LAUSR

Spectral properties of Black Carbon (BC) produced during the burning of different biofuels have been studied using a 7 channel Aethalometer (Magee Scientific, USA). Different biofuels used for household purpose in the rural regions were selected after a survey conducted in Gadanki, A.P. – a typical village in South India. Biofuels were burnt in a custom made burning chamber and BC produced has been allowed to mix with ambient air and measured using Aethalometer kept 4 meters away from the burning chamber. The observed absorption coefficient spectra have been characterized by fitting to a power-law equation. The power co-efficient (α) values found to be ranging from 1.2–2.1 for different biofuels. It has been observed that the α values are related to the speed of burning; fast burning biofuels shown low values, whereas slow burning biofuels have shown higher values.