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Chakraborty, Mrinmoy

University of British Columbia

Mitigating household air pollution in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is critical for sustainable development and saving lives. This thesis explores strategies to reduce black carbon (BC) exposure from burning solid biomass fuels (SBFs) in rural Indian households. In Chapters 1 and 2, an extensive literature survey explores the challenges and opportunities in BC monitoring. Emphasis is placed on how advanced techniques can enhance actionable research, particularly in developing engineering solutions and policies for economically disadvantaged populations. Key research questions and gaps are highlighted to steer future studies. Chapter 3 focuses on the assessment of a BC monitoring device. A portable battery-operated microaethalometer was evaluated for BC mass concentration monitoring with a high degree of precision compared to a reference aethalometer (slope range 0.73-1.01, R2 = 0.9). The chapter also explores established aethalometer correction protocols and suggests methods for estimating source contributions. Chapter 4 employs an integrated data collection approach using surveys and BC data from rural northern India. With 81% of households using SBF, intra-day BC fluctuations occurred both indoors (4.2 to 37.6 µgm−3) and outdoors (5.7 to 33.3 µgm−3). Rapid BC changes are mainly due to atmospheric ventilation post-morning cooking. Surveys and BC data helped form hypotheses on fuel-use related to atmospheric conditions, helping to inform interventions: e.g., hypothesized optimal SBF cooking times. Chapter 5 presents the nested mass balance-box (NMB2) model, parameterized with field data and scholarly sources. This model employs the Monte Carlo method to simulate hourly concentrations of indoor-outdoor BC concentrations under various household interventions, such as transitioning fuels and enhancing ventilation, to assess the efficacy of ways to mitigate BC exposure. Transitioning fully to LPG can decrease BC levels during cooking by 99% in poorly ventilated homes. An interesting finding was noted for homes with complete fuel transition to LPG and high ventilation: infiltration of outdoor air led to a slight 9% increase in BC concentration. Chapter 6 summarizes key findings and lessons from the thesis, offering evidence-based decision guidance for reducing BC exposure through the study’s holistic approach of field campaigns, advanced instruments, and modeling.

Text

2025-04-25

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90827

Mechanical Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/