Climate-relevant particulate emission characteristics of a coal fired heating plant

Studies of climate forcing by anthropogenic aerosols require knowledge of the number and properties of the emitted primary aerosol particles. Previous measurements, often limited by instrumental techniques, did not extend far into the nanometer range and considered modern sources with air pollution controls. In the summer of 1996, aerosol size distributions were measured between 3 and 700 nm particle diameter in the exhaust of a low- technology coal-fired heating plant in Leipzig (Germany) using a twin differential mobility particle sizer (TDMPS) system. The total number concentration of particles in the exhaust was approximately 10⁷ particles/cm³, which is an order of magnitude lower than a previously published calculation based on a nucleation/condensation model. An estimate for the number concentration of primary combustion aerosol particles demonstrates the potential importance of such anthropogenic sources.