Field measurement and estimate of gaseous and particle pollutant emissions from cooking and space heating processes in rural households, northern China

•Higher pollutants produced from the space heating compared to cooking process.•Wood produces highest pollutants, and honeycomb briquette has the lowest emissions.•Much higher emissions found in the initial phase than the stable phase.•Higher mass percent of fine particles formed during stable burning phase.

Pollutant emissions into outdoor air from cooking and space heating processes with various solid fuels were measured, and daily household emissions were estimated from the kitchen performance tests. The burning of honeycomb briquette had the lowest emission factors, while the use of wood produced the highest pollutants. Daily emissions from space heating were significantly higher than those from cooking, and the use of honeycomb briquette for cooking and raw coal chunk for space heating reduces 28%, 24% and 25% for CO, PM10 and PM2.5, compared to wood for cooking and peat for space heating. Much higher emissions were observed during the initial phase than the stable phase due to insufficient air supply and lower combustion temperature at the beginning of burning processes. However, more mass percent of fine particles formed in the later high temperature stable burning phase may increase potential inhalation exposure risks.