Metal speciations on particulate matter and volatile organic compounds from external oil combustion boilers

Thirty-two oil boilers were studied for the emissions of particulate, metal s and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from stack exhaust. Results of the sums of fourteen metals in particulate are 3.5-23 mg/L oil. Emission factor s of particulate are 0.09-6.53 g/L, and sums of seventeen VOCs are 0.1 mg/L oil These boilers can be divided into three groups of stream generation capacit y (> 30, 10-30. < 10 ton/hour): the mean value of particulate emission fact ors from small boiler is 1.7 g/L oil which is significantly higher than tho se of medium (0.9 g/L oil) and large capacity bailer (0.7 g/L oil). In addi tion, emission factors of metal content for these three groups of boilers a re essentially the same, due to the same oil constituents consumed in boile rs. Experimental results also indicate that the emission characteristics of par ticulate slightly depend on the steam production rate and operation loading of boilers. However, VOC emission is not a problem for oil-boiler stacks.