Hyung Don Lee  Hyouk Jin Yun  Sung Whan Cho

Vol. 29,  No. 1, pp. 22-30, Mar.  2023
10.7464/ksct.2023.29.1.22

Air pollutants Heating devices Human exposure Mongolia Waste cooking oil

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Mongolia is experiencing some of the world’s most serious air pollution problems. The air pollution is especially severe during the winter when raw coal and low-grade fuels are used to heat homes in Ger villages. The impact of this pollution has created significant health and socioeconomic challenges for the country. In order to mitigate this air pollution, this study analyzed the fuel quality of the low-grade fuels and Mongolian waste cooking oils used in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Then the environmental characteristics of traditional stove combustion and a prototype combustion heating device were compared and analyzed. In addition, the effect of replacing the heating devices was evaluated by analyzing their risks to humans. Analysis of the fuel characteristics showed that briquettes had relatively low environmental properties as a result of their high ash, N and S content. Also, after analyzing the combustion characteristics, it was found that the air quality improvement effect was higher when waste cooking oil was burned compared to the three types of coal that were analyzed. Finally, this study evaluated the impact of replacing the Mongolia traditional stove with a prototype stove that uses waste cooking oil. The results of this study are expected to help to mitigate the air quality problems currently observed in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.