Sources of Air Pollution in Bangladesh (Brick Kiln & Vehicle Emission Scenario) - Case Project
Sources of Air Pollution in Bangladesh (Brick Kiln & Vehicle Emission Scenario) - Case Project
Sources of Air Pollution in Bangladesh (Brick Kiln & Vehicle Emission Scenario) - Case Project
Department of Environment
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
SOURCES OF
AIR POLLUTION IN BANGLADESH
(Brick kiln & Vehicle emission Scenario)
Department of Environment
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Prepared by
Md. Masud Rana
Consultant (Monitoring & Evaluation)
March 2019
Department of Environment
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Publisher:
Clean Air and Sustainable Environment Project, Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change of the Government of Bangladesh
All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of this report without written permissions from the Department
of Environment is strictly prohibited. However, the information contained in this report can be used without any
cost for the purpose of study, research or training subject to the acknowledgement of this report.
MESSAGE
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has been working hard to control the environmental
pollution in the country. As part of its continuous efforts to keep the environment clean, several measures have
recently been taken to upgrade the air quality, especially in dry season in the country.
The Ministry has been implementing Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project with a view to
identify the major air polluting sectors, to design and demonstrate cleaner technologies for brick manufacturing,
and to study the emissions from other important sources like vehicles, industries, etc. Countrywide network of
continuous air quality monitoring has been established to inspect the status of the air quality in the cities. In
addition, the government has adopted Brick Manufacturing and Kiln Establishment (Control) Act – 2013 (revised
in 2018) to limit the emissions from the brick kiln sector, and is currently making a Clean Air Act to address the
air quality in the country in a systemic way.
This report has been prepared with the field-based activities done under the CASE project on the brick kiln and
vehicle inventory and emission monitoring. This is an important task which would certainly contribute greatly to
devise a source-based air quality management plan in the country in general, and in the cities in particular.
I thank the team involved in preparing the report, and hope utmost utilization of this report.
MESSAGE
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is very active to ensure quality environment for the
people of Bangladesh. The Ministry is listing the sources of air pollution in the country, facilitating environment-
friendly technologies, and is revising Acts and Rules to control pollutions in the country.
The report “Sources of Air Pollution in Bangladesh” is the outcome of the activities under the Clean Air and
Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project on the two major sources of air pollution, brick kilns and vehicles. These
two sources jointly contribute about 70% of the air pollution in Dhaka. The GIS-based countrywide inventory of
brick kilns and estimation of emission profile of different technologies are great accomplishments done under the
CASE project. These works will undoubtedly help take necessary measures on controlling emissions from these
source sectors.
I expect rapid adoption of environment friendly technologies in brick kilns, and also finding alternatives to bricks
for construction materials. This report would serve as an important document to formulate and implement plans
and programs in order to manage the air quality in Bangladesh.
I appreciate the work and thank to the CASE project team for generating the report.
Habibun Nahar, MP
MESSAGE
The Ministry of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change has been implementing the Clean Air and Sustainable
Environment (CASE) Project in Bangladesh with the financial assistance from the World Bank. The project has
conducted several studies on the identification of sources of air pollution, GIS-based inventory of prime sources
(brick kilns as one of this), and the emission measurement of the sources, all of which are highly important for
planning for an effective air quality management in this country. Considering the dynamic characteristics of the
sources, the databases produced from these studies should be updated each time any changes occur in source
number, emissions or positions.
I am really happy that the CASE project has compiled and prepared this report based on the studies on the
emission monitoring and improved design of brick kiln technology. I hope this report will facilitate bringing reform
in the brick kiln and vehicle sectors, and thus improving air quality in Bangladesh.
I appreciate this worthy work done by the CASE project and expect continuation of the work.
MESSAGE
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is responsible for sustainable environmental
management in Bangladesh. The ministry has taken many initiatives towards environmental issues including
environmental pollution control.
Air is an important component of the environment. It is so essential that the human being cannot survive more
than a minute without it. Alarmingly, this crucial component of the environment is getting severely polluted
by some anthropogenic activities. The medical science has found air pollution causing many fatal and harmful
human diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) reveals about 7.0 million people die worldwide due to the
inhalation of polluted air. It is thus an imperative task to take useful measures to control air pollution.
The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project of the Department of Environment (DoE) has been
implementing numbers of activities on the air quality management in Bangladesh with the financial assistance
from the World Bank. In addition to the continuous air quality monitoring in major cities of the country, the project
has completed several studies on the source apportionment, emission inventory, and dispersion modeling.
Conversions of high polluting Fixed Chimney Brick Kilns to Improved Zigzag Brick Kilns have been done with
demonstrations in 08 cities. More than 50% emission reduction is achieved at the converted Improved Zigzag
Kilns. In addition, the project has drafted a Clean Air Act in which stringent emission standards will be set for
the industries including brick kilns, and vehicles. Besides the brick sector, the project conducts regular emission
testing on the on-road vehicles and has assisted in revising the vehicle emission standards in Bangladesh.
This report has discussed in details on the brick kiln scenario in Bangladesh and on the technological improvement
designed and demonstrated under the CASE Project. The vehicular emission scenario in Dhaka city is also
illustrated exhaustively.
This report is expected to be highly beneficial in bringing reforms in the two major sources of air pollution namely
brick kilns and vehicles, which will finally improve the environmental quality of the country.
3.0 Improved zigzag Kiln (IZK) demonstrated under the CASE Project 21
3.1 Conversion from FCK 21
3.1.1 Design and Construction 21
3.1.1.1 Design of the converted Zigzag kiln 22
3.1.1.2 Green Brick Production Process 26
3.1.1.3 Improving the Firing Practices 26
3.2 Energy and environment monitoring of the IZK 26
3.2.1 Monitoring done by the IHERE, Vietnam 26
3.2.2 Results of E&E monitoring by the IHERE 28
3.3 Monitoring done by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Bangladesh 31
3.3.1 Methods of energy and environment monitoring 32
3.3.1.A. Methods of energy monitoring 32
3.3.1.B. Methods of environment monitoring 34
3.3.2 Results of the E&E monitoring by the BCSIR 37
3.3.2.1 Measurement of energy requirement 37
3.3.2.2 Measurement of environmental performances 40
2–S 2 stroke
4–S 4 stroke
AQMP Air Quality Management Plan/Program
BAPMAN Bangladesh Air Pollution Management
BARC Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council
BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
BCL Bangladesh Consultants Limited
BCSIR Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
BMKEA Brick Manufacturing & Kiln Establishment Act
BRTA Bangladesh Road Transport Authority
BTK Bull Trench Kiln
BUET Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology
CAA Clean Air Act
CMAQ Community Multi-scale Air Quality
CNG Compressed Natural Gas
E&E Energy and Environment
EF Emission Factor
ER Emission Rate
FCK Fixed Chimney Kiln
GCV Gross Calorific Value
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GIS Geographical Information System
GPS Geographical Positioning System
HHK Hybrid Hoffman Kiln
HSU Hartridge Smoke Unit
IHERE Institute of Heat Engineering and Refrigeration
IZK Improved Zigzag Kiln
LDV Light Duty Vehicle
LULC Land Use and Land Cover
MDL Minimum Detection Limit
MHK Mini Hoffman kiln
NDIR Non-Dispersive Infra Red
NILU Norwegian Institute for Air Research
SYMBOLS
CO Carbon monoxide
CO2 Carbon dioxide
HC Hydrocarbons
HF Hydrogen fluoride
NOx Nitrogen oxides
O3 Ozone
PM Particulate matters
PM2.5 Particulate matters with less than 2.5 micron aerodynamic diameter
PM10 Particulate matters with less than 10 micron aerodynamic diameter
UNITS
% percent
%(v) percent by volume
µg/m 3
microgram per cubic meter
ft. feet
g/h gram per hour
g/s gram per second
kg/h kilogram per hour
kg/lacb kilogram per one lac brick
m -1
per meter
m/s meter per second
mg/kgf milligram per kilogram (fuel)
mg/Nm3 milligram per cubic meter (at normal condition)
MJ/kg megajoule per kilogram
Nm /kgf cubic meter (at normal condition) per kilogram (fuel)
3
The Part – A of this report has been prepared from the works and data produced by the consulting firms
performed under the CASE project: IHERE of the Hanoi University designed of an Improved Zigzag Kiln and
demonstrated in 8 districts of Bangladesh, the BCSIR monitored the energy and environment performances of
the traditional and demonstrated IZKs. Geography and Environment Department of Jahangirnagar University
prepared the countrywide GIS-based inventory of the brick kilns. However, the vehicular emission data that have
been analyzed in Part – B of this report were generated by the CASE project staff with active cooperation and
participation of the DoE.
The CASE project would like to offer special thanks to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
of the Government of Bangladesh for its continued support, encouragement and guidance. The Department of
Environment (DoE) also contributed greatly to the activities of the project; especially, the Air Quality Management
(AQM) Wing of the DoE actively took part in the activities of emission monitoring of the brick kilns and vehicles.
The cooperation of the Traffic Police Department of the Bangladesh Police during the vehicle emission testing is
highly appreciated. In addition, the project deeply acknowledges the financial assistances from the World Bank
vide its credit facility (id # 4581 BD and 5924 BD). The encouragement, assistances and guidance of the team
members of the CASE project of the World Bank office helped to manage the tasks of the project in a timely
manner.
The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project has been implementing several tasks relating to the
management of air pollution in the urban areas of Bangladesh. Identification of sources, preparation of a GIS-
based source inventory, finding the source emission characteristics, and designing for environment-friendly
technologies in brick kiln sector are some of the important works the project has done during its period from
2010 to 2019. The outcomes of the studies and works on the sources of air pollution have been described with
illustrations in two parts of this report; the Part – A contains activities and results of the tasks performed in
the brick kiln sector while the Part – B shows results of the tailpipe emission monitoring of vehicles in Dhaka
city. A complete GIS-based inventory of the brick kilns throughout the country has been done; the inventory
lists not only the geographical positions but the physical, technological and ownership information of the brick
kilns are also recorded. A 1.0 km Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) map around each brick kiln has also been
created to evaluate the settlements being affected around the kilns. As part of the technological improvement,
a design of the environment friendly Improved Zigzag Kiln (IZK) has been prepared; the IZK is converted from the
Fixed Chimney Kiln (FCK) keeping the original 120 feet chimney at place. This report presents the design of the
conversion, and the energy and environment performance of the IZK with respect to the traditional Zigzag kilns
and the FCKs. Estimates of the reductions in energy use, and emissions of PM and CO2 are also shown for the
hypothetical scenario of conversions of all the FCKs throughout the country to the IZKs.
Roadside vehicular emission tests were conducted regularly in major hotspots of Dhaka city. Idle Carbon
Monoxide (CO) and Hydrocarbons (HC) from the gasoline/CNG vehicles and free acceleration smoke opacity of
diesel vehicles were measured. Overall 1317 vehicles were tested at 08 hotspots in the city, out of which 815
were CNG/gasoline and 502 were diesel vehicles. The Part – B of this report shows detailed analysis of the
emission data generated from the on-road vehicle emission testing. Comparative studies of different types of
vehicles, and fuel use have been shown.
This report presents deliberations on the emission potentials of two major sources of air pollution in Bangladesh,
and it is expected to be helpful in the policy formulation on the air quality management in the country.
The Government of Bangladesh with the financial assistance from the World Bank
has been implementing the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project
with a view to improve the air quality in the urban areas of the country. The Ministry
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) of the government has been
functioning as the sponsoring agency while the Department of Environment (DoE),
Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA)
are executing their respective parts of the project. The DoE component of the project
(from now only the CASE Project) is assigned with the tasks of studying and working on
different components of the air quality management program (AQMP) – the components
are (a) air quality screening in major cities, (b) continuous monitoring of air quality, (c)
emission inventory, (d) source apportionment, (e) dispersion modeling, etc. The project
has worked on all of the components during its period from 2010 to 2019. Air quality
screening in two big cities (Dhaka & Chattogram) has been done, and a countrywide
air quality monitoring network has been established. Source apportionment studies
have been performed in major cities, as well as emission inventories and dispersion
modeling works have been carried out in Dhaka and Chattogram cities. The project has
also drafted rules under the Brick Manufacturing and Kiln Establishment (Control) Act –
2013 (revised in 2018), revisions to vehicular emission standards, and a Clean Air Act;
the drafts are at present under the process of government ratification.
The source apportionment studies carried out in the divisional cities have identified
brick kilns as a major source of air pollution in the cities. Vehicles are also good sources,
although the introduction of cleaner fuel CNG to vehicle sector and the drive out of
2-stroke 3-wheelers from the Dhaka city helped lessen the contributions from this
sector to air pollution. The latest apportionment study has attributed about 58, 10.4
and 15.3 % of fine particles in Dhaka city to brick kilns, vehicles and dusts respectively.
This report is divided into two parts; the Part – A presents the energy and
environment monitoring of the mostly used technologies for brick manufacturing in
the country, the performances of the Improved Zigzag Kiln (IZK) technology designed
and demonstrated under the CASE project, and the countrywide GIS based inventory
of the brick kilns, and the Part – B demonstrates with illustrations the results of the
tailpipe emission testing of the on-road vehicles in Dhaka city.
The IZKs were demonstrated in 08 districts of the country. The energy and environment performances of the
demonstrated IZKs were monitored firstly during its establishment by the consulting firm IHERE, and then again
in the next year by the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR). The summary of the
results on the E&E performances of IZKs with respect to the FCKs and artisan Zigzag kilns are as follows,
1. Coal consumptions in the IZKs were found about 30 and 40 % lower than the artisan Zigzag kilns and FCKs
respectively.
2. The specific energy consumptions of the FCK, artisan Zigzag kiln and IZK were found as 1.35, 1.28 and 1.0
MJ/kg brick respectively
3. PM emissions from the IZKs were found about 67 and 89 % lower than the artisan Zigzag kilns and FCKs
respectively.
4. More than 95% of the SO2 gas could be reduced in the IZKs compared to the artisan Zigzag kilns and FCKs.
Brick kiln number at present in the country is about 8000; if the technology proportion were not changed from
the 2010 scenario (FCK>90%), about 7200 kilns must have been of FCK technology by today. Now,
(a) If all the 7200 FCKs were replaced by the traditional Zigzag Kilns (TZK), about 810 thousand tons of coal or
about 10.12 billion taka would be saved every year – meaning that each kiln would save about 1,406,250
taka every year (5 months operation time). Environmentally, about 2579 tons of PM10, 927 tons of SO2, and
5970.2 tons of CO2 would be reduced countrywide in one day;
(b) If all the 7200 FCKs were replaced by the IZKs, about 2.55 million tons of coal that would cost about 31.9
billion taka would be saved every year – meaning that each kiln would save 4,443,750 taka every year (5
months operation time). Environmentally, about 3443 tons of PM10, 1874.4 tons of SO2 and 7093.4 tons of
CO2 would be reduced countrywide in each day if all the FCKs were replaced by the IZK designed by the CASE
project of the DoE.
In addition to the energy and environment monitoring of the brick kilns, the CASE project with the help of Geography
and Environment Department of the Jahangirnagar University has prepared a GIS-based inventory of the brick
kilns throughout the country. Brick kilns were first identified from the image interpretation of the Google Earth.
Overall 7326 brick kilns were spotted from this desk work of the image interpretation. However, the field visits
of the team members throughout the country found about 7902 kilns, of those 2487 kilns were in Dhaka division
(including Mymensingh). Every site was visited to explore the Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Pattern of 1.0
km buffer area around the brick kiln. Eleven natural/infrastructural property/establishments were shown in the
LULC maps, which were brick kilns, area of the kilns, settlement with homestead vegetation, road network, river,
standing natural water body, pond, agricultural land, forest, hilly area and features like school/hospital/mosque,
etc. During the field visits, information like the lat/lon positions, owner information, kiln structure, capacity and
type, etc. were recorded. Finally, a database software was prepared to demonstrate all the information of the
kilns on the GIS platform. The inventory found mixed results in the district-wise proportion of FCK and Zigzag
kilns; in general, it may be assumed that about 70% of the kilns countrywide are now Zigzag type.
The city of Dhaka is afflicted with heightened level of particulate matter (PM) in
dry season (November – April) every year. Favorable meteorology and seasonal
sources like brick kilns, open burning, etc. exacerbate the pollution situation during
this season. The air monitoring results published by the Clean Air and Sustainable
Environment (CASE) Project of the Department of Environment (DoE) have reported
PM10 concentrations above the Bangladesh standard in about 75% days of the dry
season (CASE1). On the other hand, the PM level in the air of Dhaka city during wet
season (May – October) is very compatible with the standard. Thus, the air pollution
in Dhaka city is actually a phenomenon of about one third days of a year.
The Government of Bangladesh is very sincere in addressing the air pollution in the
country. It has implemented several controlling measures at different times, which
abruptly improved the air quality, especially of Dhaka city. For example, the drive-out
of 2-stroke 3-wheeled baby taxies from Dhaka city in 2001 instantly cut off the PM10
concentrations in the city by about 40% (Begum et al. 20062). Not only this, several
other measures were also implemented on the vehicle sector, one of the major of which
was the introduction of cleaner fuel compressed natural gas (CNG) to the transport
sector in early 90s. Such reforms on the vehicle sector helped reduce great amount of
emissions from this sector. However, the continuous growth of population, vehicles,
brick kilns and industries in the following years cancelled out the benefits gained from
the control-measures on the vehicle sector, resulting almost similar pollution level
during the last 7 – 8 years. Only the apportionment of the sources to air pollution has
been changed. Latest source apportionment study has attributed about 58, 10.4 and
15.3 % of the fine particle concentration in Dhaka city to the brick kiln industry, vehicles
and dusts respectively (CASE project, 20143), whereas the previous apportionment
study calculated about 22.0, 36.0 and 24.5 % contributions from these prime sources
respectively (Begum et al. 20134). The Government is now very determined to reform
the brick manufacturing sector with the primary objective to reduce emissions from
1 CASE Project (2018) Ambient Air Quality in Bangladesh, Department of Environment, Dhaka.
2 Begum et al. (2006) Impact of banning of two-stroke engines on Airborne Particulate Matter
Concentration in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, 56, 85-89
3 Identification and apportionment of sources from air particulate matters at urban environments in
Bangladesh http://case.doe.gov.bd/
4 Air pollution by fine particulate matter in Bangladesh. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 2013
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of Bangladesh has been implementing
Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project with the financial assistance from the World Bank. Started
in 2010, the project is set to end in June 2019. Three agencies, Department of Environment (DoE), Dhaka City
Corporation (DCC) and Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) are executing their respective part of the
project. While the DoE component is building up the infrastructures for continuously monitoring the air quality,
tracking sources and finding ways of reducing industrial emissions, the DCC and DTCA components are finding
solutions to lessen the vehicular emissions by modernizing traffic systems, building up facilities for pedestrians’
movement, and by facilitating smooth traffic flow and mass transit.
The CASE Project of the DoE component has been implementing several studies on both the brick kiln and
vehicle sectors. In brick sector, the project has been working on (i) preparing a countrywide GIS-based inventory
of the brick kilns, (ii) demonstrating energy efficient technologies for brick production, (iii) designing and
demonstrating conversion of existing Fixed Chimney Kiln (FCK) technology to improved Zigzag kiln technology,
(iv) monitoring emissions from different brick kiln technologies, etc. At the same time, the project has been
conducting regular vehicle emission testing to identify high polluting vehicles, to understand existing vehicle
emission scenario and to assess the feasibility of revising the vehicle emission standards which were last
adopted in 2005.
This report has two parts; the studies on the brick kiln sector implemented under this project have been discussed
in PART – A and the results of the roadside vehicle emission testing have been demonstrated in PART – B.
However, before starting the discussions on the major two sources of air pollution, a glimpse on the latest status
of the ambient air quality of especially Dhaka city in the following section would be much worthy.
PM is the main responsible pollutant for bad air quality in dry season in Dhaka city. Table 1 shows an overview of
the PM concentrations in different years in Dhaka city. The concentrations are daily averaged, calculated when
minimum 80% hourly concentration data was present in a day.
Table 1 primarily reveals a declining trend in yearly PM concentrations in Dhaka; both the PM10 and PM2.5
concentrations have declined from 2016. Compared to 2013-14, Dhaka experienced about 12% lower PM
concentration (annual) in 2017. This reduction in yearly PM concentrations in air may be attributed to the ongoing
reforms in the brick kiln sector. A large number of FCK has been replaced with Zigzag technologies in the last 4-5
years as a result of the adoption of the Brick Manufacturing and Kiln Establishment Act – 2013 (revised in 2018).
mean
mean
Year capture capture
rate % 25 50 75 95 rate % 25 50 75 95
2013 90.7 66 122 221 394 161.4 87.6 32 57 127 259 92.0
2014 82.2 66 120 237 393 159.4 86.5 34 70 145 236 95.0
2015 62.7 80 160 254 349 172.8 90.0 35 62 143 222 90.0
2017 85.7 65 103 207 362 142.6 85.5 34 53 118 200 80.5
Temporal trends (Figure 1) in PM concentrations demonstrate seasonal variations sharply; PM10 and PM2.5
concentrations in air remain higher than the standards of Bangladesh during November to April, and during the
time from May to October the PM levels satisfy the limit values. The month of January is found to be the most
polluted month, followed by December and February. Winter season (December – January) is also characterized
with higher fraction of fine particles to PM10 mass concentrations and the summer time (February – April) is
typified with coarse particles in air. It is important to note that hundreds of brick kilns around the city operate
during the dry season only.
Figure 1 Trends in daily-averaged PM concentration (data threshold 80%) in Dhaka. The red and grey
horizontal lines are standards for PM10 and PM2.5 respectively
BRICK KILNS
Sources of Air Pollution in Bangladesh 9
10 Sources of Air Pollution in Bangladesh
1 BACKGROUND
Brick making industry with the contribution of about 1% to the national GDP is one
of the significant energy consuming sectors in Bangladesh. BUET (20075) reported
about 2.2 million tons of coals being burned annually in about ~5000 brick kilns all
over the country, producing about 15 billion bricks. Of this, Dhaka along with the
neighboring districts (Gazipur, Narayanganj, Narsindhi) possessed about 1000~1200
kilns. The growth of the brick kilns was substantial (about 5.6%) in the previous
decades as a need from the high construction spree in the country. According to the
2005-06 records, most of these kilns (~95%) were Fixed Chimney Kiln (FCK) type
including the Bulls Trench Kilns (BTK), the rests were mostly Zigzag type (~4.5%) and
Hoffman Kiln (0.5%). The Government of Bangladesh undertook several measures at
times to control the use of firewoods in kilns and to increase the chimney height for
proper plume dispersion. The major control measures from the Government were, (i)
The Brick Burning (Regulation) Act 1989 that prohibited use of firewoods in the brick
kilns, (ii) The Environmental Conservation Rules – 1997 which set the SPM emission
limit at 1000 mg/Nm3 from brick kilns, (iii) Revision of the Brick Burning (Regulation)
Act, and (iv) the Brick Burning Rules – 2002 which established FCKs in place of BTKs,
heightening the chimney height at minimum 120 feet.
Addition to the high emitting characteristics of the FCKs, the clustering of those kilns
in several close vicinity of Dhaka city rather deteriorates the situation. BUET (2007)
reported more than 500 brick kilns operating in clusters in the north periphery of
Dhaka city. The north cluster kilns are important for its upwind position in the winter
season (December – January), the most polluted season of Dhaka city. The south
clusters, containing ~500 kilns too, are crucial during March – April time period as
the wind blows from that direction during that time. In Bangladesh, the production of
bricks from FCK and Zigzag technologies is not a year-round process; it operates only
for 5 months (December – April) of dry season. Great amount of particulate matter
(PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and toxic
organic substances like dioxins and furans (Ahmed and Hossain 20086) are emitted
from burning low quality coals in those kilns.
5 Small study on air quality of impacts of the North Dhaka brickfield cluster by modeling of emissions and
suggestions for mitigation measures including financing models. Prepared by the Chemical Engineering
Department, BUET, Dhaka.
6 Applicability of air pollution modeling in a cluster of brickfields in Bangladesh. Chemical Engineering
Research Bulletin, 12 (2008)
In these circumstances, the CASE project conducted studies on the scientifically viable conversion of FCK to Zigzag
kiln technology, keeping the original stack at place. Demonstration kilns of such improved Zigzag technology
were established and operated in different districts of the country, The emission concentrations of different
kiln technologies were measured. Furthermore, the project, in association with the Jahangirnagar University
performed a countrywide GIS-based inventory of the brick kilns. In this report, the outcomes of these works and
studies will be discussed and illustrated.
1.1 Objectives
The brick kiln sector being identified as a major source of air pollution in the country, many developments/reforms
in this sector is expected in the coming days. At this time, field based kiln inventory, and realistic information on
fuel use and emissions would be highly crucial for policy formulation. The entrepreneurs should also be guided
with energy-efficient, environment-friendly and easy-to-use alternative technologies to ensure supply of
construction materials. To address these issues, the CASE project conducted several studies to learn the existing
scenarios of the brick kiln sector, to prepare a field based brick kiln inventory and to find an alternative user-
friendly technology for brick production.
The main objectives of the studies are,
a. To assess the contributions of brick kiln sector to air pollution;
b. To evaluate by demonstration the viability of improved technologies in local environment;
c. To design and demonstrate environment friendly technologies that would be cost effective, user friendly
and acceptable to the entrepreneurs;
d. To build up an appropriate field based inventory of the brick kiln technologies throughout the country;
7 Air pollution by fine particulate matter in Bangladesh. Atmos Pollut Res 4(1)
8 Simulation of urban and regional air pollution in Bangladesh. J Geophys Res 117: D07303
9 Contribution of brick kilns to air quality in Dhaka City. BAPMAN project deliverable 1.3: Bottom-up-emission inventory and dispersion
modelling. Kjeller, Norway. (NILU OR, 12/2014)
10 Identification and apportionment of sources from air particulate matters at urban environments in Bangladesh http://case.doe.gov.bd/
The Fixed Chimney Kiln (FCK) is a next version of the traditional Bull’s Trench Kiln
(BTK), which is essentially an elliptical shaped dug out area in an open field. The
standard FCK is about 250 ft long and 57 ft wide. The bottom and the sidewalls of the
kiln are lined with bricks with the top kept open. Figure 1 & 2 show the structure and
operation of a typical FCK. The chimney in an FCK is fixed and is approximately 125
feet high. This tall chimney creates a strong draft, improving the combustion process,
and releases the flue gas at a height of 125 feet above the ground. In the central
portion of the elliptical kiln, there is a chamber and underground piping to divert the
flue gases from anywhere of the kiln to the chimney. The air/flue gas is managed by
opening and closing dampers to guide the air to the desired path, i.e., past fired bricks
for preheating the combustion air (and cooling fired bricks), and past green bricks for
heat recovery (also aiding the drying process of the green bricks), and out through the
central fixed chimney.
Sun dried bricks are stacked in the kiln in an orderly fashion leaving enough room for
fuel stoking and air circulation. After arranging the green bricks in the kiln, the top
of the kiln is covered with fired bricks, dusts and pebbles. The bricks are fired from
the top and the fire moves forward. The bricks are fired all around the kiln, which
means that the connections to the chimney and the air hole must progressively move
forward, until all bricks in the trench are fired.
Similar to FCK, Zigzag kilns work in continuous mode where the brick stacking inside the kiln could be divided into
several zones, such as cooling zone, soaking zone, pre-heating zone, firing and drying zone.
The Zigzag Kiln is rectangular in shape and measures about 250 ft by 80 ft. It has a 55 ft high fixed chimney
located on one side of the kiln (Figure 3). At the bottom of the chimney there is an induced draft (ID) fan, which
draws the flue gas from the kiln and discharges it to the atmosphere. The ID fan ensures a better and more
controlled air flow through the kiln, ensuring higher efficiency than the FCK. The kiln is divided into 44 to 52
chambers, which are separated from each other using green bricks in such a way that the hot gases move in a
zigzag path through the kiln. The fact that the flue gas changes directions several times in addition to impinging
Addition to the zigzag pathway of plume gases, the Zigzag kiln incorporates a very interesting feature of pollution
reduction – half to two-third of the connecting duct between the center of the kiln and the inlet of the ID fan is
filled with water. The flue gas laden with dust particles impinges on the water, thus losing some of its particulate
load. The water is periodically cleaned to ensure good scrubbing.
n Operation procedure of Zigzag kiln is more sophisticated than FCK – a badly operated Zigzag kiln could
be similar to an FCK regarding to energy consumption and emissions.
n Zigzag kiln requires electricity and standby diesel generator;
Fuel is fed from the top of the firing zone of the kiln through the feeding holes made of steel tube and is covered
by a cap; the coal is fed by an interval of 15 – 20 minutes to keep the fire stable. When the temperature in the
firing zone reaches to the required level, the firing zone is closed and covered with the rubbish again. This portion
of the kiln now belongs to the cooling zone. The feeding holes in the next chamber of the kiln are now opened and
are fed with the coals to start a new firing zone, the progression of firing bricks in the kiln goes on in this way. The
way of arranging holes in the firing zone is different between FCK and Zigzag kiln due to the difference in firing
principles. Figure 5 shows the existing coal feeding system in a Zigzag kiln.
iii. Coal fed from the top directly goes down of the kiln and settles at the bottom of the brick stack. Consequently,
the bricks at the bottom of the kiln usually get over-burnt compared to the bricks at the top layer of the kiln.
iv. In some kilns, coals are grinded in smaller sizes before being poured into the kiln. The grinded coal seems to be
more effective for it may be well burnt at higher amount before falling to the bottom of the kiln, creating uniform
heat energy. The uniform heat helps brick quality to be more uniform.
v. Coal dusts feeding from the top are easy to be dragged with the flue gases and emitted as black carbon
through the chimney. This type of black emission is comparatively low in Zigzag kiln because the particles have
greater chance to settle down during changing directions in zigzag arrangement of the bricks, and also in the
gravity settling chamber.
2.3 Energy and environment monitoring of existing FCK and Zigzag kilns
The engineers of the consulting group (IHERE from Vietnam and BCL as local) visited 20 existing brick kilns (both
FCK and Zigzag kilns), and did the following activities to collect background information,
u Visiting and making questionnaire for 20 brick kilns including 05 FCKs, 11 Zigzag kilns and 04 locally converted
Zigzag kilns to research on the existing structures of the kilns, clay, brick making process, management in the
kiln site, etc. The following activities have been done in the kilns,
n Measuring dimensions of the kilns;
n Measuring dimensions of bricks, and weighing the bricks after molded, dried and fired;
n Asking and filling questionnaire about coal consumption, production, brick quality, advantages and
disadvantages of the kilns;
n Writing observation report;
u Doing detail Energy and Environment audit in 10 brick kilns including 05 FCKs and 05 Zigzag kilns. The
following activities were performed for the audit,
n Measuring flue gas component emissions including CO, CO2, O2, NOx, SO2, CxHy, HF,
n Measuring temperature at different locations of the kiln, temperature of the flue gas, and temperature
of the unloaded bricks;
n Measuring dimensions and weight of the bricks after molded, dried and fired;
1. The energy balance of the brick kilns showed that the heat losses by convection and radiation through the top
cover of the kilns were higher than the heat losses by other means. Improvement in the insulation of the covers
of the kilns could possibly reduce the heat losses.
2. Calculation of energy balance also showed that the excess air was very high in the brick kiln even during
combustion time. It was found that firing efficiency in FCKs was lower than the Zigzag kilns, and so low quality
bricks were expected from the FCKs.
3. On an average, FCK consumed 19 – 20 tons of coal for the production of 100 thousand bricks, in contrast to
17 – 18 tons consumed by the Zigzag kiln for the production of same quantity bricks (Figure 6).
4. Producing bricks by hand was very laborious job under the exposure of direct sun light. This practice might
form low quality bricks because of high water content (up to 50%) in the green bricks; high porosity of the bricks
was expected after water evaporation during baking. Consequently, the compressive strength of the bricks could
be reduced, or the bricks could get bad shapes, and could be highly absorptive.
5. Changing technology from the FCK to the Zigzag kiln could help reduce emissions from brick firing, especially
the SPM emission. Flue gas control using draft Fan was also more stable compared to the natural draft by
chimney in FCK, giving better combustion in Zigzag kilns.
6. Serious SPM emissions from the FCKs was not just for the technology itself but also due to the structure of
the kiln that encouraged flue gas carrying small particles without any obstacle. This problem could be solved by
introducing different types of SPM scrubbing systems within the chimney.
Results of clay and coal analysis, and environment monitoring at the existing brick kilns are shown in table 1 to
table 3.
Table 1 Chemical Analysis of Clay at different brick kilns (types of the kilns are shown in Table 3)
Shrinkage analysis
Linear Drying shrinkage at 105oC (%) 5.31 6.62 5.99 6.16 5.24
Linear Firing shrinkage at 1050oC (%) 2.58 4.37 3.46 4.1 2.08
Total shrinkage of the clay (%) 7.61 10.95 9.12 9.9 7.08
Note: SiO2 = Silicon-di-oxide, Al2O3 = Aluminum oxide, Fe2O3 = Iron oxide, TiO2 = Titanium oxide, MgO = Magnesium oxide, CaO = Calcium
oxide, K2O = Potassium oxide, Na2O = Sodium oxide.
Parameter Unit Atiq brick S. Rahman Imran Titas brick Rose Brick
brick Brick
Proximate analysis
Gross Calorific value (dry) kCal/kg 4650 6030 4690 5630 4410
Ultimate analysis
Parameter Suvo Titas Yousuf Bengal S. SS Imran Imran Attiq Rose brick
Brick brick Brick brick Rahman Brick brick brick brick
brick
Type of kiln Zigzag FCK FCK Zigzag Zigzag FCK FCK Zigzag FCK Zigzag
Location Savar Savar Savar Gazipur Gazipur Comilla Comilla Comilla Chadpur Narayanganj
NOx 26 34 30 38 82 9 16 21 5 7
SO2 404 738 3213 330 2014 4788 1984 780 966 389
CO 4613 1362 4838 1440 1293 3560 2080 1125 1452 1050
HF 11.7 11.7 7.6 22.9 20.7 10.8 20 8.8 12.5 14.1
VOC 0.67 1.21 0.97 0.87 1.15 3.06 1.3 0.93 0.41 0.35
CO2 2 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.7 2.3 1668 2.4 2.8 2.3
O2 14.3 19.5 17.8 16.1 16.8 17.8 18 16.1 18.3 18
SPM1 98 155 41 138 106 1529 2422 686 2270 324
SPM2 95 326 1958 121 160 407 491 744 129 275
SPM3 99 523 803 77 123 2341 1650 466 1472 221
SPM 97.33 334 934 112 129 1425 1521 632 1290 273
average
* The SPM samples were taken at different coal stoking conditions: before stoking, just after coal stoking and between two stoking.
Figure 6 Fuel Consumption rate at the existing brick kilns (ton coal/lac brick)
22 22
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16 16 16
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Under this backdrop, the CASE project contracted with the Institute of Heat
Engineering and Refrigeration (IHERE) of Hanoi University, Vietnam to accomplish pilot
demonstrations on converting FCK to Zigzag technology with modern and improved
engineering design, innovative construction method, improved kiln operation practices
and interventions to make it more environment friendly and energy efficient. Under
the contract, overall 08 demonstration plants were set up in different regions of the
country. The purposes of the demonstrations were to encourage the entrepreneurs
showcasing the method of converting the FCKs, improved construction and kiln
management as well as to present the results and successes of the piloting.
Kiln dimensions
The kiln was designed with 52 chambers, having dimensions as,
The kiln island had the dimensions of 205’′-6’’″ (L) X 14’′-0’’″ (W)
Draft Fan
Draft Fan was used to withdraw flue gases from the kiln to the chimney through the flue gas tunnel system and
gravity settling chamber. Because of the long distance and obstacles of zigzag pathway, the draft fan needed
high suction force and volume flow capacity. Some specifications of the draft fan were as follows,
Suction force: >300mm Hg, Motor capacity: 25 hP, Volume Flow: 3.5m3/sec
Bottom of the kiln in Bangladesh normally suffered from the flooding or water absorption in the rainy season.
Evaporation of water from the bottom at the beginning of the brick season consumes a significant amount of
heat energy. In order to get rid of these troubles, following activities were done,
n Good sticky and plasticity clay was layered firmly at the bottom with at least 1.0 feet thickness to reduce
penetration of water in the rainy season.
n Before stacking of the bricks in the kiln, rubbish was sprayed over the clay bed of the kiln and one layer
of fired brick was arranged over the bed to increase insulation.
n One suction pump was working to take water from the well to the overhead tank;
n Sprayed water was collected to a two parts container which was constructed by high concrete work.
n The container had two parts; the first part received water enriched with high amount of SPM which, after
sometimes, settled at the bottom of this part. Clear water from the top of the first part was drained to
the second part of the container. The water received in the second part was used again to scrub the SPM
in the chimney.
Figure 11 3-D view of SPM scrubber placed at the bottom inside the chimney
n Collecting the Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) following the USEPA method-17 with the PolTech
SPM Stack Sampler.
n Monitoring ambient particulate matters (SPM, PM10, PM2.5) using Low volume Air Matrics PM Sampler,
and gaseous components (CO, NOx, SO2, etc.) with appropriate hand held equipments.
n Collecting sample of coal for Ultimate and Proximate analysis (Calorific value, fixed carbon, volatile
matter, ash, moisture content)
n Collecting clay samples for chemical analysis (SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, TiO2, MgO, CaO, K2O and Na2O), loss on
Ignition, particle size analysis and Shrinkage analysis.
The main components of the flue gas at the chimney as well as at the connecting tube between the brick
loading area and flue gas tunnel system were CO2, NOx, SOx, CO2, O2, and SPM. To assess the emission rates
from the demonstrated IZKs, emission measurements were done for three consecutive days at different firing
conditions, such as before stoking coal, after stoking coal and during the time of stoking coal in the kilns. The
energy and environment monitoring at the kilns was performed at least one month after the beginning of firing,
when the kiln platforms were no more water-soaked. The averages of the measurements were taken as the
representatives of the emissions. Flue gases were monitored for about 25-75 minutes, and PM was collected for
about 10-20 minutes in each measurement cycle to cover all the different states of firing. SPM sampling period
was sometimes restricted due to high moisture content of the flue gas, which tends to clog the sample thimbles.
Results of the measurements are given in Table 4 to Table 7. The following is the salient finding of the emission
measurements at the kilns.
u Compared to FCK and artisan Zigzag kilns monitored earlier (Table 3), the IZKs emitted much lower flue gases,
especially CO2 and SO2. With the use of water scrubber, most of the SO2 in the flue gases seemed absorbed.
SPMs (suspended particles matters) consist of very small solid particles that remain suspended in the flue gas
or air. SPMs are generated from unburned coal powder, fly ash, fine clay particles, fine sand, etc. Those fine
particles are swirled by the flue gases and emitted in to the atmosphere. Thus, SPMs are directly not a product of
combustion process, but depend more on the combustion organization of the kiln. With the drafting in the zigzag
path and different types of SPM trapping systems introduced in the pathway of flue gas emission system, the
IZKs were found to emit quite low SPMs compared to other technologies.
SPM emission mostly depends on the coal feeding practices in the kiln. Coal is usually fed into the kiln in an
intermittent way. When coal is fed, fire increases suddenly in the kiln and consequently flue gas volume increases,
which easily blows fine particles to create higher SPM emission. By changing the fuel feeding practices such as
Total no. of brick produced (x103) 2251.3 2082.0 1968.0 3778.2 4044.1 4637.9 5536.3
Total amount of coal consumed (kg) x103 271.1 262.4 246.3 400.9 427.1 484.34 536.1
Total amount of coal required/lac bricks (kg) 12042 12603 12515 10610 10561 10443 9683
Average mass of bricks (kg) 2.77 3.25 3.35 3.113 3.312 3.286 3.233
Gross calorific value of coal (Kcal/kg) 6525 6545 6670 6865 5995 6780 6595
Gross calorific value of coal (MJ/kg) 27.32 27.4 27.93 28.74 25.1 28.39 27.61
Specific energy consumption (MJ/kg brick) 1.19 1.06 1.04 0.98 0.8 0.9 0.83
Table 7 Emissions of PM and gases from the demonstrated kilns, calculated in different units
SPM average mg/m3 42.6 61.4 134 99.5 157 39.3 28.7
flue gas volume Nm3/kgf 34 28.9 20.3 37.9 25.7 50.3 50.9
Flue gas volume Nm3/brick 3.97 3.35 3.07 4.42 2.97 7.59 7.68
Flue gas volume flow Nm3/s 1.38 1.2 0.82 1.54 1.06 2.02 2.05
gas velocity in tunnel m/s 2.7 1.93 1.32 3.01 1.71 3.27 3.31
Emission based on mg/kg fuel (mg/kgf)
SPM average mg/kgb 169 205 411 440 465 298 221
Emission based on kg/lac brick (kg/lacb)
Table 8 List of brick kilns with technology and addresses monitored by BCSIR
Mini- Hybrid Hoffmann MHK-1 M/S Jamuna Auto Bricks Kaliganj, Satkhira
(MHK)** MHK-2 M/S HNB Bricks Ltd Chailgazi, Dinajpur
Hybrid Hoffmann (HHF) HHK-1 Metrocem Auto Bricks Ltd Kolma, Savar
Kiln HHK-2 Kapita Auto Bricks Ltd Kalampur, Savar
TK-1 MHCL Auto Bricks Ltd Genda, Ulail, Dhaka
Tunnel Kiln (TK)
TK-2 Stone Bricks Ltd Ghior, Manikganj
*These kilns were designed and demonstrated under the CASE Project and the E&E of these kilns were also monitored by the IHERE
presented in the previous chapter.
** This technology was another type of demonstration done under the CASE project with technical assistance from Xi’an Research and
Design Institute of Wall and Roof Materials. As the number of demonstrations of MHK (only one in operation during the time of this report
preparation) is not remarkable, it is not provided in details in separate chapter.
Where,
Hin = Total energy input to the kiln for the duration of one firing cycle/batch
= (Energy input from external fuels fed in the kiln)
+ (Energy input from internal fuels added during molding the bricks)
+ (Energy input from the organic matter present in the brick soil11∗).
Where, n1 and n2 are the types/ lots of external and internal fuel used.
Mfbr= Mass of fired bricks produced during one firing cycle/batch
= Average mass of fired brick X number of bricks fired in one firing cycle/batch= m X n
Regardless of the internal fuel usage, external fuel was poured from the top of the furnace through the holes,
namely the ‘pot’ or ‘burner’. The coal charging rate was very much dominated by the foreman in charge of firing of
the kiln, also known as ‘Agun -mistri’. The coal was grinded to a preferred mesh size in the brick field and stored
in bulk in the vicinity. From this bulk, pulverized coal was transported to the kiln top for using stock in drums via
buckets or sacks. The number of buckets full of coal transported to the kiln-top over the measured time was
noted, and from the average weight of coal per bucket the amount of external fuel was estimated.
In order to calculate total energy input in one batch of bricks, following equation was followed
11 ∗The energy from carbonaceous content in green bricks is often small and difficult to measure and is neglected in these
calculations.
Internal fuel
= Weight of each of the internal fuels added in one batch/cycle of green bricks (Wf-int) X
Type and Gross Calorific Values (GCV) of each of the internal fuels (GCVf-int)
Notes:
a) Coal measurements were verified with the secondary data (tons of coal per 1,00,000 fired brick) as
much as possible,
b) The studied kilns were all of continuous type. The measurements were taken for a firing cycle of 48
hours.
c) GCV is the gross calorific value of the fuel. Samples of coals for the measurement of GCV in laboratory,
were collected from wherever seemed to be more resembling to the actual firing conditions regardless of
the size and condition (moisture %, etc.). This was in most cases, from the top of kiln just before charging.
Figure 13 Coal charging from the top (Top), grinding and bulk storing area of a brick field
(Bottom-Left), transported by bucket to kiln top (Bottom-Right)
Weight of fired batch = average weight of fired brick x number of bricks in batch
Mfbr= m X n
(iv) Stack height and diameter
The height, diameter and cross-sectional area of the stack were determined by standard methods. Height of the
Stack was measured by survey equipment, Total Station (GTS-230N, Topcon, Japan)
Static gas pressure and stack gas velocity were determined by using S-type pitot tube. Moisture content of the
flue gas was measured by condensation method. The measured velocity was used to calculate the Isokinetic
sampling rate.
SPM was collected on a thimble filter that was set in a fully automatic microprocessor-based Stack Monitoring
System (model Polltech PEM–SMS4), following the USEPA method 17 (Figure 15). Minimum 1m3 of dry emission
gas was withdrawn in each sampling. The sampling was carried out under iso-kinetic conditions.
The thimble filter was properly dried in an oven (about 2 hours at 120°C) before and after the expose. The weight
of the SPM was determined from the weights taken before and after its expose to the flue gases. The SPM
concentration was determined from the following equation,
Figure 15 Automatic iso-kinetic air sampler for capturing particulate matter (PEM–SMS4, Polltech)
Flue gas temperature, Stack Gas Velocity, Moisture content, volumetric flow rate was measured in accordance
with the USEPA requirements using both pollutech PEM–SMS4 and E Instrument (E 8500).
From the emission rate (ER), fuel unit mass-based emission factor (EFm) in g/kg coal was calculated as follows:
Where, F is the fuel consumption rate (kg of coal burned per hour).
Production based emission factor i.e. emissions per Kg of fired brick can be estimated as
Where, P is the total amount of weight of bricks produced per hour (kg/h).
Table 9 Origin, gross calorific value and sulfur content of the coal used in the kilns
TZK = Traditional Zigzag; IZK = Improved Converted Zigzag; Mini-HHK = Mini Hybrid Hoffman Kiln (Demonstrated by the CASE
project through another contract); HHK = Hybrid Hoffman Kiln; TK = Tunnel Kiln
Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) was calculated from both primary and projected secondary data. The
secondary data was collected from the manager and workers in the kilns. The secondary data was projected to
the daily production of bricks as in nos./day, to compare with the primary data on the same basis. In most cases,
the secondary SEC was reasonably close to the primary data. But in some cases, the variations were noticeably
high. Depending on the field observations, background and comparison with the similar type, only one SEC value
is reported in Table 11.
± std. ±5.3 ±1014 ±177 11732 23688 ±0.21 ±67281 ±0.37 ±0.17
TK- 1 18 5400 5650 122760.4 30000 3.02 90600 1.35 1.30
TK- 2 25 62500 62500 977748.5 250000 3.37 842500 1.16 1.16
Tunnel Kiln
Avg. 21.5 33950 34075 550254 140000 3.195 466550 1.255 1.23
± std. ± 4.95 ±40375 ±40199 ±604567 ±155563 ±0.25 ±531674 ±0.13 ±0.10
Cum. C.V= Cumulative Calorific Value
Table 11 shows that the SEC value was the highest at the TZK-5 (1.64 MJ/ kg) which was a traditional Zigzag kiln.
The IZK-4 was not maintaining the features initially set out by the consulting firm under the CASE project. HHK-1
was rather old, converted from gas fired to coal fired system and 50% chimney was not working. TK-1 was 30
years old, had leakage in the exhaust path at the top of the dryer. So, these kilns were not taken into comparing
the energy performances of the different types of Kiln, shown in Figure 17.
Temp. Oxygen CO2 (%) Velocity CO (mg/ NOx SO2 SPM Flow Rate
Kiln ID (°C) (%) (ft/s) Nm3) (mg/ (mg/ (mg/ (m3/s)
Nm3) Nm3) Nm3)
mean 50.92 16.61 3.7 3.29 2134.6 62.56 269.2 272.4 2.633
TZK-1
sd. 2.47 0.46 0.4 0.1 285.8 4.64 17.7 16.7 0.06
mean 53.51 16.24 3.9 2.76 2536.4 63.10 872.2 601.0 1.799
TZK-2
sd. 2.3 0.13 0.1 0.11 100.8 2.24 26.4 21.4 0.07
mean 45.03 15.37 5.3 3.15 2048.7 75.07 348.2 365.4 2.811
TZK-3
sd. 0.5 0.22 0.2 0.32 52.6 0.52 34.7 6.4 0.30
mean 45.6 15.4 5.3 2.19 2014.1 73.92 341.4 375.0 1.949
TZK-4
sd. 0.9 0.17 0.1 0.1 111.9 1.44 18.05 21.3 0.10
mean 50.05 17.32 3.0 2.51 2733.8 72.64 917.1 906.1 4.536
TZK-5
sd. 1.06 0.43 0.4 0.1 573.6 2.57 77.0 55.5 0.2
mean 42.74 16.62 3.6 2.07 1557.6 48.39 383.9 190.2 1.354
IZK-1
sd. 0.71 0.2 0.2 0.1 227.0 3.85 20.2 12.84 0.07
mean 42.15 17.77 2.8 1.58 938.6 33.63 77.82 117.4 4.237
IZK-2
sd. 1.24 0.04 .02 0.03 29.0 0.73 8.63 16.35 0.08
mean 39.96 15.75 5.0 3.67 1618.3 37.66 86.45 113.8 2.397
IZK-3
sd. 1.0 0.35 0.4 0.26 373.5 2.2 3.26 12.6 0.2
mean 47.28 15.57 5.4 3.82 2300.3 49.60 315.9 254.3 2.494
IZK-4
sd. 1.16 0.4 0.4 0.3 86.8 3.81 44.8 17.1 0.2
mean 46.13 18.79 1.9 1.79 325.2 24.74 47.22 71.93 3.233
IZK-5
sd. 1.0 0.14 0.1 0.13 63.8 2.13 3.22 5.3 0.23
mean 45.45 18.80 1.9 1.88 323.2 39.98 82.59 126.7 3.387
IZK-6
sd. 1.7 0.08 0.0 0.1 34.0 4.15 5.5 9.63 0.16
mean 46.88 15.73 4.4 1.75 929.9 45.38 87.06 123.8 3.646
IZK-7
sd. 1.3 0.33 0.3 0.08 97.7 2.5 9.8 18.0 0.2
mean 48.75 19.39 1.4 4.53 670.5 22.36 45.90 131.1 2.052
MHK-1
sd. 1.9 0.5 0.5 0.56 113.2 1.9 5.4 19.0 0.25
mean 52.98 20.08 0.7 2.62 344.9 25.42 99.87 97.80 11.435
HHK-1
sd. 0.94 0.2 0.2 0.2 31.7 6.4 34.7 14.3 0.9
mean 44.34 20.34 0.6 2.72 121.5 20.30 13.18 53.78 14.536
HHK-2
sd. 1.32 0.03 0.1 0.16 51.7 3.9 1.4 7.01 0.9
mean 57.74 20.42 0.5 15.5∗ 186.5 12.86 14.51 66.25 15.32
TK-1
sd. 0.9 0.11 .07 1.9 39.3 0.8 1.34 5.54 1.85
mean 64.42 17.21 3.5 3.37 1233.0 31.44 37.33 123.3 2.401
TK-2
sd. 0.73 0.25 0.5 0.26 160.3 6.05 0.35 25.0 0.2
Table 13 Comparison of energy and environment performances of TZK and IZK with
the baseline technology FCK
monitored by IHERE (5*) IHERE (5) BCSIR (5) IHERE (7) BCSIR (7)
Coal consumption
20.1±0.6 17.9±0.9 17.1±4.7 11.2±1.7 13.25±1.7
(Tons/100k brick)
Sp. energy
consumption (MJ/kg 1.35±0.21 1.27±0.10 1.29±0.31 1.0±0.14 1.0±0.31
brick)
The performance of the Mini-Hoffmann Kiln (MHK) demonstrated under the CASE
project was found the superior in all respect of energy and environment monitoring.
However, as the number (only 01) of MHK tested was very poor, the result of MHK
was not shown in comparison in Table 13. Similarly, the results of HHK and TK were
not shown in the table for the small kiln number although the test results were
primarily shown in Table 12.
The latest inventory done by the Jahangirnagar University under the CASE project
(discussed in chapter 7) in 2018 found about 8000 brick kilns (FCK and Zigzag)
throughout the country. Before 2010 more than 90% of the kilns were FCK. If there
were no interventions/directions from the government, this proportion would have
sustained – meaning that total number of FCK would have been 7200 by today. If
on an average, an FCK produces 30000 bricks a day and the brick production takes
place in 150 days in a dry season (December - April), an FCK would produce 4.5 million
bricks in a season.
So, 7200 FCKs would produce (4.5 x 7200) million = 32.4 billion bricks in a season.
Now,
(a) if all the 7200 FCKs are replaced by Traditional Zigzag Kiln (TZK):
Production of 100k bricks would save 2.5 tons of coal (considering 20.0
tons/100k brick for FCK and 17.5 tons/100k bricks for TZK (Figure 6, Table
10, Table 13).
Production of 32.4 billion bricks by TZK would save 810 thousand tons of
coal.
Considering coal price 12500 taka per ton, total 10.12 billion taka would be
saved every year. Or, every brick kiln would save 1,406,250 taka every year.
(b) if all the 7200 FCK replaced by Improved Zigzag Kiln (IZK),
Let IZK consumes (11.2 + 13.0)/2 tons coal/100k bricks (Table 13) = 12.1
tons coal/100k bricks
Therefore, production of 32.4 billion bricks by IZK would save 2.55 million
tons of coal which cost about 31.9 billion taka. Thus, every kiln would save
about 4,443,750 taka every year if fitted with IZK technology in place of FCK.
Technology EF unit *
PM10 SO2 CO2 Source
FCK g/kgf 2
86.0 3
50.0 1
242 1
Haque et al. 20181
TZK g/kgf 4
26.30 4
28.54 4
103.8
2
EFPM10 = 6.8 g/s from
Randall et al. 20132
g/kgf 4
6.30 4
6.61 4
77.8 3
from sulphur content (2.5%)
of Coal
IZK 4
EF calculated by BCSIR
g/kgf 5
2.5 5
0.0 –
5
EF calculated by IHERE
*Considering PM10 to SPM 0.96 and PM2.5 to PM10 0.33 (Le & Kim 200912)
Each FCK burns about 6000 kg coal a day, emitting about 516 kg PM10, 300 kg SO2
and 1452 kg CO2 in the atmosphere every day, according to Table 14. CO2 is not an
air pollutant; however, this work is taking opportunity to calculate the emissions and
reductions of CO2, a strong greenhouse gas from brick kiln sector in the country.
(c) Countrywide about 2579 tons of PM10, 927 tons of SO2, and 5970.2 tons of
CO2 would be reduced in one day if all the 7200 FCKs are replaced by TZK;
(d) Similarly, countrywide about 3443 tons of PM10, 1874.4 tons of SO2 and
7093.4 tons of CO2 would be reduced each day if all the FCKs are replaced by
the IZK designed under the CASE project of the DoE.
(Note: EFs of PM10, SO2 and CO2 for the IZK calculated by the BCSIR
were considered in these calculations. BCSIR monitored the energy and
environment of the IZKs after 1-2 years of the establishment of the kilns,
when the operations of those kilns were in real native conditions, whereas
in contrast, the monitoring by the IHERE was done at once after the
establishment of the IZKs, when all the operations of the kilns were in ideal
conditions under the direct supervision of the consulting firm).
12 Integrated assessment of brick kiln emission impacts on air quality. Environ. Monit. Assess. (2009), 171,
381–394.
GIS-based source and emission inventory is an important tool for air quality
management. Grid-based information on source, emissions and meteorology
facilitate the atmospheric modelers in estimating overall grid-based pollution levels
accrued from all/individual type of sources, as well as virtually calculating different
scenario-based dispersions of pollutants to find a best suited scenario for the
environmental, economical and social benefit. In view of this, the CASE project hired
Geography and Environmental Science Department of the Jahangirnagar University
to prepare a countrywide GIS-based inventory of the brick kilns and steel mills. Along
with the measurement of emission factors and energy consumptions discussed in
the previous chapters, this inventory will create a base for estimating contributions of
brick kilns to air pollution throughout the country.
The work was divided into two phases; in the first phase, the brick kilns in Dhaka
(including Mymensign division) and Chattogram divisions were located during the
brick season of 2017-2018, and in the second phase conducted in the season of
2018-2019, the kilns in the rest of the country were identified and recorded. This
work not only located the brick kilns but also a 1.0 km Land Use and Land Cover (LULC)
map around each brick kiln was created to observe the settlements being affected
around the kilns. Major objectives of this work could be summarized as follows,
The methodology of this study was mainly based on GPS, GIS and Remote Sensing
based research work. The first task however, was to develop a background database
The verified image locations of the brick kilns were geo-referenced with the Bangladesh Universal Mercator
Projection (standard projection parameters by the Government of Bangladesh). Geo-processing of other relevant
data sources from Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), BBS and Bangladesh Water Development
Board had been compiled and verified. The brick kiln points were then converted in to the GIS shape files and 1.0
kilometer buffer area of each of the sites was drawn with the help of buffer analysis in ArcMap. This buffer area
was then digitized in to twelve classes – location of the Kiln, area of the kiln, settlement area with homestead
vegetation, road network, river network, other water bodies, area of the agricultural land, forest area, hilly area,
salt bed area, runway/airport, and other major institutional features.
After the preparation of GIS based land use and land classification, the shape files were further verified upon
overlaying on the Google images; individual shape files were also created for each of the brick kilns. At the final
stage of the GIS analyses, maps were prepared with standard mapping parameters. A total of 3341 maps were
generated to represent the study sites. These maps were combined together with designated legends to prepare
a comprehensive LULC atlas. In addition, a customized GIS database tool was developed to visually interpret the
brick kilns through simple query building. Advanced level of analysis and interpretation is also possible in any GIS
software with this developed geodatabase. The software and maps are stored in the laboratory of the DoE.
In this report the latest number of district-wise brick kilns is provided in Table 15. Geo-positions of the brick
kilns in Dhaka and its vicinity, division-wise proportion of brick kiln technology, examples of creation of 1.0 km
buffer zone around brick kilns, and a sample of creation of LULC maps are provided and shown respectively
in Appendix-A, Appendix-B, Appendix-C and Appendix-D. The brick kiln density around Dhaka city, and in the
country are provided respectively in Figure 18 and Figure 19.
District Name Brick Kiln Number According to this District Name Brick Kiln Number According
inventory to this inventory
Dhaka Division (incl. Rajshahi Division Active Inactive Total
Active Inactive Total
Mymensingh) (Incl. Rangpur)
Dhaka 371 116 487 Bogura 221 0 221
Faridpur 100 4 104 C. Nababganj 142 9 151
Gazipur 298 44 342 Joypurhat 42 5 47
Gopalganj 22 1 23 Pabna 174 0 174
Jamalpur 79 4 83 Naogaon 169 8 177
Kishoreganj 89 12 101 Natore 135 0 135
Madaripur 64 1 65 Rajshahi 155 7 162
Manikganj 93 32 125 Sirajganj 110 3 113
Munshiganj 79 8 87 Dinajpur 200 11 211
Mymensingh 256 8 264 Gaibandha 123 25 148
Narayanganj 236 25 261 Kurigram 80 1 81
Narsingdi 137 26 163 Lalmonirhat 33 1 34
Netrakona 43 4 47 Nilphamari 45 3 48
Rajbari 68 8 76 Panchagarh 34 1 35
Shariatpur 44 0 44 Rangpur 171 45 216
Sherpur 33 8 41 Thakurgaon 70 8 78
Tangail 127 47 174
Sub-Total 2139 348 2487 Sub-Total 1904 127 2031
Chittagong Division Khulna Division
Bandarban 31 15 46 Bagerhat 35 3 38
Brahmanbaria 134 20 154 Chuadanga 91 5 96
Chandpur 112 5 117 Jessore 171 12 183
Chattagram 417 14 431 Jhenaidah 100 5 105
Cumilla 253 18 271 Khulna 133 1 134
Cox’s Bazar 72 13 85 Kushtia 182 10 192
Feni 99 3 102 Magura 73 2 75
Khagrachhari 32 0 32 Meherpur 86 1 87
Lakshmipur 110 0 110 Narail 50 3 53
Noakhali 138 0 138 Satkhira 114 4 118
District Name Brick Kiln Number According to this District Name Brick Kiln Number According
inventory to this inventory
Rangamati 10 12 22
Sub-Total 1408 100 1508 1035 46 1081
District Name Brick Kiln Number According to this District Name Brick Kiln Number According
inventory to this inventory
Barisal Division Active Inactive Total Sylhet Division Active Inactive Total
Barguna 56 0 56 Habiganj 92 1 93
Barishal 193 5 198 Maulvibazar 78 0 78
Bhola 89 2 91 Sunamganj 21 0 21
Jhalokati 44 0 44 Sylhet 93 1 94
Patuakhali 77 1 78
Pirojpur 42 0 42
Sub-Total 501 8 509 Sub-Total 284 2 286
Grand Total 7271 631 7902
The CASE Project has gained a lot of knowledge on the ongoing practices in the brick
manufacturing sectors. It has also produced scores of data and information on the
same. On the basis of these, following recommendations are made to reduce the
emissions from the brick kilns in the country,
a. The existing emission standards of brick kilns should be revised. Currently,
the PM emission standard of brick kiln is 1000 mg/Nm3. Addition to the SPM,
SO2 emission standard should also be set for the brick kilns.
b. Regular inspection and enforcement programs should be conducted to audit
the emission compliance of the brick kilns.
c. Clustering of brick kilns creates great problem – the sum of the emissions
from all the kilns in a cluster could impact greatly on the nearby town/
settlements even if individual kiln within the cluster complies with the
emission standard. To overcome this problem, dispersion of emissions from
the kilns (including new one which has applied for permission) situated
within an area should be modeled to calculate combined effect on the nearby
airsheds before granting permission to the new kiln. Or, possible addition of
pollutant concentrations due to the establishment of a new brick kiln around
a place/area should be determined using dispersion modeling approach
before granting permissions to the new kiln.
d. Operation and maintenance of the sophisticated technologies (IZK, HHK, and
TK) should be done properly. This is to note that the emitting pattern of the
FCK and Zigzag kilns are different from HHK and TK. While the first ones are
point sources releasing gases through narrow outlets at 125 feet high from the
ground, the later ones are volume sources releasing gases through a vast area
which dilutes the emitting gases to some extent. Thus, the concentration of
SPM or SO2 from HHK or TK could be low at first view, but the overall emissions
per second from badly operated HHK or TK could be substantial to affect nearby
settlements. As the brick production capacity of TK is high, total emissions
produced per second from this type of kiln could also be high. A well managed
HHK or TK utilizes a major portion of this hot emission internally for drying the
green bricks, allowing a little of the emission gases to the atmosphere.
VEHICLE EMISSION
Sources of Air Pollution in Bangladesh 71
72 Sources of Air Pollution in Bangladesh
1 BACKGROUND
Vehicle emission is a proven source of air pollution in many urban areas of the world.
Big cities like Los Angel’s, London, Paris, Beijing, etc. are found to suffer from severe
photochemical smog resulted from the vehicular emissions. In Dhaka, although the
number of vehicles is not as large as the big cities of the world, poorly managed vehicles
and unbearable traffic congestions load the city atmosphere with a great amount of
polluting gases and PM. The city of Dhaka was once called a “gas chamber” for the
huge emissions of PM and hydrocarbons from the 2-stroke 3-wheeled baby taxis. The
complete phase-out of those taxis from Dhaka city in 1st January 2003 improved the air
pollution situation in the city; Begum et al. (20121) reported about 41% decrease in the
PM2.5 concentrations in Dhaka city as a result of the phase-out of those taxis. Addition
to that, the widespread use of cleaner fuel CNG to vehicle sector, especially in Dhaka
city helped reduce PM drastically from this sector. The government revised in 2005
the vehicle emission standards equivalent to EURO – II for new vehicles and EURO – I
for on-road vehicles. It is believed that had these steps not taken at proper time, air
quality in Dhaka city would have been unlivable by today because the city has been
experiencing massive increase in vehicle number as well as other sources like brick
kilns and constructions from the last two/three decades. Latest source apportionment
study has attributed about 58% of the fine particle concentration in Dhaka to the brick
kiln industry, 10.4% to vehicles and 15.3% to dusts (CASE project, 2014), whereas in the
previous apportionment result the contributions from these prime sources were 22.0,
36.0 and 24.5 % respectively (Begum et al. 20132).
The CASE project conducted regular vehicle emission testing program to assess
the existing emission scenario of the in-use vehicles in Dhaka city, and to aware
public on the consequences of high vehicle emission. Idle Carbon Monoxide (CO)
and Hydrocarbons (HC) from gasoline/CNG vehicles and free acceleration smoke
opacity of diesel vehicles were measured. Overall 1317 vehicles were tested at 08
hotspots in the city, out of which 815 were CNG/gasoline vehicles and 502 were
diesel vehicles. In this report, the analyses of the emission data have been illustrated
and discussed in details.
1
Impact of Banning of Two-Stroke Engines on Airborne Particulate Matter Concentrations in
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, vol. 56
2
“Air pollution by fine particulate matter in Bangladesh” Atmospheric Pollution Research, 2013
Table 01 Emission Standards for Petrol and CNG Driven Vehicles Registered before September 1, 2004
Petrol driven 2-Stroke engine 2 and 3-wheelers Idle Speed 7.0 12,000
Lambda
Vehicle Type Test CO (% v) HC (ppm) Smoke Opacity
(λ)
3 http://www.brta.gov.bd/
The statistics reveal that the Light Duty Vehicles (LDV) have increased greatly (183%) within the period from
2010 to 2018; human hauler, jeep, leguna, mini truck, maxi, microbus, mini-van, pick up, rider, etc. are within the
category of LDV. The increase in Auto Rickshaws, buses and cars were moderate, all of these categories have
increased by about 50%. Trucks have grown to double in the last 7 years; a good portion of new heavy duty trucks
runs on CNG.
The inspection program in Dhaka City was carried out in 08 different hot-spots; the
spots were chosen in different routes of the city so that vehicles plying to all directions
could be tested. The hot-spots were Abdullahpur (Uttara), Joar Shara (Badda), Police
Shriti College (Mirpur – 14), Taltala (Agargaon), Darussalam (Mirpur), Sobhanbagh
(Dhanmondi), Manik Mia
Avenue (Tejgaon), and Figure 1 Vehicle emission testing spots in Dhaka city
Notun Bazar (Badda) (Figure
1).
n To provide city officials and national policymakers with results and policy implications;
CNG/Octane
Light Duty Vehicle Pickup, minivan, mini truck, mini covered van, delivery van, mini delivery van
Diesel
Delivery van, human hauler, jeep, leguna, mini truck, maxi, microbus, mini covered/
Light Duty Vehicle
delivery van, pick up, rider
Car 243 –
Bus 67 158
Auto-rickshaw 144 –
Motorcycle 243 –
Truck – 141
WAGER 6500 full flow smoke opacity meter was used to estimate smoke opacity of the emission from diesel
vehicles. Smoke opacity measurement under free acceleration test by a full flow smoke opacity meter was
performed according to the method SAE J1667. The diameter of the vehicle exhaust pipe or of the extension pipe,
if used, was also recorded to convert the smoke density in terms of m-1 units to % opacity for a common optical
path length of 430 mm, as applicable for Hartridge Smoke Unit (HSU). Annex-III–B provides full description of
opacity measurement using an opacity meter.
Officers from all divisions of the DoE and from the CASE project were trained several times on the operation and
maintenance of the testing equipment including the calibration processes. A team comprised of trained officers
from the CASE project and from the Air Quality Management Wing of the DoE carried out the vehicle emission
testing in Dhaka city. Training pictures are shown in Annex-II.
On the other hand, diesel vehicles irrespective of the category performed very poorly.
About 84% of the diesel buses and minibuses were found emitting smokes with
opacity more than the limit value, 69% trucks and 58.6% LDVs were also unsuccessful
in meeting the national limit values (Table 06).
II. About 70% of the cars emitted CO concentrations less than 0.3 %(v); 77% of them passed the standard of 1
%(v) (Figure 3).
III. Buses performed little better than LDVs in respect to CO emissions – while 77% of the buses emitted CO
concentration less than 1%(v), only 63% of LDVs did the same. 82% of the buses contrasted to only 70% LDVs
exited CO within 2%v (Figure 3).
Table 07 shows a comparative position of the CNG/Octane vehicles in terms of their CO emission.
II. About 43.2% of buses exited HC concentrations ≤500ppm and 87.0% of them emitted HC ≤1500ppm. All of the
CNG driven buses emitted HC within 3000ppm (Figure 4).
III. Cars and LDVs showed comparatively good results in HC emissions. About 74.3% of cars and 70.5% of LDVs
emitted HC concentrations less than 500ppm, and about 97.5% of these vehicles emitted HC ≤1500ppm.
II. Motor cycles were also found high HC emitters among the CNG/Octane category. It is seen from figure 5b that
only 37% of the motorcycles emitted HC ≤1500ppm. About 58.8% of the motorcycles emitted HC ≤3000ppm. The
figure also shows that about 24% of the motorcycles emitted HC greater than 5000ppm that may be considered
very high.
Figure 5 Cumulative distributions of motor cycles for (a) CO and (b) HC emissions
3.2.4 Comparative positions of CNG/Octane vehicles with respect to Idle CO at1%v and idle HC
at 1200 ppm
Irrespective of the manufacturing year, the vehicles were sorted according to their performances in emitting CO
within 1%v concentration and HC within 1200 ppm concentrations which are the existing limit values for the CNG/
gasoline vehicles registered after 01 September 2004. It is found that cars ranked at the top with 71.6% meeting
the limit values of CO and HC simultaneously, while Auto Rickshaws placed at second with 68% compliance. LDVs
and Buses performed very closely with 59.1 and 59.6 % compliance respectively (Table 09).
Table 09 Comparative positions of the CNG/Octane vehicles in meeting simultaneously CO and HC concentrations
of 1%v and 1200 ppm respectively
% of vehicles meeting CO and HC emissions of 1%v and 1200 ppm
Vehicle Category Rank
respectively
Auto Rickshaw 68.0 2nd
II. Trucks followed nearly the same status as buses did. Only 24.6% of the trucks could satisfy existing limit value
of 65 HSU, and about 65% of trucks emitted smoke with opacity greater than 85 HSU (Figure 07). As heavy
duty trucks and buses are allowed entering Dhaka City after 10.00 pm, large number of those vehicles waiting
outskirt of the city from the evening rush to enter the city at 10:00 pm. High amount of soot particles are thus
expected to get into the atmosphere at that time, stimulating ambient air pollution in the city.
III. Among the diesel vehicles LDVs performed little better compared to buses and trucks (Figure 7). 40.9% of
LDVs could satisfy limit value of 65 HSU and about 50% of them had smoke opacity greater than 85 HSU.
The VEIP carried out by the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project was
not limited to the testing of the vehicular emission only it also raised awareness among
the drivers, helpers and the passersby about the dangerous effect of the vehicular
emission onto the human health, climate and the plants. The responses from the
public were enormous and impressive. They urged for conducting such programs very
frequently in their cities. The CASE project through this program counseled with the
drivers and helpers on how to decrease emissions from the vehicles. A simple penalty
was also imposed on the “Failed” vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Ordinance or
sometimes under Environment Conservation Act.
The vehicular emission database developed from this program will help the
environmental modelers to calculate the emission loads from the vehicle sector and
to determine the extent of the threat being posed by this sector. Policy makers may
use these result to formulate/revise laws in order to ensure safe environment for
the city dwellers. On the basis of these databases the CASE project has prepared a
draft on the “Revision to National Vehicular Emission Standard” and submitted to
the respective authority. CASE project has also drafted a Vehicular Inspection and
Monitoring Program that may be practiced to bring the vehicles in complying the
emission standards.
The Dhaka City was once recognized as the “Gas Chamber” in 90s when a good
number of two stroke baby taxis would run in the roads. People in the roads felt
eye irritation due to the hydrocarbons and particulate matters emitted from those
vehicles. The Government of Bangladesh has taken a number of exemplary decisions
proved beneficial for improving air quality. Following steps/measures were taken/
implemented by the Government so far to control the emissions from the vehicle
sector,
The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project of the Department of
Environment regularly conducted roadside vehicle emission inspection program
(VEIP) in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh. This report has illustrated the analyses
of the emission data produced from the testing of 815 CNG/gasoline and 502 diesel
vehicles in Dhaka city. Overall objective of this testing program was to assess the
vehicle compliance scenario and to raise public awareness about the danger of vehicle
emission. The result of these vehicle emission monitoring will help to understand the
needs and spaces of revising the existing vehicle emission standards in Bangladesh.
The VEIP offers several outcomes that may be utilized to formulate the policy on
controlling the emissions from the vehicle sector; the outcomes are as follows,
(a) CNG vehicles in Dhaka city were very miser in emitting; about 75% of the
CNG vehicles emitted CO ≤1%(v) concentration and about 88% of the vehicles
emitted CO ≤3%(v) concentrations. HC emissions from these vehicles
were also promising – about 85% of CNG vehicles emitted HC ≤1200ppm
concentrations.
(b) Only 40% of the motorcycles could meet the CO emission standard of 4.5%(v);
about 35% of the motorcycles emitted CO concentrations more than 7%(v).
The scenario for HC emission from motorcycle was about the same; only
30% of motorcycles satisfied the limit value of 1200ppm.
(c) Diesel vehicles were found the worst polluters in vehicle sector. Only 23%
of diesel buses and trucks could meet the limit value of 65 HSU opacity and
about 67% of them had emissions with opacity >85 HSU.
CASE project gained a lot of knowledge and experiences on the vehicle emission
scenario and ongoing practices in the vehicle sector. The project could identify gross
polluting vehicles that were contributing greatly to the air pollution in Dhaka city. On
the basis of such experiences the project offers the following recommendations that
might be helpful for managing pollutions from this sector:
One of the objectives of the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment Project was to
strengthen the capacity of the Department of Environment on different issues of air
quality management. Several trainings on principles and measurement of vehicular
emissions were provided to the DoE and CASE project officials to ensure quality data
generation from the vehicular testing program. Dr. B. P. Pundir, former professor
of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and international consultant to CASE project
conducted training in Dhaka, and engineer Ram Krishna Saha, local consultant provided
some trainings in Dhaka and Chittagong. In all of these arrangements, participants are
provided with adequate hands-on training on operation, maintenance and calibration
of the testing equipment, and data recording and processing.
Abbreviations
CO Carbon Monoxide
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
HC Hydrocarbon
NDIR Non Dispersive Infra-Red
RPM Revolution per minute
COcorr Corrected concentration of Carbon Monoxide
HCcorr Corrected concentration of Hydrocarbon
The idle CO and HC emission inspection test is completed in the following phases:
(a) Test equipment set up
(b) Vehicle Preparation
(c) execution of idle test
(d) Reporting of results
The complete Free Acceleration Test Procedure consists of five phases as following,
a. Vehicle preparation and safety check
b. Test preparation and equipment setup
c. driver familiarization and vehicle preconditioning
d. Execution of the free acceleration test
e. Calculation and reporting of final results
With the engine at low idle, slowly depress the engine throttle and allow the engine speed to gradually increase
toward its maximum governed high no load speed. As the engine speed increases, carefully note any visual or
audible indications that the engine or vehicle may be of questionable.
If there are no indications of problem, allow the engine speed to increase to the point that it possible to verify
that the high speed-limiting capability of the governor is functioning. Should there be any indication that the
speed-limiting capability of the governor is not functioning, or that potential engine damage, or unsafe conditions
for personnel or equipment may occur, the throttle should be immediately be released and the free acceleration
testing of the vehicle shall be abandoned.
(f) The vehicle should be inspected for exhaust leaks. Severe leaks in the system may cause air to enter
into the exhaust stream, which may give erroneously low test results.
(g) Users must be cautioned regarding the observance of blue or white smoke in the exhaust. Blue smoke
can be an indicator of unburned hydrocarbons (most probably oil burning or malfunctioning nozzle), and
white smoke can an indicator of water vapor (possible internal coolant leaking conditions). Such vehicles
should not be tested.
(a) The post test smoke meter zero shift values shall not exceed;
(i) ±2% opacity – for smoke measurement made in opacity
(ii) ±0.1m-1 – for smoke measurements made in smoke density.
(b) The difference between the highest and lowest corrected maximum 0.5s average smoke values from
the three test cycles shall not exceed;
(i) 5% opacity – for smoke measurement made in opacity
(ii) 0.5m-1 – for smoke measurements made in smoke density
Invalid Test
Should the smoke test data from free acceleration test not meet the test validation criteria mentioned above the
following items should be checked,
(a) If engine did not meet the operating temperature requirements, run the engine under load for at least
15 min or until the vehicle oil and water temperature gauges indicate that normal engine operating
temperatures have been achieved. Return to Smoke Meter Installation and repeat the test sequence.
(b) If improper or inconsistent application of the vehicle accelerator paddle/throttle is suspected, re-instruct
the vehicle operator as to the proper execution of the free acceleration test, especially the movement of
the vehicle throttle. Continue with the procedures for free acceleration test.
(c) If the post test smoke meter zero check was exceeded due to positive zero drift, the probable cause
is soot accumulation on the smoke meter optics. It is recommended that the free acceleration test
sequence be repeated and while doing so, the smoke meter zero may be readjusted during the low idle
period between each of the free acceleration test cycles. If the measured low idle smoke level of the
If it is not possible to re-zero the meter, the meter optics should be cleaned according to manufacturer’s
recommendation and the test sequence should be repeated. If zero drift and re-zeroing difficulties
persist, the meter purge air system (if so equipped) should be checked for proper operation.