Assessment of Pollutant Emission from Open Field Burning of Rice Straw

Abstract

Farmer usually burn rice straw left on the field prior to starting a new crop, emitting a great amount of pollutants to the environment. The objective of this research was to determine emission factors (EFs) of main agricultural residues during open field burning, including rice straw, corncob and sugarcane tip/leave.The pollutants consisting of carbon dioxide (CO₂,carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO_X), sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and total particulate matter (TPM) were measure to assess emissions in the laboratory which were subsequently used to estimate the amount of pollutant emissions from open field burning of rice straw in Thailand.The results showed that the EFs of the 3 agricultural residues varied differently depending on their characteristics. The emissions of CO₂, CO, NO_X, SO₂ were 1,118 78.86 1.44 0.56 6.69 g/kg_dm, respectively. The EFs of open burning of rice straw were 246.35 17.37 0.31 0.12 147.35, respectively. The results of this study can be further used to make policy regarding the control of open field burning of rice straw.