the

3
W. Yang et al. Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657

Fig. 2. Two-stage particle sampling probe [39]: (a) Cross section of the probe, (b) Probe mounted on the holder which is screwed on a lance, (C) Probe after used in
the combustion chamber at 1250 ◦ C. High-temperature impactor (HTI) [38]: (d) Scheme of the high-temperature impactor, (e) HTI after high temperature
measurement.

particles collected from the sample [36,54]. In addition, in the sampling
and measurement process, high corrosiveness, high temperature melting
and high particle concentration are obstacles that the high-temperature
flue gas sampling and measurement equipment must overcome in the
complex furnace environment. Therefore, in order to study the forma­
tion process of particulate matter from solid fuels combustion, a more
reliable method is needed to sample and collect condensable particles.
The new direct sampling technology of high- temperature flue gas par­
ticulates in furnace needs further attention.
2.2. The influence factors of PM sampling in flue gas
In the sampling process of flue gas particulate matter, the chemical
composition, concentration and particle size distribution are easily
affected by various factors such as the sampling and measurement
methods, flue gas dilution and sampling temperature. [47,55–57]
2.2.1. The influence of sampling/measurement method
Nussbaumer et al. [57] found that the particles produced from
biomass combustion were a mixture of organic and inorganic compo­
nents formed by solid particles and condensate, as shown in Fig. 3. The
particles collected using three methods: Filter, Filter + Impinger and
Dilution Tunnel were significantly different. In the Filter sampling
method, the volatile organic substances in the flue gas were not easy to
condense, so only the solid particle components in the PM can be
collected. In the Filter + Impinger sampling method, the solid particles
and condensate in the PM can be collected, but the collected particles
were larger than the total PM due to the dissolution of soluble gas (such
as SO2). In the Dilution Tunnel sampling method, the organic com­
pounds in the form of liquid or solid in the flue gas are volatilized due to
temperature and pressure changes caused by dilution, which will cause
the sampling particle to be lower than the total PM. Therefore, sampling
methods should be selected carefully to take into account the physical

Fig. 3. Comparison of particle matter compounds under different sampling methods. [57].

4
W. Yang et al.
and chemical properties of the PM to reduce measurement errors.
PM: Particulate Matter, SP: Solid Particles, SPC: Solid Particles+
Condensable, C: Condensable, DT: Dilution Tunnel.
The particulate sampling method affects the particle concentration
measured in the experiment. Wang et al. [44] used the combination of
BLPI, SMPS, and APS to improve the measurement accuracy of particle
concentration measurement from biomass combustion. They reported
that the concentration measured by BLPI was generally higher than that
of SMPS and APS. SMPS and APS can provide better resolution than BLPI
in the submicron particle size range. However, subject to the optimized
concentration limit, when the particle concentration exceeds the stan­
dard, the concentration measured by the SMPS method will be lower
than the normal value. Pagels et al. [58] compared the measured con­
centrations of different sampling methods and found that the SMPS
method would result in a larger concentration of particles with a
diameter greater than 0.2 μm. The measurement results from SMPS and
ELPI in the sub-micron range were consistent but in the ultra-micron
range, the particle concentration measurements of ELPI, DLPI, and
APS were in the order of ELPI>DLPI>APS.
2.2.2. The influence of flue gas dilution technology
Sampling methods such as ELPI, DLPI, OPC, SMPS cannot be directly
used to measure the particle concentration in flue gas at high temper­
ature, flue gas needs to be diluted first [56]. High particle concentration
may cause particle measurement errors [44]. Taking the OPC mea­
surement method as an example, in case of high particle concentration,
OPC can easily counts multiple particles as one particle [58]. Therefore,
in an actual measurement, OPC measurement must be performed in a
diluted flue gas environment to avoid over counting of particles and to
ensure measurement accuracy. A large number of researchers have
designed various high-temperature flue gas dilution methods, such as
porous tube + ejector [55], rotating disk diluter [59], dilution probe
[56], dilution tunnel [60] and ejector diluter [61,62], etc. Different flue
gas dilution processes have an impact on the measurement results. The
research by Shin et al. [55] and Hildema et al. [60] showed that the
generation of condensable particles can lead to an inaccurate measure­
ments of fine particle concentration during the dilution of high-
temperature flue gas. Habib et al. [63] showed that using a low dilu­
tion ratio may overestimate the mass of aerosol particles, while using a
high dilution ratio and low residence time may limit the formation of
particles and underestimate the aerosol mass. Chemical reactions in
particulate matter caused by flue gas cooling process can also cause
problems. Jiménez et al. [36] pointed out that in the flue gas dilution
process, the use of inert cold gas (such as N2) to dilute the high-
temperature flue gas can ensure the quench of the chemical reaction
by rapidly cooling down and reducing the partial pressure of reactants,
thus reducing the change in the characteristics of particulate matter
caused by the sampling process.
2.2.3. The influence of flue gas sampling temperature
Gao et al. [47] studied the effects of flue gas sampling temperatures
(25–115 ◦ C) on the inorganic components and mass distribution of PM in
the flue gas during biomass combustion. They found that the sampling
temperature above and below the dew point of SO3 has a greater in­
fluence on the element distribution and mass particle size distribution of
PM10 particles. As the sampling temperature decreases, the volatile al­
kali metal salts, chloride salts and other substances in PM1 coagulates,
which promotes the transfer of fine particle mass and element distri­
bution to larger size particles. Therefore, properly increasing the sam­
pling temperature can reduce the errors caused by gravity sedimentation
and acid gas condensation and improve the measurement accuracy.
In summary, affected by the sampling technique and flue gas envi­
ronment, a single particle measurement technique often fails to meet the
researcher’s requirements. During flue gas measurement, it is necessary
to use a combination of multiple particulate measurement techniques to
overcome the limitations of a single measurement technique in terms of
5
Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
particle size range, sampling concentration and accuracy. The direct PM
sampling technology that is applied at the high-temperature flue gas
environment inside the boiler is not yet perfect, and further research is
needed. When using low-temperature flue gas sampling and measure­
ment methods to measure high-temperature flue gas in the furnace, the
flue gas dilution process cannot be ignored. Designing an optimized
dilution equipment, finding a reasonable dilution ratio, choosing resi­
dence time and sampling temperature are of great significance for
improving the measurement accuracy of particle concentration.
3. Formation mechanism and emission characteristics of PM
from solid fuels combustion
3.1. Particle formation mechanism
Solid fuels combustion generally goes through four stages: drying,
devolatilization, burning of volatile substances and burning of char
[33]. During the entire combustion process, the inorganic mineral
components and organically bound metals compounds in the solid fuels
gradually release volatile alkali metal salts, chloride salts, sulfate salts or
heavy metal salts etc. while forming ash through a series of physical and
chemical processes [64]. On the one hand, organic composition will
significantly affects the swelling, permeability and volatile evolution
rates of solid fuel particles and thus influencing the size of char particles
after high temperature heating [65]. On the other hand, The PM for­
mation is also closely related to the inorganic matter transformation
process [66,67], as shown in Fig. 4. The generation of ash particles is
also related to the form of minerals in solid fuel and the structure of char
during combustion [68,69], as shown in Fig. 5. The nucleation mecha­
nism of particulate matter greatly affects the physical and chemical
properties of particles, and particle size distribution, inorganic element
composition and morphology are of great significance to the health risk
assessment of particulate matter [9,11]. The formation mechanism of
ultrafine particles, fine particles and coarse particles are different
[29,70–73], as described below.
Ultrafine particles: During the combustion process of solid fuels, al­
kali metals and trace elements are generally easy to generate volatile
chloride, sulfate, phosphate, hydroxide and other inorganic salt vapor
[74,75]. Refractory elements in coal, such as Si, may also form gaseous
SiO2 or secondary Si-bearing compounds at high temperatures [76].
Generally, as the flue gas cools in biomass or MSW combustion, the al­
kali sulfate in the flue gas firstly undergoes homogeneous nucleation,
and then the alkali chloride, phosphate, hydroxide vapor, etc. subse­
quently undergo heterogeneous condensation and aggregation pro­
cesses, gradually grows on alkali sulfate particles [28,75,77–79]. In coal
combustion, gas phase precursors vaporized by refractory mineral (Si,
Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, etc.) at different combustion stages, together with vol­
atile alkali metals, can also form ultrafine ash particles through nucle­
ation (homogeneous/ heterogeneous) and condensation processes [80].
The composition of ultrafine particles is not static, it depends on the
content of Na, K, Cl, S, Si and other elements in the fuel [42,81–83].
Fine particles: Fine particles are an intermediate between ultrafine
and coarse particles, which has been widely demonstrated in coal,
biomass and MSW combustion [28,29,82,83]. From the morphological
point of view, fine particles mainly include two kinds of molten solids
and agglomerate (fractal agglomerate form) particles, wherein the
molten solid shape particles are mainly composed of silicate or
aluminum silicate [28,77]. Precipitation of inherently fine inorganic
minerals, fine mineral particles fragmentation, aggregation between
ultrafine particles rich in volatile alkali metal salts and uneven
condensation of evaporative substances on fine residual ash particles are
the major pathways of its formation [29,73,77,83,84].
Coarse particles: Coarse particles are mainly composed of unburned
carbon and high melting point compounds formed by the combination of
inorganic elements such as Ca, Si, Al, Fe, Mg etc. [72,85,86]. The coarser
particles formation process is closely related to the conversion of
W. Yang et al.
Fig. 4. PM10 formation and inorganic matter transformations during solid fuels combustion. Reprinted from reference [28, 66, 67].
Fig. 5. Ash particle formation from char particles with different structures. Reprinted from reference [68, 69].
inorganic minerals during the combustion of solid fuels [19]. Minerals
can be classified into two types: external minerals and internal minerals
[68], as shown in Fig. 5. Internal minerals are related to the solid fuel
matrix, including dispersed minerals and organically bound elements,
whereas external minerals are discrete minerals that are less associated
with carbonaceous materials [33,69]. The formation of PM results from
the combined effect of melt polymerization of internal minerals and
fragmentation of external minerals [69]. In addition, the fragmentation
of carbon particles resulting from incomplete combustion of char, ag­
gregation and agglomeration of fine particles were also an important
pathway of coarse particles formation [72,87].
3.2. Particle size distribution characteristics
In an experimental study of ash particles, PM10 and smaller size
particles are generally collected using the sampling method summarized
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Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
in Chapter 2 (ELPI, DLPI), while PM10+ with large particle size are
generally collected in a cyclone separator. The particle size distribution
of fly ash produced from solid fuels combustion generally exhibits a
typical trimodal distribution characteristic [33]. The formation mech­
anism of ultrafine particles, fine particles and coarse particles during
combustion of different types of solid fuels are basically the same, but
the particle size distribution is significantly different. It can be seen from
Fig. 6 that the coarse ash particle produced from coal combustion was
generally higher than biomass, but the finer ash particle was signifi­
cantly lower than biomass. The chemical composition of particles with
different particle sizes was also significantly different, the specific dif­
ferences will be discussed in following sections.
PM10 is the most harmful part of solid fuel ash, so it has been paid
more attention in recent years. As shown in Fig.7 and Fig. 8, PM10
produced from the combustion of coal and biomass usually exhibits a
typical bimodal particle size distribution. The particle size distribution
W. Yang et al.
Fig. 6. Typical particle size distribution of ash from bituminous coal and straw combustion. [33].
Fig. 7. Particle size distribution of PM10 in coal combustion. [42,82,90–97].
was closely related to fuel characteristics, temperature and pretreat­
ment. The coarse particle produced from the combustion of a low rank
coal was generally more than that of high rank coal, and the ultrafine
particle produced by the combustion of high alkali coal was generally
more than that of low alkali coal [42]. Higher combustion temperature
was favorable to the formation of fine particles, which reduced the
coarse particles and the peak value of fine particle also moved toward
the direction of small size [66,88]. Biomass combustion usually pro­
duces more fine particles than coal, however, after carbonization or
torrefaction pretreatment, fine particle emissions were significantly
reduced [89].
3.3. Distribution and transformation characteristics of major elements in
PM10
3.3.1. Distribution characteristics of major elements in PM10
Table 2 summarizes the composition of PM10 produced from the
combustion of different solid fuels (coal, biomass and solid waste). The
elemental composition of ultrafine, fine and coarse particle in Table 2 is
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Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
arranged in descending order of element mass percentage, and only the
inorganic mineral elements with a mass ratio greater than 10% are lis­
ted. PM10 particulate matter generated from solid fuels combustion was
mainly composed of Cl, S, Na, K, Si, Al, Ca, Fe, Mg and P. Through
comparative analysis, it can be seen that the composition and proportion
of basic elements in ultrafine, fine and coarse particles generated from
the combustion of coal, biomass and solid waste were quite different.
Generally, the ultrafine particles produced from coal combustion
were mainly composed of a refractory elements such as Fe, Si, Mg, Ca
and a small amount of S, Na, Cl and K [73,101]. The content of S and
alkali metals in coal has a great influence on ultrafine particle distri­
bution. When high‑sulfur coal was burned, the proportion of S element
in ultrafine particles dominates [67,93,102]. When high-alkali coal was
burned, the proportion of Na element in ultrafine particles dominates
[42,92,95]. The coarse particles produced from coal combustion were
mainly composed of Ca-Si-Al, Si–Al, Fe-Si-Al, Na-Si-Al, Ca-Mg-rich, Si-
rich, Ca-rich and Fe-rich [72,108,109]. The proportions of Ca and Si
elements in coarse particles are relatively high and the order of their
mass proportions depends on the relative content of CaO and SiO2 in the
W. Yang et al.
Fig. 8. Particle size distribution of PM10 in biomass combustion. (T-260/ T-270/ T-300: Torrefaction at 260 ◦ C/ 270 ◦ C/ 300 ◦ C, S-500: Slow pyrolysis at 500 ◦ C) [17,
18, 66, 85, 89, 98, 99].
coal matrix. The mineral salt components formed by Si, Al and Mg have
a good adsorption effect on alkali chloride and sulfate [110,111], which
can effectively reduce the yield of fine particles generated from coal
combustion and high corrosive components (NaCl, Na2SO4, etc.) [112].
In the ultrafine particles generated from biomass combustion, K is
dominant followed by Cl, S, and Na elements, as shown in Table 2. The
coarse particles generated from biomass combustion mainly contains Si
and Ca and a smaller proportion of Al, K, P, Mg, Cl [85,105]. The
presence of K and P salt is mainly caused by the adsorption of silicate and
aluminosilicate [102]. The fine particulate matter produced from
biomass combustion is an intermediate modal PM between ultrafine and
coarse particle [29]. Its chemical composition also lies between ultrafine
particles and coarse particles. It is a mixture of alkali metal chloride,
sulfate, hydroxide and alkali metal silicate or aluminosilicate
[102,106,113].
Municipal solid waste contains more PVC plastics (high Cl), auto­
mobile processing waste (high Cl, alkali metals and heavy metals),
batteries (high heavy metals), wood waste (high K, Cu, Cr, As), shoes
(high Cr) and food waste (Na salt etc.) [23]. These substances will
release a large amount of Cl, Na, K, S and volatile heavy metals Zn, Pb,
Cu, Ni and Cr and other substances during the combustion process.
Therefore, in addition to Cl, S, Na and K ultra-fine particles and fine
particles generated form MSW combustion also contain a small amount
of volatile heavy metal components [79,114]. Sewage sludge waste
usually contains higher concentrations of P, so the fine particles
generated by sewage sludge combustion usually contain higher con­
centrations of P in addition to Na, K, Cl, and S elements. P mainly exists
in the form of (Na, K)PO3 in fine particles, and Mg3(PO4)2 and Ca3(PO4)2
in coarse particles [107]. In addition, as MSW (waste paper components)
contains a high proportion of CaCO3 [115], the Ca content in the coarse
particles generated by MSW combustion is the largest, followed by Al, Si,
Mg, Na, K, P, etc. [38,39,107].
In PM10 generated from solid fuels combustion, the inorganic min­
erals generated by Na and K combined with other elements have an
important impact on the physical and chemical properties of the parti­
cles. Therefore, the migration and transformation process of Na and K
has been paid the most attention by researchers, which will be discussed
in Sections 3.3.2 and 3.3.3.
3.3.2. Migration and transformation mechanism of Na in PM10
High-alkali coals such as China’s Zhundong Coal [42,116] and
Australia’s Victoria Coal [72,117] have relatively high Na content and
they generate a large amount of ultrafine particulate matter rich in Na
during combustion [90]. The Na salt in sodium-rich coal mainly exists in
the form of water-soluble sodium and ammonium acetate-soluble
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Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
sodium and insoluble Na [118]. During the coal combustion, the release
of Na mainly goes through three stages: devolatilization, char combus­
tion and burnout, and ash reaction [119]. As shown in Fig. 9(a). The
release rate of Na is the highest in the carbon burnout stage, while the
release process last the longest in the ash reaction stage [119]. The in­
crease in temperature, O2 concentration and the extension of reaction
time can promote the release of sodium and the conversion between
different Na salts [120]. When the temperature is lower (600–800 ◦ C), a
large amount of NaCl(s) in the coal is volatilized to form NaCl(g) [26].
As the temperature increases, the Na2SO4 salt in the coal also gradually
volatilizes. Therefore, at lower temperatures, Na salts present in gaseous
form in flue gas are mainly NaCl and Na2SO4, as shown in Fig. 9(b).
When the reaction temperature further increases, the organic-Na in the
solid fuels gradually releases with chemical reaction to generate NaOH,
NaOH is easily sulfided into Na2SO4 under the action of SO3 in flue gas.
NaOH(g), NaCl(g) and Na2SO4(g) are the major components of sodium
vapor in flue gas [118]. Na2CO3 has been proven to exist in flue gas and
fine particles, and is easily vulcanized as NaOH, but the mechanism of
Na2CO3 formation is still unclear [106]. The gas-particulate conversion
of Na salt vapor mainly undergoes processes such as nucleation,
condensation, coagulation and surface-reaction. The size partitioning
behavior of Na is affected by the molar ratio Na2O/(SiO2 + Al2O3) of
solid fuel [92]. Na in fine particles mainly exists in the form of NaCl,
NaOH and Na2SO4 with a lower melting point [42,92,119]. In coarse
particles and fly ash particles Na mostly exist in Na-aluminosilicates
with a higher melting point (such as Na2SiO3, NaAlSiO4, and NaAl­
Si3O8 etc.), and a small part exist as NaCl and Na2SO4 [42,120].
3.3.3. Migration and transformation mechanism of K in PM10
The K salts in the ultrafine particles generated from biomass com­
bustion mainly exist in the form of KCl, K2SO4, KOH, K2CO3 and K3PO4
[66,121–124], as shown in Fig. 10. The release and conversion of K salts
during biomass burning can be divided into two processes. In the
devolatilization stage, the inorganic and organic forms of K are first
converted into KCl, K2CO3, K2SO4, and K3PO4. After entering the char
combustion stage, K2CO3 and K3PO4 are easily converted into KOH and
K-silicate under the action of water vapor and silicate, respectively
[125]. K-silicate mainly exists in coarse particles, while KCl, KOH and
K2SO4 mainly exist in ultrafine particles. K-phosphate exists in different
forms in ultrafine and fine particle, mainly in the form of K3PO4 in fine
particles, and in the form of KPO3 in ultrafine particles [44].
The relative contents of KCl, KOH and K2SO4 in ultrafine particles are
related to the sulfurization reaction of SO2, as shown in Fig. 11. The SO2
in the flue gas is first oxidized to SO3, and then reacted with KCl and
KOH to form K2SO4 and KHSO4, KHSO4 can further react with KCl to
W. Yang et al. Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657

Table 2
The major elements distribution in PM10 produced from the solid fuels combustion.
Solid fuel PM0.1 PM0.1–1 PM1–10 Analysis technique Reference

Coal Coal Cl > Na > K Ca > Cl > Na > K Ca > Mg ICP-AES Gao et al.2010. [47]
Bituminous NAa S > Si > Na Si > Al XRF, FESEM-EDS Ke et al.2010. [100]
Lignite NAa Fe > S > Ca Ca > Si > Al > Fe XRF, FESEM-EDS Ke et al.2010. [100]
Coal (US) Fe > Si > Ca > Na > S Al > Fe > Ca > Si Si > Al > Ca > Fe SEM-EDS Yunlu et al.2012. [67]
Coal (ILL#6) S > Fe > Mg > Na > S > Fe > Ca > Si > Si > Al > Ca > Fe SEM-EDS Yunlu et al.2012. [67]
Ca Na
Coal (PRB) Fe > Mg > Ca Ca > Al > Fe > Si Ca > Al > Si SEM-EDS Yunlu et al.2012. [67]
Coal (Collie) Fe > Na, K > P, S, Cl Si > Fe > Al > Na, K Si > Al > Fe SEM-EDS, ICP-AES, XRD, Gao et al.2012. [101]
CCSEM
Bituminous S > Si > Fe Si > Fe > Al NAa SEM-EDS, EMA Kazanc et al.2013. [73]
Sub-bituminous Fe > S > Mg Ca > Al > Si NAa SEM-EDS, EMA Kazanc et al.2013. [73]
Lignite Si > S > Fe Si > Al > Ca NAa SEM-EDS, EMA Kazanc et al.2013. [73]
Brown coal Cl > Na > Fe > Mg Fe > Ca > Mg > Al Ca > Mg > Fe > Si ICP-AES Cao et al. 2014. [72]
Lignite (IM) S > Na > Mg NAa Si > Al > Fe > Ca XRF, CCSEM Wen et al.2016. [93]
Coal(ZD) Na > S > Si Ca > S > Na > Si > Al Ca > S > Si > Al ICP-AES, SEM-EDS Huang et al.2017. [92]
Bituminous Si > Fe > S Si > Al > Fe > S Si > Al > Fe > Ca ICP-AES, SEM-EDS Huang et al.2017. [92]
(HAF)
Coal (ZD) Ca > Mg > S > Fe Ca > Mg > S > Fe Ca > Si > Al SEM-EDS Ruan et al.2018. [42]
Coal (ZN) Fe > Mg > Ca > Si Ca > Fe > Si > Al Si > Ca > Al > Fe SEM-EDS Ruan et al.2018. [42]
Coal(ZD) Na > S > Mg > Ca Ca > Mg > Na > S Ca > Mg > Al SEM-EDS Fan et al.2018. [95]
Lignite NAa Fe > Ca > K > S > Na Si > Al > Ca > Fe SEM-EDS, ICP-MS Han et la.2019. [94]
Bituminous (HL) S > K > Ca > P Fe > Si > Ca Si > Fe > Ca SEM-EDS Wang et al.2019. [102]
Biomass Wheat straw K > Cl K > Cl Si > K EDX Kurt et al.1998. [103]
Orujillo K > Cl > S K > Cl > S > Ca Ca > Si > K > P SEM-EDS Santiago et al.2006.
[104]
Eucalyptus K > Cl > S K > Cl > P > Ca > S Si > Ca > Mg > P SEM-EDS Santiago et al.2006.
[104]
Oak K > S > Cl K > S > Ca > Cl Ca > Si > K > Al > P SEM-EDS Santiago et al.2006.
[104]
Chestnut tree S > K > Na > Cl Ca > Na > S > K Ca > Si > Al > Mg SEM-EDS Santiago et al.2006.
[104]
Cotton stalk K > Cl K > S > Cl > Ca > Na Ca > Al > Si > S > K > Mg > SEM-EDS, XRF, XRD Yang et al.2018. [105]
P
Corn stalk K > Cl K > Cl > S > Na Si > Ca > K > Cl > Mg ESEM–EDS, XRF Zhu et al.2018. [106]
Rice husk K>S K > S > Na Si > Ca ESEM–EDS, XRF Zhu et al.2018. [106]
Camphorwood K > S > Cl K > S > Na Ca > Mg > Cl ESEM–EDS, XRF Zhu et al.2018. [106]
Wheat straw K > Cl Si > K > Cl > Ca > S Si > Ca > K SEM-EDS Wang et al.2019. [102]
Straw Cl > K Cl > K > Si Si > K > P > Ca CCSEM, XRF, SEM-EDS Wang et al.2019. [89]
Rice husk NAa K > Cl > P Si > K SEM-EDS, ICP-MS Han et al.2019. [94]
Solid MSW Cl > Na > K > Zn Cl > Na > K > Zn > NAa SEM/EDX Thomas et al.2013. [38]
Waste Si
MSW NAa Na, K > Cl Ca > Al, Si > Na, K EDX Stefan et al.2016. [39]
MSW Cl > K > Na Cl > K > Na > Si Ca > Si > Al > Cl SEM-EDX Yang et al. 2020. [28]
Sewage sludge K > Na > P > S > Cl K > S > Na > P > Cl Ca > Mg > P ICP-MS, ICP-OES Liaw et al.2016. [107]

Note. Ultrafine particle: aerodynamic diameter less than 0.1 μm. Fine particle: aerodynamic diameter between 0.1 and 1 μm. Coarse particle: aerodynamic diameter
between 1 and 10 μm. US: Utah Skyline (America). ILL#6: Illinois #6 (America). PRB: Powder River Basin Black Thunder (America). IM: Inner Mongolia (China). ZD:
Zhundong (China). HAF: High ash fusion. ZN: Zhunnan (China). HL: Huangling (China). ICP-AES: Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy. XRF: X-
ray Fluorescence Spectrometry. FESEM-EDS: Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. XRD: X-ray diffractometer.
SEM-EDS/EDX: Scanning Electron Microscope Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. CCSEM: computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy. EMA: Electron
Microprobe Analysis. ICP − MS: Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy. ESEM: environmental scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray.
ICP-OES: Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry. NAa: relevant information not available in the publications.

Fig. 9. (a) left, Na transformation mechanisms during coal combustion [118]; (b) right, thermodynamic equilibrium calculation of Na for Zhundong Coal [92].

9
W. Yang et al.
Fig. 10. K transformation mechanisms during biomass combustion. [125].
form K2SO4. As the flue gas condenses, K2SO4 vapor first condenses into
nucleus to form nano-aerosol particles; and KCl and KOH in the flue gas
subsequently condense on the surface of K2SO4 nano-aerosol particles to
form ultrafine particles [66]. The relative content of K/S/Cl in the fuel
have a greater impact on the K salt in the ultrafine particles produced by
biomass combustion [122]. When the Cl and K content is lower and the S
content is higher, the K salt in the ultrafine particles mainly exists in the
Fig. 11. The main pathways for the conversion from KCl to K2SO4 during biomass combustion [66].
Fig. 12. Elements distribution in solid waste combustion. Plotted with data from reference. [126].
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Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
form of K2SO4 (g) and KCl (g). When the Cl and K content in the fuel is
high and the S content is low, the K salt in the ultrafine particles mainly
exists in the form of KCl (g). Only when the (Cl + 2S)/K < 1 (molar
ratio), a large amount of KOH will be present in the ultrafine particles
[64].
3.4. Distribution characteristics of trace elements
Due to the different volatility and enrichment characteristic, trace
elements in solid waste combustion can be divided into three groups
[126], as shown in Fig. 12. GroupI: high volatile elements (Hg, Cd, Sb,
Sn, Zn, Pb, As), mostly exist in fly ash particles or gases. Group II: semi-
volatile elements (Mo, Ti, Co, Ba, Li, Mn), the distribution depends on
factors such as combustion temperature, combustion type, volatility,
etc. Group III: non-volatile elements (Fe, Cu, Ni, Cr), mainly exist in
bottom ash. According to the evaporation condensation mechanism, the
trace elements in Group I and Group II are more likely to accumulate in
finer fly ash particles [79,127,128]. The research of Liaw et al. [10]
showed that trace elements account for less than 0.5% of the total mass
in PM10, high volatile trace elements (As, Cd, and Pb) only contains in
PM1 during biosolid combustion, while low volatile trace elements (Ni,
Co and Cu) were mainly transferred to PM1–10. Volatility can promote
the aggregation of trace elements on finer particles, but the aggregation
property of trace elements in finer particulate matters does not simply
increase with the increase of element’s volatility [10,114]. For example,
the volatility of Hg is greater than that of As and Pb, but the aggregation
ability of Hg in particulate matters is less than them. Finer particles can
easily escape from the particulate control devices such as electrostatic
precipitator and are more harmful to the environment.
In addition to the volatility, the enrichment characteristics of trace
elements on particle is also related to the combustion temperature, flue
gas cooling rate, oxygen concentration, furnace type etc. [129,130]
W. Yang et al. Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657

Zhou et al. [131] found that the enrichment of As, Pb, Sb, Se, and Zn in
fine particles increased with the increase in combustion temperature
and oxygen concentration, trace elements in the gas phase are easily
captured by Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, K etc. at high temperatures. Lind et al. [114]
found that As and Sb were easily enriched in fine particles in the grate,
on the contrary, in the fluidized bed, it was not easy for them to enrich in
the fine particles. As and Pb have high toxicity and speciated more into
flue gas, so they are widely concerned [128].
3.4.1. As distribution
As mainly exists in the form of As5+ and As3+, and are easily
adsorbed on the surface of particulate matter [132]. As5+ accounted for
more than 90% of the total As in coal-fired fly ash particle and As3+ only
accounted for a small portion of fly ash particles [133]. As existence in
fine particles and coarse particles are quite different. When As reacts
with CaSO4 or Ca-Silicates, it is easy to form Ca3(AsO4)2 and concentrate
in coarse particles [134]. When reacting with Fe/Al-compounds, Fe/Al
arsenates were easily formed and enriched in fine particles [134].
3.4.2. Pb distribution
Pb has a higher concentration in municipal solid wastes contributed
from paints, waste batteries, waste wood, waste plastics, glass etc.,
mainly in the form of PbO, PbCrO4 and PbCO3 [135]. At high temper­
ature, the compounds formed from Pb and Cl have higher volatility and
Pb is often present in fly ash particles in the form of PbCl2, Pb(ClO4)2 and
PbCl2O4 [136]. The compound formed by combination of Pb with alkali
metal salts, aluminosilicates has a high melting point, and usually exists
in the bottom ash in the form of PbSiO4, K4PbO4, PbAl12O19 and
Pb3Si2O7 [136].
4. Factors influencing particulate emissions during solid fuels
combustion
The generation and emission of particulate matter during solid fuels
combustion are affected by many factors, such as fuel type, particle size
and mineral properties; ash content and composition; combustion tem­
perature, residence time, pressure and oxygen concentration; co-
combustion, pre-treatment, additives, etc. The review of literature on
the effect of these various parameters on PM emission is shown in
Tables 3a–3e).
literature studies [29,68,69,75] have shown that the fragmentation of
minerals widely occurs in the combustion process of solid fuels, one
mineral particle can generate multiple mineral particles. Due to mineral
coalescence, the size of ash particles produced after the combustion of
solid fuel are generally bigger than that of the solid fuels particles [17].
During the combustion process, both of the included and excluded
minerals particles are responsible for PM formation or emission.
Included minerals can form fine particles by fragmentation, and form
agglomerate coarse particles by coalescence [29,101]. Excluded min­
erals can be directly transferred to PM10 [74]. The relative content of
included and excluded minerals in solid fuels was closely related to the
size of fuel particles. With the decrease in particle size of pulverized coal,
more of the inherent minerals in coal is converted to smaller-sized
excluded minerals [74,75]. As a result, more PM10 are generated by
smaller solid fuel particle combustion.
4.2. Ash content
Zhang et al. [75] found that 0.5–2.5 (wt%) of the inherent minerals
in coal was converted into PM10 during the combustion process. The ash
content of solid fuels has a significant effect on the PM10 yield. Gao et al.
[98] found that the yield of different particle size components of PM10
was in the order of bark>leaf>wood, which is consistent with the order
of ash content in the three biomass components. In the research carried
out by Zhang et al. [75] and Shao et al. [121] on the PM emission
characteristics of coal and corn stalk pellets combustion it was found
that the PM10 yield increased with the increase in ash content. As shown
in Fig. 13, the solid fuel ash content is positively correlated with the
proportion of ash transferred to PM10 particulate matter during com­
bustion. Whether it is coal or biomass, compared with low-ash solid
fuels, high-ash solid fuels tend to produce more PM10 during combus­
tion. The difference in PM10 yield from the combustion of coal and
biomass can also be explained by the difference in ash content [17,102].
Generally, the combustion furnace type has a great influence on the fly
ash and PM10 particle size distribution. The size of the PM produced
from the circulating fluidized bed combustor is larger than that from
entrained fluidized bed [131].
4.3. Inorganic elements binding form

Inorganic mineral elements in the solid fuels may exist in various

4.1. Fuel particle size and minerals properties
If the mineral particles in the solid fuels do not fragment during the
combustion process, then each mineral particle will be converted into a
single ash particle, however, this is not the case. A large number of
forms. The metallic elements in coals can be classified into three forms:
organically bound minerals, included inorganic minerals and excluded
inorganic minerals [75]. According to the combination form, it can be
further divided into: organically-bound, ion exchangeable-bound, car­
bonate-bound, iron‑manganese oxidation-bound and residual-bound

Table 3a
Effect of Fuel type and particle size influencing PM generation and emission from solid fuels combustion.
Fuel type Combustion Combustion Combustion Sampling Major Conclusions Reference
system atmosphere temperature system

Coal DTF N2:O2 = 4:1 1200 ◦ C LPI As the particle size of pulverized coal decreases, more inherent Ninomiya et al.
minerals exist in the form of extra-minerals, so that more fine 2004. [74]
minerals are directly converted into particles, which ultimately
leads to an increase in PM generation.
Bark, Leaf, Wood DTF Air 1400 ◦ C DLPI The yields of PM from the combustion of wood, bark and leaf Gao et al.2017.
was in the order of: bark> leaf> wood. The ash-based yields of [98]
PM from bark and leaf are lower than wood biomass.
Wheat straw, DTF Air 1350 ◦ C DLPI Compared with coal combustion, the PM1 yields from wheat Wang et al.
Bituminous straw combustion was higher, which is because of the higher 2019. [102]
coal potassium content in the biomass.
Coal DTF 20% and 50% 1100–1400 ◦ C LPI Decreasing coal particle size can increase the swelling ratio and Yu et al. [137]
O2 result in the formation of more ultra-micron particles.
Sewage sludge DTF Air; 30% O2/ 1300 C
◦
DLPI The increase of biomass particles size does not impact on the Liaw et al.
70% CO2 yields of PM1, but it lead to a reduction PM1–10 yields and 2018. [138]
reduce the concentration of V, Co, Cu, Zn and Mn in PM1–10.

Note: DTF: Drop tube furnace.

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W. Yang et al. Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657

Table 3b
Effect of mineral properties, ash content and composition influencing PM generation and emission from solid fuels combustion.
Fuel type Combustion Combustion Combustion Sampling Major Conclusions Reference
system atmosphere temperature system

Coal (VB) DTF Air 1400 ◦ C DLPI (1) Water-soluble salts (such as NaCl) are mainly responsible Gao et al. 2014.
for PM0.1 emissions. [72]
(2) Organically combined Mg, Ca and Fe play a leading role in
PM10 emissions.
Coal DTF N2:O2 = 4:1 1200 ◦ C LPI (1) 0.5–2.5 wt% of inherent minerals in ash are converted into Zhang et al.
PM10 during coal combustion. 2006. [75]
(2) As the ash content increases, the yields of PM10 increases
proportionally.
Bark, Leaf, DTF air 1400 ◦ C DLPI The yields of PM10 from the combustion of wood, bark and leaf Gao et al.2017.
Wood is positively correlated with the order of ash content in the [98]
three biomass.
Lignite and DTF N2:O2 = 4:1; 1300 ◦ C LPI The interaction between the aluminosilicate in coal and the Zhou et al.
bituminous CO2:O2 = 4:1 volatile elements of Ca and Fe in lignite are believed to suppress 2010.
the formation of PM1 during the combustion of mixed coal. [100,102]
Sewage sludge DTF Air; O2:CO2 = 1300 ◦ C DLPI During biomass combustion, P has a great influence on PM10 Liaw et al.2016.
3:7 emissions. The existence forms of P in PM0.1 and PM1–10 are [107]
completely different.
Coal Industrial boiler Air 1300 ◦ C LPI (1) Increasing the content of Cl and Na in the raw materials will Xu et al.2016.
(3 MW) and DTF promote the yields of ultrafine particles during coal combustion [139]
and increase the proportion of Cl and Na in the ultrafine
particles.
(2) Increasing the Cl content in coal will inhibit the proportion
of S in ultrafine particles due to the competitive reaction of
cations in the formation of chloride and sulfate.
Straw, Wood EFR air 1500 ◦ C – (1) Under the interaction of K and silicate, the potassium of fuel Anne et al.
with a low Si/K ratio is transferred into the gas phase by almost 2016. [140]
100%.
(2) During the combustion of straw samples with high Si/K
ratio and relatively insufficient Ca, the release of K is limited.

Note: VB, Victorian brown coal. EFR, Entrained flow reactor.

Table 3c
Effect of combustion temperature and residence time influencing PM generation and emission from solid fuels combustion.
Fuel type Combustion Combustion Combustion Sampling system Major Conclusions Reference
system atmosphere temperature

MSW Industrial Air 1250 ◦ C Two-stage As the temperature of the flue gas in the waste incinerator Schumacher
MSWI boiler particle decreases, the content of alkali metal chloride in the particles et al. 2016. [39]
sampling probe increases significantly, and the slight increase in the S content
is due to the sulfidation.
MSW Tube Furnace N2: O2 = 25–850 ◦ C Glass fiber filter Different fuels have different PM release temperature ranges in Zhu et al. 2017.
79%:21% combustion. The sawdust begins to release PM2.5 at around [48]
200 ◦ C, the PM2.5 released by the burning of plastic is between
350 and 600 ◦ C.
Wheat EFR N2:O2 = 4:1 1000–1300 ◦ C DLPI Increasing temperature from 1000 to 1100 ◦ C or higher, the Wang et al. 2018.
straw concentration of fine particle is reduced by about 50%. PM1.0 [66]
emissions are minimal at 1100 ◦ C.
Coal DTF N2:O2 = 4:1 1200–1450 ◦ C LPI (1) Increasing temperature causes more PM1 generation. Zhang et al.
(2) PM0.1 is formed by the accumulation of vaporized 2006. [77]
elements, which is produced by the decomposition of
organically bound elements during the pyrolysis of coal or the
evaporation of inorganic compounds during char combustion.
PM0.1–1 contains two typical particles: one is the molten solid
shape rich in aluminum silicate and the other is in the form of
fractal agglomerates.
Coal DTF N2:O2 = 4:1 or 1100–1400 ◦ C LPI High combustion temperature and higher heating rate can Yu et al. [137]
1:1 decrease the char swelling ratio, which promote the carbon
and ash particle fragmentation and result in the formation of
more ultra-micron particles.
Straw, EFR air 1500 ◦ C – At longer residence times, submicron particles composed by Anne et al. 2016.
Wood potassium chloride (condensed aerosol) become abundant in [140]
the ash from straw.
Forest DTF O2/ N2/ CO2/ 1300 ◦ C ELPI PM1 increases with increase in particle residence time in Zellagui et al.
residue, Air biomass combustion, however, decreases during coal 2017. [141]
coal combustion; PM0.1 emission increases with increase in
temperature during biomass combustion.

Note: MSW, Municipal Solid Waste.

[89,145,146]. The combination forms of mineral elements have an Song et al. [120] found that Na in highly alkaline coal usually exists
important influence on their thermal migration and transformation in water-soluble Na, while K usually exists in insoluble K. Na and K in fly
behavior, as shown in Fig. 14. ash particles produced from combustion usually exists in water-soluble

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W. Yang et al. Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657

Table 3d
Effect of oxygen concentration influencing PM generation and emission from solid fuels combustion.
Fuel type Combustion Combustion Combustion Sampling Major Conclusions Reference
system atmosphere temperature system
c
Rice Husks OFC Air; O2:CO2 = 7:3 – SMPS/APS Compared with the air combustion, Oxy-fuel combustion Wang et al.
(100KW) and BLPI (O2: CO2 = 7:3) increases the evaporation of minerals due 2018. [44]
to the higher flame temperature, thereby promoting the
formation of a large number of submicron aerosols.
Bituminous, sub- DTF O2/N2 or O2/CO2 1127 ◦ C LPIa Compared with N2/O2 combustion atmosphere, when coal Kazanc et al.
bituminous, (21% < O2 < 60%) is burned in CO2/O2 atmosphere, the mass yield of element 2013. [73]
lignite species in submicron particles is lower. In O2/N2
atmosphere, the mass fractions of Si, Ca and Al in
PM0.1–0.18 decrease, while Na, K, and S increase. The
chemical composition of PM0.56–1 is not influenced by the
combustion atmosphere.
Lignite DTF Air; O2:CO2 = 1300 ◦ C LPI Coal will undergo the process of volatilization and char Chang et al.
21%:79% or combustion in Air and Oxy-fuel combustion. The 2016. [93]
29%:71% devolatilization process under N2 atmosphere promotes
PM0.5 and PM1–10 emission, while under the CO2
atmosphere it shows a suppression effect.
Lignite and DTF N2:O2 = 4:1; CO2: 1300 ◦ C LPI Compared to combustion in O2/N2 atmosphere, the Zhou et al.
bituminous O2 = 4:1 interaction between minerals under O2/CO2 combustion is 2010. [100]
weakened, so more PM1 will be generated.
Sewage sludge DTF Air; O2:CO2 = 3:7 1300 ◦ C DLPI The transition from air-combustion mode to Oxy-fuel Liaw
combustion mode will increase the proportion of Na, K, S et al.2016.
and P in PM1 and PM1 yield. This may be due to the [107]
enhanced sulfation of alkali metals under Oxy-fuel
combustion conditions.
Coal DTF N2:O2 = 4:1 or 1:1 1100–1400 ◦ C LPI Increasing oxygen concentration will result in the Yu et al. [137]
formation of more ultra-micron particles.
Sewage sludge DTF Air; O2:CO2 = 3:7 1300 ◦ C DLPI Oxy-fuel combustion suppresses the formation of PM1–10, Liaw et al.
especially for small particles of biomass which may be due 2018. [138]
to the formation and decomposition of CaCO3 in the CO2-
rich flue gas, resulting in the aggregation of PM1–10 and the
formation of PM10+.
Forest residue, DTF O2/N2/CO2/Air 1300 ◦ C ELPI In Oxy-fuel combustion of coal, the increase in the Zellagui
coal concentration of O2 in CO2 will increase PM1 emissions. et al.2017.
This may be due to the increase in oxygen concentration [141]
leading to higher vaporization of volatile substances and
fragmentation of ash/charcoal particles
b
Bituminous, coal 25 kW Air; 1250 ◦ C (Max) ELPI+SMPS Compared with air-combustion, Oxy-fuel combustion Li et al. 2013.
(SH) combustor O2:CO2 = 3:7 mode will produce more fine particles and finer bulk ash [142]
particles.
Sawdust, straw DTF N2:O2 = 4:1 or 1:1 1150 ◦ C DLPI With the oxygen concentration increase, both the yield of Wang
and coal PM1 and the alkali content in PM1 decreases, on the et al.2007.
contrary, the S/Cl ratio increase and the sulfating extent of [143]
PM1 enhanced.

Note: a Nano-Moudi low pressure impactor. b 25 kW quasi one-dimensional down-fired combustor. c OFC: 100 kW (rated) down-fired oxy-fuel combustor. SH: Shenhua.

Table 3e
Effect of co-combustion and pre-treatment influencing PM generation and emission from solid fuels combustion.
Fuel type Combustion Combustion Combustion Sampling Major Conclusions Reference
system atmosphere temperature system

Rice straw DTF Air; CO2:O2 = 1400 ◦ C DLPI (1) The emission reduction effect of PM1 with different treatment Wang et al.
7:3 or 1:1 methods is:hydrothermal carbonization> water washing after 2020. [49]
torrefaction> torrefaction after water washing.
(2) The reduction of PM1 emissions is due to the contribution of
Si, the increase of PM10 emissions is due to the fragmentation of
ash particles.
Wheat straw, DTF Air 1350 ◦ C DLPI When biomass is mixed with coal, under the trapping effect of Wang et al.
bituminous aluminosilicate oxide in the fly ash on potassium, the generation 2019. [102]
coal process of PM1 is reduced.
Forest residue, DTF O2/N2/CO2/Air 1300 ◦ C ELPI The co-burning of coal and biomass can reduce the emission of Zellagui
coal PM1 particles. The minimum emission is achieved at coal: et al.2017.
biomass = 3:1 (mass ratio). [141]
Rice husk, lignite DTF Simulated air 1300 ◦ C DLPI (1) Biomass torrefaction treatment and co-firing with coal can Han et al.2019.
reduce the generation of PM1, furthermore, it can promote the [144]
conversion of volatile K to coarse particles.
(2) The co-firing of Lignite and Rice husk promotes the
conversion of volatile alkali-chlorides to alkali-aluminosilicates.

salts. The content of Na in coal is relatively higher, so the water-soluble biomass is quite different from coal [72]. Wang et al. [89] reported that
salt (mainly NaCl) is the main contribution to ultrafine particle emission K and Cl in raw straw mainly exists in water-soluble salts and the water-
from coal combustion. The mineral binding form of alkali metals in soluble salts of Na only account for a small portion. The proportion of

13
W. Yang et al.
Fig. 13. Correlation between the ash-based yield of PM10 and the ash content
of the solid fuels. [75,121].
water-soluble salts in the ultrafine particle produced by straw combus­
tion was about 90%, with Cl and K accounting for about 93%. Therefore,
the water-soluble K salt (mainly KCl), is the main contribution to the
generation of ultrafine particles in straw biomass combustion.
Generally, the organically bound form of minerals are more active
and volatile than other bound forms [147,148]. Organically bound
minerals are more likely to cause the formation of fine particles [77]. In
coal combustion, the alkali elements in the form of organically bound
cations are largely released in the decarboxylation at the lower tem­
perature in the devolatilization stage, and mostly exist in the gas phase
[147]. Chemical reaction takes place on the surface of char or other
minerals through sulfidation or chlorination to produce alkali sulfates
and chloride salts vapors, which promotes the formation of ultrafine
particles [122]. The micron and submicron sulfate particles formed from
organically binding sodium can act as a binder on the surface of silicate
and aluminosilicate particles, promote the agglomeration and coales­
cence between different particles, and increase the formation probabil­
ity of intermediate modal fine particles [28,149]. Gao et al. [72] found
that 94% of Mg/Ca, and 37% of Fe existed in the coal organic matrix in
the study of Victoria’s coal particulate emissions. The organically bound
Mg, Ca and Fe in coal played a leading role in the PM10 emission, and
their distribution in fine particles and coarse particles depends on their
closeness with other active inorganic substances (Na, K, Si, Al).
4.4. Combustion temperature
The influence of combustion temperature on particle size distribu­
tion during solid fuels combustion is shown in Fig. 15. As discussed in
earlier sections, ultrafine particles are produced by the evaporation of
Fig. 14. Classification of combination forms of minerals and elements in solid fuels.
14
Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
alkali metal elements such as Na and K and the decomposition of
organically bound mineral elements (Si, Ca etc.) in solid fuels [150],
these vaporized minerals then go through condensation and uniform/
heterogeneous condensation process to form irregular cluster particles
[129,130]. Increasing the combustion temperature will intensify the
absorption reaction of silicate and aluminosilicate to alkali metals and
coalescence of fine particles [66]. As the volatile alkali metal salt vapor
in the flue gas decreases, the yields of ultrafine particles decreases, and
the peak position tends to move toward a finer particle size [77,151].
The coalescence of fine particles promotes the conversion of fine parti­
cles and coarse particles into larger fly ash particles (Dp >10 μm). A
higher combustion temperature will also aggravate the fragmentation of
char and mineral particles [137], and reduce the unburned carbon
content in fly ash particles [108,152]. Therefore, at a higher combustion
temperature, the size distribution of fly ash particles shifts to a smaller
size direction instead, as shown in Fig. 15.
4.5. Oxy-fuel combustion
Oxy-fuel combustion has been reported to result in the formation of
more ultrafine particles, submicron particles and finer fly ash particles
compared to air combustion [95,137,142,152]. Yu et al. [137] pointed
out that the oxidation process of char particles and the formation
mechanism of particles are different under different oxygen concentra­
tions. At low oxygen concentration, the oxidation of char particles
mainly occurs on the outer surface, and the ultrafine particles are mainly
formed by the aggregation of included minerals. At high oxygen con­
centration, char oxidation mainly initiates inside the carbon particles,
and the fragmentation of char is the main mechanism leading to the
formation of ultrafine particles. Increased oxygen concentration in­
creases the surface temperature of the char particle and lead to a high
particle heating rate, which may cause more char particle breakage and
minerals evaporation during devolatilization and char oxidation pro­
cesses [137,142]. The oxygen concentration affects the release and
evaporation characteristics of different mineral elements. Fan et al. [95]
found that the reaction process of organic binding elements and min­
erals is promoted under high O2 concentration, and further release of Ca
and Mg elements lead to increased PM0.5 emissions. However, Gong
et al. [150] found that the evaporation rate of SiO2 under oxidation was
lower than that under oxidation atmosphere, and increasing O2 con­
centration would inhibit Si-bearing compound vaporization. In addition,
the particle size and number of particles generated in the oxy-
combustion are generally lower than in the air-combustion atmo­
sphere. This is due to the enhancement of the melting and coalescence of
the included minerals [95], and increased collision and coalescence
ability between the fine particles [152], during oxy-fuel combustion.
4.6. Combustion pressure
During the combustion of solid fuels, the char structure is considered
to be the key parameter that determines the char fragmentation and ash
W. Yang et al.
Fig. 15. Effect of combustion temperature on particle size distribution in solid fuel combustion.
coalescence behavior [29,33]. According to the research by Xie et al.
[153] under high pressure atmosphere (>1 MPa), pressure will enhance
the promotion effect of ion-exchange alkali and alkaline earth metal
elements on the fracture of long aliphatic chains in char. While under
low pressure atmosphere (<1 MPa), pressure can promote the graphi­
tization process during coal pyrolysis. Increasing pressure can promote
more fragmentation of char particles. Wu et al. [68] found that pressure
can affect the formation of ash by affecting the structure of char particles
after devolatilization. High pressure inhibits the formation of ceno­
spheric and solid char particles during solid fuels combustion or pyrol­
ysis, but contributes to the formation of porous char structure of foam
type. [154] These porous char particles are more likely to form the finer
ash particles after crushing, as shown in Fig. 5. Therefore, the ash pro­
duced by coal combustion at high pressure is much finer than that at low
pressure, which promote the increase in PM10 yield [68].
4.7. Ash composition
Different chemical components promote or inhibit the formation of
different size PM during the combustion process. Huang et al. [92] re­
ported that mineral elements content has a prominent effect over that of
fuel rank on PM formation, especially the alkali metals content. PM
formation is a comprehensive result of a series of physical processes
(evaporation, condensation, aggregation, fragmentation, etc.) and
chemical reaction processes of inorganic mineral components and
organically bound metal compounds in solid fuels [33,64]. By
comparing the relationship between the chemical composition of coal
and biomass ash and PM yield at different combustion temperatures in a
large number of research [42,82,90,93–97,155], it was found that the
PM yield is related to Na2O + K2O, (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3), (K2O
+ CaO + Na2O + MgO + Fe2O3)/(SiO2 + Al2O3 + TiO2) ratio of solid
fuel ash.
As shown in Fig. 16(a) and Fig. 16(c), with the increase of Na2O +
K2O content in ash, the yield of PM0.3 gradually increased during the
combustion of coal and biomass. Similarly, as shown in Fig. 16(b) and
Fig. 16(d), as the (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) mass ratio increase, the
PM0.3 yield gradually increases. The linear correlation coefficients show
that R2 of PM0.3 yield and (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) is significantly
higher than R2 of Na2O + K2O. It can be inferred that compared with the
absolute content of Na2O + K2O in ash, the ratio (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 +
Al2O3) is more suitable as an evaluation index for the emission of
15
Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
ultrafine particle in the combustion process of solid fuels. Qian et al.
[92] found that the distribution behavior of Na on particulates with
different particle sizes was related to the Na2O/(SiO2 + Al2O3) molar
ratio but not to the absolute Na content in the coal. This is consistent
with the trend shown in Fig. 16(e) and Fig. 16(f). As the (Na2O + K2O)/
(SiO2 + Al2O3) ratio decreases, the proportion of PM0.3 in PM10 particles
produced by the combustion of coal and biomass gradually decreases.
This indicates that increasing the proportion of Si and Al elements in the
solid fuels not only promotes a reduction in the yield of ultrafine par­
ticles but also causes the transfer of the alkali metal elements in PM10
from small particles to large particles. This conclusion validates the
mechanism of adsorption and emission reduction of alkali metal salts by
silicate and aluminosilicate additives proposed by Zhao et al. [83] Si
et al. [112]. In addition, this study also analyzed the linear correlation of
coal ash (K2O + CaO + Na2O + MgO + Fe2O3)/(SiO2 + Al2O3 + TiO2)
ratio with PM0.3 yield and PM0.3/PM10 ratio. As shown in Fig. 16 (g) and
Fig. 16 (h), the analysis shows that reducing the (K2O + CaO + Na2O +
MgO + Fe2O3)/(SiO2 + Al2O3 + TiO2) ratio of solid fuels ash can reduce
PM0.3 emission.
4.8. Particle emission and reduction
A high (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) ratio of solid fuels ash can
usually lead to a high PM0.3 yield from combustion, as shown in Fig. 17.
The emission of ultrafine particle from solid fuels combustion follows
the trend as: biomass> coal, forest biomass> agricultural residue
biomass, high alkali coal> low alkali coal. However, under special cir­
cumstances, when Si content in the biomass is higher, the emission of
ultrafine particles may be lower than coal [18]. It has been pointed out
above that the PM0.3 yield from solid fuels combustion decreases with
decrease in (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) or (K2O + CaO + Na2O +
MgO + Fe2O3)/ (SiO2+ Al2O3 + TiO2) ratio. Based on this trend, the
reduction of ultrafine particle during the combustion of solid fuels can
be achieved through three pathways. (1): Increase the content of Si, Al or
Ti in solid fuels. (2): Decrease the content of alkali metal elements (Na,
K) in solid fuels. (3): Decrease the relative proportion of (Na2O + K2O)/
(SiO2 + Al2O3) in solid fuels.
Si/Al and Ti-based additives such as kaolin [81,156,157], attapulgite
[158], metallurgical dust [159], floating beads [83], Anatase [82], etc.,
have been widely proven to reduce fine particle emission which essen­
tially increases Si, Al and Ti content in the fuel through path (1). Gao
W. Yang et al. Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657

(caption on next page)

16
W. Yang et al.
Fig. 16. (a) and (b) represent the relationship between the proportion of ash Na2O + K2O and (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) and PM0.3 yield during coal combustion.
(c) and (d) represents the relationship between the proportion of ash Na2O + K2O and (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) and the yield of PM0.3 in the biomass com­
bustion process. (e)(f) represents the relationship between the PM0.3/PM10 ratio of coal and biomass combustion and (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3). (g) and (h)
represents the relationship between PM0.3 yield, PM0.3/PM10 and (K2O + CaO + Na2O + MgO + Fe2O3)/(SiO2 + Al2O3 + TiO2) ratio. (Fig. (a), (b), (e), (g), (h) data
from reference [42, 82, 90–97]; Fig (c), (d), (f) data from reference [89, 98]).
Fig. 17. Relationship between the yields of ultrafine particles and the ratio of
ash (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) during the combustion of solid fuels. Data
from reference [18, 42, 66, 82, 89–91, 93–97, 99, 155, 160].
et al. [72] were able to reduce PM0.1 emissions during the combustion
process after water-washing and acid-washing of coal. Its essence is to
reduce the content of alkali metal elements in the fuel by path (2). Wang
et al. [89] used baking, slow pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization
pretreatment to achieve the reduction of biomass combustion particu­
late matter, summarized as path (3), changing the ratio of (Na2O +
K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) in the fuel.
5. Conclusion
This study systematically reviews particulate matter sampling tech­
nologies, particle formation mechanism, particle size distribution
characteristics, chemical composition and factors influencing emission.
The main conclusions are as follows:
(1) The particulate matter sampling technologies from combustion
flue gas at low temperature has been well developed. During the
sampling and measurement of particulate matter, the chemical
composition, concentration and particle size distribution are
susceptible to various factors such as sampling method, temper­
ature and degree of flue gas dilution. The combination of multiple
sampling techniques can overcome the shortcomings of the single
sampling technique, such as particle size range, measurement
temperature and mass distribution or concentration of particulate
matter. However, the direct sampling and flue gas dilution
technology for particulate matter in the high-temperature flue
gas environment inside the boiler is still lacking.
(2) The formation of particulate matter can be described as a series of
physical processes (evaporation, condensation, aggregation,
fragmentation, etc.) and chemical reaction of inorganic mineral
components and organically bound metal compounds during
solid fuels combustion.
(3) The total ash particles generated from solid fuels combustion
exhibited a trimodal distribution, while PM10 generally shows a
bimodal distribution. The ash content of solid fuels has a strong
17
Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
positive correlation with the yield of PM10. The ultrafine particles
are mainly generated by homogeneous- and heterogeneous-
condensation of volatile alkali metal salts, and the fine particles
are mainly composed of molten aluminosilicate and low-melting
alkali metal salt agglomerates, whereas, coarse particles are
formed by the fusion and coalescence of fine particles and the
fragmentation of unburned char particles and mineral particles.
(4) Due to the difference in composition of feed fuel, the chemical
composition and particle size distribution characteristics of PM10
produced from different types of solid fuels are different. The
concentration of coarse particles produced from coal combustion
is higher. On the contrary, the concentration of fine particles
produced from biomass combustion is higher. The emission of
ultrafine particles generally follows the following sequence:
biomass> coal, forest biomass> agricultural biomass, high alkali
coal> low alkali coal. However, when Si content in the biomass is
higher, such as in case of agricultural biomass, the emission of
ultrafine particles can be lower than that of coal.
(5) The speciation, distribution and chemical composition of trace
elements in particulate matter with different particle sizes are
different. High volatility promotes the enrichment of most trace
elements to finer particles but the enrichment characteristics of
trace elements on particles are not simply determined by their
volatility, it is also related to combustion temperature, oxygen
concentration, elements composition of solid fuels etc.
(6) PM emissions during solid fuels combustion are affected by solid
fuel particle size, inherent ash content, mineral properties
(included or excluded), binding form of inorganic elements,
combustion parameters (temperature, pressure, residence time,
oxygen concentration etc.) and chemical composition of ash.
(7) The PM0.3 emission from solid fuels combustion decreases as
(Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) ratio of ash decreases. The
methods of torrefaction, pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization,
co-firing and Si/Al-based additives mixing can reduce the emis­
sion of ultrafine particles during the combustion, which is
essentially caused by decreasing (Na2O + K2O)/(SiO2 + Al2O3)
ratio in ash. Therefore, this ratio can be used as an evaluation
index for predicting the yield of ultrafine particles produced from
the combustion of solid fuels.
6. Recommendation for Future research
High-temperature flue gas direct sampling technology is of great
significance for studying the condensation/nucleation mechanism, the
surface adhesion of heat exchange tubes, the radiative heat transfer in
the reactor, and the high-temperature corrosion of particulate matter.
However, the existing high-temperature flue gas direct sampling tech­
nology still has problems in sampling design, material properties and
flue gas dilution, so it needs to be better designed and studied in the
future.
The generation of PM10 from solid fuels combustion undergoes
relatively complicated processes such as evaporative condensation, ho­
mogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation aggregation, and fragmenta­
tion. The existing research mainly focuses on the formation process of
ultrafine particle (PM0.1) and coarse particulate matter (PM2.5–10), while
the intermediate mode of fine particle (PM0.1–2.5) has been proved to
exist independently. Its morphological characteristics, chemical
composition and formation mechanism need further research in the
future.
W. Yang et al.
The chemical composition of PM with different sizes emitted from
solid fuels combustion is different. Existing studies have focused on the
major constituent elements such as Na, K, Cl, S, P, Ca, Si, Al, Mg and Fe;
however, the chemical forms, distribution characteristics, migration and
transformation mechanisms of trace elements such as Pb, Zn, As, Cu, Ti,
Cd, Sb, Sn, Mo, Co, Ba, Li, Mn, etc. are still unclear. Enrichment of trace
elements significantly increases the toxicity of particulate matter. The
models of migration and transformation characteristics of different types
of trace elements on different sizes particles need to be established.
The generation and emission characteristics of PM10 during the
combustion of coal and biomass have been extensively studied. Solid
waste (municipal solid waste, sludge, waste wood, etc.), as a kind of
solid fuel, will also cause a large amount of particulate emissions during
the combustion process. With the widespread application of incineration
technology for solid waste treatment, the particle generation mechanism
and emission characteristics need to be focused on.
PM emission control is of great significance to preserve ecological
environment and human health. At present, the application of industrial
solid fuels combustion particulate control technology is mainly
concentrated in flue gas terminal dust removal technology (such as
electrostatic precipitators, granular-bed filters, bag filters etc.), which
requires high construction and operation costs. Existing researches on
the particulate control technology from the combustion process (inside
the furnace) are relatively scarce. Exploring new high-efficiency addi­
tives (especially relatively inexpensive Si/Al-based additives) and
effective solid fuels pretreatment technology can further improve the
efficiency of particulate emissions control during the combustion of
solid fuels.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was sponsored by National Key R&D Program of China
(2018YFC1901302) and NSERC discovery grant. The authors thank the
financial support from the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and NSERC.
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Wu Yang received his Bachelor of Engineering from North­
western Polytechnical University in 2015. Currently, he is a
PhD candidate in State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion,
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan,
China. From August 2019 to August 2020, he was a visiting PhD
student in Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering,
at University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. His current
research focused on the formation and control of particulate
matter during MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) combustion and
gasification, as well as the high-temperature corrosion and
slagging caused by ash particle inside the boiler.
Deepak Pudasainee graduated M. Sc., Environmental Science
from Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan
University, Nepal in 2003. He received PhD from Department of
Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, S. Korea in
2010. He received Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral
Fellowship to work at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Ger­
many in 2011. He is currently working as Research Associate at
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University
of Alberta, Canada. His major research interests are measure­
ment and characterization of air pollutants especially trace el­
ements, development of low-cost sorbents for emission control,
coal combustion and biomass to bioenergy and rare earth ele­
ments. He involved as an invited expert in United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) for Global mercury emission
inventory preparation (2011 to 2013).
Rajender Gupta has been a Professor in the Chemical & Ma­
terials Engineering, University of Alberta since 2006. He was
the founding lead for Clean Coal Technologies at the C5MPT.
He has experience of more than 40 years in characterization,
upgrading, and thermal conversion of solid fuels such as coal,
biomass and bitumen and has about 150 research publications
in international journals. His current research includes thermal
and hydrothermal conversion of biomass to produce bio-oils
and char, MSW gasification – investigating both conversion,
operational and environmental issues.
21
Fuel Processing Technology 213 (2021) 106657
Wei Li obtained his master degree in 2012 from Huazhong
University of Science and Technology, and worked at Thermal
Mechanical Department of Central Southern China Electric
Power Design Institute for 5 years. As a PhD candidate, He has
been in the State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion of
Huazhong University of Science and Technology for the
research of Municipal Solid Waste since 2017. From 2019, he is
working in the Chemical and Materials Engineering Depart­
ment of University of Alberta. His current study is the investi­
gation of clean utilization of petroleum coke.
Ben Wang is an associate professor in the School of Energy and
Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and
Technology. In 2012, he received the PhD degree in from the
State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion at Huazhong Uni­
versity of Science and Technology. From August 2012 to
September 2014, he conducted post-doctoral research at
Chemical Material Engineering at the University of Alberta,
Canada. His main research interests are focusing on the con­
version mechanism of minerals, the physical and chemical
properties of coke and pollutant emissions in the process of
fossil energy gasification.
Lushi Sun has been a professor in the School of Energy and
Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and
Technology since 2011. He obtained PhD degree in thermal
engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Tech­
nology in 2004. From 2001.10 to 2002.4, he was a visiting PhD
student at French National Center for Scientific Research
(CNRS). From 2009.10 to 2010.10, he worked as a visiting
scholar at Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial Col­
lege London. He is currently the deputy director of the Engi­
neering Center for Energy-saving and Emission Reduction of
Energy and Power Plants of the Ministry of Education of China,
the head of the “Municipal Solid Waste High-value Application
Technology Team” in the State Key Laboratory of Coal Com­
bustion at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and
the Chief Scientist of the Key R&D Project of “Solid Waste
Reuitilization” of the Ministry of Science and Technology of
China. His current research includes: Solid fuel thermochemical
conversion and pollutant removal mechanism, Municipal solid
waste resource utilization, Energy economy and low-carbon
policy. Email: sunlushi@hust.du.cn.