News
13 MARCH
UEF researchers at Progetto Fuoco fairs in Verona, Italy on February 28th and 29th
Progetto Fuoco is an international trade fair that showcases a wide range of products and innovations related to fireplaces, stoves, boilers, and other heating systems using wood and other biomass fuels. This event is one of the most important fairs in the world for professional visitors involved in the production and use of wood and biomass heating technologies.
At the fair, particular attention was given to combustion technology and new development ideas aimed at improving combustion efficiency and emission reduction. For example, automatic air controls were available for several fireplaces and stoves. These automatic controls minimize e.g. the errors resulting from incorrect operation of the stoves.
Emission regulations at both the EU and regional levels were clearly shown and used for marketing purposes. Additionally, on February 29th, the fair hosted an IEA Bioenergy Task 32 workshop titled ‘Sustainable Low Emission Wood Stoves – Recent Developments and Proper Operation’. During this workshop, topics included e.g. updates of the European Ecodesign directive and findings from recent Danish stove market surveillance.
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1 DECEMBER 2023
The summary of the 2nd international workshop is now available here
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23 NOVEMBER 2023
Ajankohtaista puun pienpoltosta – Pienpolton päästöt, ilmanlaatu ja terveys –seminaarin esitykset ovat saatavilla täällä.
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15 NOVEMBER 2023
The presentations of the 2nd international workshop are now available.
The presentations are available here.
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14 NOVEMBER 2023
Seminar on topical issues of small-scale wood combustion – emissions, air quality and health
About 80 participants took part in the seminar held on the Kuopio campus, most of them online.
Figure: Project Researcher Juho Louhisalmi is having a presentation on particle measurement techniques for small combustion devices as some of the results of Real-LIFE Emissions project.
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26 OCTOBER 2023
Our 2nd INTERNATIONAL REAL-LIFE EMISSIONS WORKSHOP ON SMALL-SCALE COMBUSTION is currently underway, on Thursday 26th October.
Altogether 60 participants are attending the workshop, 14 of them have gathered at TFZ conference room and the others are joining the workshop online.
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25 OCTOBER 2023
Real-LIFE Emissions project team was having a project meeting at TFZ in Straubing, Germany a day before the 2nd international workshop.
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15 SEPTEMBER 2023
Our 2nd INTERNATIONAL REAL-LIFE EMISSIONS WORKSHOP ON SMALL-SCALE COMBUSTION will commence soon, on Thursday 26th October.
Look for more information here.
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Inter-Laboratory Comparison at INERIS is starting soon!
The Inter-Laboratory Comparison (ILC) campaign is scheduled to take place at INERIS, France, from September 18th to 22nd. The aim of the ILC is to gather more information from the novel ENPME plus PTD method at different emission levels and compare the results obtained with different systems.
All beneficiaries will actively participate in the campaign, employing their unique combinations of the EN-PME plus porous tube diluter (PTD) particulate matter measurement method, as well as organic gaseous compounds (OGC) detection using either a Flame Ionization Detector (FID) or Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Furthermore, black carbon emissions will be measured with an Aethalometer (AE33), while carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) will be measured using gas analysers. The measurement equipment will be installed to the INERIS test bench designed for this kind of comparison activities. In the campaign there will be three measurement days, with each day featuring different emission levels. The emission source will be a biomass boiler and different solid wood fuels will be used.
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15 SEPTEMBER 2023
Round robin measurements with two stoves at UEF
As part of the Real-LIFE-Emissions project, Action A5 aims to establish conversion factors between different particulate matter sampling methods and testing protocols.
Under Action A5, round robin experiments were conducted. Two stoves have been travelling across Europe at Real LIFE emissions project partners laboratories. Testing protocol was formulated to track emissions from the whole combustion period. The birch and beech wood logs are used as fuel.
Stoves arrived to the UEF in August, and a total of four long tests were conducted with both stoves. Particulate and gaseous emissions were measured using exclusive instrumentation. The combination of porous tube and ejector diluter (PTD+ED) and ENPME methods were compared for gravimetric particulate concentration measurements. A novel total particulate matter (TPM) sampling system, which combines ENPME and a porous tube diluter, was also employed. Our primary focus was on the ENPME method, which represents the new standard for particulate emission measurement as outlined in EN-16510 (2022). Instrumentation included also Aethalometer for measuring Black Carbon (BC FTIR for single gas compound measurements, and gas instruments for tracking basic gas compounds such as CO2, CO, and NO.
Round robin measurements continue until the end of October.
Figure: Starting of experiment. Addition batches ready on the floor.
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11 SEPTEMBER 2023
Ajankohtaista puun pienpoltosta – Pienpolton päästöt, ilmanlaatu ja terveys –seminaari
Tiistaina 14.11.2023, Itä-Suomen yliopisto, Tietoteknian auditorio, Savilahdentie 6, 70210 Kuopio
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11 SEPTEMBER 2023
The programme of the 2nd INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP is now available and the registration is open.
Look for more information here.
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7 JULY 2023
Stay tuned!
2nd INTERNATIONAL REAL-LIFE EMISSIONS WORKSHOP ON SMALL-SCALE COMBUSTION: Test protocols and TPM determination methods for small-scale solid fuel combustion appliances
Date: Thursday 26th October 2023, 09:30-14:10 (CET)
Venue: Schulgasse 18, D, 94315 Straubing, Technology and Support Centre in the Centre of Excellence for Renewable Resources (TFZ) conference hall & Online
Look for more information here.
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4 MAY 2023
Summary of the Action A1 report has been published
The summary of Action A1 report “Overview of PM sampling and dilution methods. Summary and key messages of Action A1 Report” can be found on materials page.
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3 MAY 2023
Save the date:
2nd INTERNATIONAL REAL-LIFE EMISSIONS WORKSHOP ON SMALL-SCALE COMBUSTION will be held on October 26, 2023 in Straubing, Germany.
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14 MARCH 2023
Commission visit
EC Life Unit officers paid a visit to the project. The task was to check the implementation of the project activities and to discuss technical and financial issues as well as visit labs.
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10 MARCH 2023
Upcoming Commission visit
Desk Officers Urquijo Zamora and Rauma from EC Directorate-General will pay a monitoring visit to the project on March 14 2023. They will be accompanied with the Monitoring Expert Jaari from Neemo EEIG.
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6 FEB 2023
The first issue of our Real-LIFE Emissions project newsletter has been published to share some results and activities of the project.
2 FEB 2023
Smart Cafe event: Good practices and impacts of small-scale wood combustion
Jarkko Tissari, Principal Investigator of the Real-LIFE Emissions project was discussing about the good practices and impacts of wood combustion in UEF Café Smart event on 2 February 2023. Check the video footage (only in Finnish)
30 JAN 2023
Testing of novel TPM sampling combination at TFZ in Straubing, Germany
During the onsite follow-up meeting at UEF for Real-LIFE emissions project after the first international workshop in November 2022, a novel sampling method for total particulate matter (TPM) was discussed and suggested for further testing.
This novel method should combine the ENPME method which is supposed to become a part of the EN 16510 and one possibility to also detect the condensable particles that would form during full flow dilution. Therefore, a sampling train consisting of ENPME with a small filter (47 mm) behind it and directly connected to a porous tube with a small filter behind it were combined and tested at a log wood stove at natural draught. The experimental setup can be seen in the first figure. A dilution ratio of 1:4 was applied at the porous tube diluter so that existing infrastructure could be used at TFZ in Straubing for initial trials.
The measurement showed that particles were collected on the filter behind ENPME and behind the dilution step. The particles looked differently as expected. The filter behind ENPME was black due to the temperatures at around 180 °C and the filter behind the porous tube diluter were brown indication that some of the condensable particles were collected, second figure.
Due to the high diluted sampling flow rate across the filters an increased pressure drop was detected. Therefore, TFZ also tested a large filter holder having a diameter of 110 mm with showing a lower pressure drop.
TFZ was able to prove that a combination of ENPME and Porous Tube can work at the applied dilution ratio of 1:4 but some adjustments and comparative measurements using full flow dilution will be needed for further validation and method development.
3 JAN 2023
Summary of the Action A2 report has been published
The summary “Review of particulate emissions produced from the small-scale solid fuel combustion” can be found on materials page.
Measurement campaign at TFZ in Straubing, Germany
As part of different actions in the Real-LIFE project, a measurement campaign at one log wood stove and one pellet stove was conducted in fall 2022. The goal of this campaign was to collect experience and data on different sampling methods and sampling durations and their effect on the final result on emissions. Therefore, the stove was placed on a scale, the flue gases were analysed in the hot and diluted flue gas. Moreover, as the reference method, the heated filter method was used. For comparison, the ENPME method and the porous tube diluter were applied to the undiluted hot flue gases. Moreover, a full flow dilution tunnel was set up in order to find some additional correlations between the dilution using a full flow dilution tunnel and a porous tube diluter. The obtained results were presented at the first international workshop in November 2022.
Figure: Experimental setup at TFZ and the sampling points in the undiluted hot flue gas.
The second meeting of the Steering group
The second meeting of the Steering group was held online on November 24th, 2022. All beneficiaries presented the most important points from the recently held 1st international workshop on 9th November 2022. Steering group members provided their feedback and were contented with the workshop. The mid-term report was presented thereafter. Frank Kienle, one of the steering group members provided updates on the situation of EN16510 standard.
- The key points of the meeting could be summarized as follows:
- It is very difficult to differentiate the health and environmental effects of single properties as both physical and chemical properties are mixed
- Further discussions are required to conclude the important emission compounds and physical parameters to be measured based on their measurability, intensity of effects and required sampling systems to measure them
- Secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) have also similar or even greater effects than the primary organic aerosols and thus required to be measured
- There would be a proper need of simple sampling system to measure all organics, gaseous and particulate emissions but also economically feasible for all member countries
- The work progress made until mid-term is satisfactory and moving towards the right direction
- Dissemination of the project results through various channels such as international workshop was very impressive
- The steering group members are committed to help and assist the project beneficiaries in every possible manner
The presentations of the 1st International Real-LIFE Emissions Workshop are now available here.
The on-going first international workshop has attracted over 130 registered participants all over the Europe, mainly online.
Project beneficiaries are eventually meeting today face to face in Kuopio, Finland.
Project Researcher Juho Louhisalmi was awarded from his master’s thesis
The Finntesting Association awards annually an incentive prize to an author of a meritorious master’s thesis or a diploma thesis related to testing or laboratory field. The amount of the prize is 500 €. Juho Louhisalmi received an award for his master’s thesis “Measurement of particulate emissions from small-scale wood combustion: a comparison of particulate mass concentration measurement methods”.
In his master’s thesis, Louhisalmi focused on comparing two particulate mass concentration measurement methods, one of which (PRD+ED) has been in extensive research use for years, while the other (EN-PME) is a recent result of joint European development work, which is aiming to be adopted as the new standard method for particulate mass concentration measurement in Europe. Louhisalmi discovered in his work that different methods produce different results depending on the composition of the emission. The particulate mass concentration determined by the PRD+ED method was higher than by the EN-PME method when there were lot of organic compounds emitted and vice versa.
Several different methods are used to measure particulate mass concentration around the world, and the results obtained with them are not easily comparable due to the differences in the methods. It is important that a harmonized method for measuring particulate emissions is used in the future.
The Finntesting Association justified the award as follows: “The selection criteria for the awarded work have been that the thesis serves as a catalyst for deepening or expanding research, arouses the need for interdisciplinary research, contributes continuous development, includes a new innovation for the laboratory field, and the thesis has applied and utilized various operational quality criteria.”
The award was given at the Finntesting Association Eurachem-Finland 30-year celebration seminar of the on November 3, 2022.
International Aerosol Conference (IAC2022)
The results obtained from an experimental campaign at UEF for Action A2 was presented in a poster in an International Aerosol Conference (IAC2022) in Athens, Greece in September 2022. The presentation title was “ The effect of wood fuel species on particulate and gaseous emissions from a wood stove” and it was presented by UEF Emissions Expert Karna Dahal. The links to the presented poster and the submitted can be found on materials page.
Save the date: 1st INTERNATIONAL REAL-LIFE EMISSIONS WORKSHOP ON SMALL-SCALE COMBUSTION : The measurement methods and emission components for the solid fuel combustion appliances. The workshop will be held on November 9, 2023 in Kuopio, Finland.
November 9, 2022, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio campus
The Real-LIFE emissions project coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland will organize the first international workshop which will emphasize reviewing on the measurement methods and particulate emission components produced from the small scale solid fuel combustion. The workshop will be divided into three different sessions in which main workshop topic will be discussed in detail. The workshop aims to bring scientists, combustion appliance manufacturers, regulators, and experts in the field together and discuss current issues and solutions for the residential combustion emissions, sampling methods and protocols.
Read more on workshops page
VSB experimental campaign – Real-LIFE emissions campaign
As part of actions A1 and A3, a measurement campaign has started in a laboratory at the VSB Energy research center in May 2022. The main aim of this campaign is to determine the amount of emission components and physical parameters of flue gases from the combustion of different solid fuels, mainly biomesses, in local heaters with different heat output. Other goal of the campaign is to compare EN-PME method with hot-filter method for the determination of particulate matter in dilution tunnel. The experimental campaign also includes the measurement of gaseous components, particle number size distribution, particle mass size distribution, heavy metals, polycyclic aeromatic hydrocarbons, and ammonia. The measurement results of the campaign will be useful to meet the objectives of the Real-LIFE emission project.
Open Day in the Residential wood combustion simulator (SIMO)
University of Eastern Finland (UEF) will organize an Open Day on the LIFE 30th Anniversary Day at Kuopio campus on 20 May 2022 between 14:00 to 16:00 (Helsinki time). See more https://sites.uef.fi/real-life-emissions/open-day/
Monitoring visit
Neemo monitoring Expert Rūta Kurienė paid an on-site monitoring visit to our project on 15-16 March 2022 at the Kuopio campus of the University of Eastern Finland. The idea of the visit was to present the LIFE rules and reporting obligations, monitor the progress made and review of project administration and financial management. She also witnessed the on-site demonstration of an experiment at the residential wood combustion simulator (SIMO).
Experimental campaign at residential wood combustion simulator (SIMO)
As part of the Action A1 of this project, an experimental campaign was held in January and February 2022 at the residential wood combustion simulator (SIMO) https://sites.uef.fi/fine/front-page/simo/ located in the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). The 16 days’ campaign, was devoted to collect the data for studying the impact of dilution ratio and different wood species on the particulate emissions from residential wood combustion. The campaign results will be very useful for selecting an appropriate dilution ratio for the future particulate emission measurement method which will be chosen later in the Real-LIFE emissions project.
The first meeting of the Steering group
The first meeting of the Steering group was held online on January 21th, 2022. In his welcoming speech the principal investigator Jarkko Tissari was very pleased to notify that the Real-Emissions project has a very good compilation of members. After introductory round the project beneficiary teams had presented the workplan action by action followed by a fertile discussion. The key points of the meeting could be summarized as follows:
– The current standard methods for measuring emissions from residential combustion need to be revised
– Europe needs harmonized test method for the measurements of emissions from residential emissions
– Dilution method is the only method that can include much of the excluded PM emissions
– The project is moving forward but careful selection of the sampling methods, emission components and types of stoves for the emission measurements is required to achieve the goal of the project
– Adoption of the results of this project by responsible organizations will take long time but the results will be anyway useful for many of such organizations (e.g. Ecodesign, CEN, UNECE)
– The steering group members are committed to help and assist the project beneficiaries in every possible manner
First internal workshop on Actions A1 and A2
The first internal workshop on the issues related to Actions A1 and A2 was held on 16 November 2021. The workshop provided a platform to discuss about the various existing sampling methods and particle emissions from small scale solid fuel combustion appliances. The main objective of this workshop was to collect the information and share knowledge among the project partners about particle emission components and the aerosol sampling methods for small scale solid fuel combustion environment and plan for the activities required for these actions.
The Kick Off meeting
The Kick Off meeting of the project was held online on September 8th, 2021. The idea was to get everyone on the same page and start to work together. The team members of the beneficiaries introduced themselves and created a shared understanding of the project background as well as objectives and the actions that needs to be done.