Water vapor release from biofuel combustion

We report on the emission of water vapor from biofuel combustion. Concurrent measurements of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are used to scale the concentrations of water vapor found, and are compared to carbon in the biofuel. Fuel types included hardwood (oak and African musasa), softwood (pine and spruce, partly with green needles), and African savanna grass. The session-averaged ratio of H2O to the sum of CO and CO2 in the emissions from 16 combustion experiments ranged from 1.2 to 3.7 on average, indicating the presence of water that is not chemically bound. This biofuel moisture content ranged from 33% in the dry African hardwood, musasa, to 220% in fresh pine branches with needles. The moisture content from fresh biofuel contributes distinctly to the water vapor in biomass burning emissions, and its influence on meteorology needs to be evaluated.