Environmental risks connected with the combustion of paper/cardboard briquettes are still not sufficiently known. This paper aims to bring attention to the risks related to the utilisation of paper briquettes in local boilers and to characterise these risks by means of the identification of organic compounds in deposits from exhaust flues. The identification of the chemical compounds was performed by pyrolysis gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection. Paper/cardboard briquettes contain 119 compounds of biogenic origin derived from major biomass components and 53 additives. Additives are used both for improving the properties of paper and in printing inks. By burning the paper briquettes, the same 53 compounds from the additive group were caught in the deposits from the flue gas pathway, occurring in the range of 1-10% of the concentration of individual compounds (additives) contained in the input fuel. Compounds that are very stable during the combustion process have an enrichment factor (EF) >30, which corresponded to approximately 3% of the additive capture in deposits. The highest values were found for plasticisers (phthalates). Many of the primary organic compounds contained in the input raw material do not decompose during combustion and can have adverse effects on human health.

Centre ENET Energy Units for Utilization of Non Traditional Energy Sources VŠB Technical University of Ostrava 17 listopadu 15 2172 708 00 Ostrava Poruba Czech Republic

Department of Electronics Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science VŠB Technical University of Ostrava 17 listopadu 15 2172 708 00 Ostrava Poruba Czech Republic

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico 2 Italy

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