The aim of the study was to assess the profile of EC (elemental carbon) and OC (organic carbon) temperature fractions in PM1 and PM2.5 samples and in wet deposition samples (material collected on a filter). The research was conducted at the urban background station in Zabrze (southern Poland) in the period of Oct 2020–Oct 2021. PM samples were collected with high-volume samplers; the automatic precipitation collector NSA 181 by Eigenbrodt was used to collect the deposition samples. Concentrations of EC and OC were determined using thermal-optical method (carbon analyzer from Sunset Laboratory Inc., “eusaar_2” protocol). Regardless of the type of research material, organic carbon constituted the dominant part of the carbonaceous matter, and this dominance was more visible in the non-heating season. The profile of temperature fractions of OC and EC was clearly different for dust washed out by precipitation. Noteworthy is a much lower content of pyrolytic carbon (PC) in OC, which can be explained by the fact that PC is most often combined with the water soluble organic carbon. In addition, a high proportion of the OC3 fraction was observed, followed by OC4, which may indicate that these fractions are of a more regional origin. With regard to the EC fractions, the differences are less visible and concern, in particular, the higher share of EC4 and the lower EC2. The obtained results may be a valuable source of information about the actual status of the carbonaceous matter and its transformation in the atmosphere.

The aim of this research was to assess the content and composition of the pollutants emitted by domestic central heating boilers equipped with an automatic underfeed fuel delivery system for the combustion chamber. The comparative research was conducted. It concerned fuel properties, flue gas parameters, contents of dust (fl y ash) and gaseous substances polluting the air in the flue gases emitted from a domestic CH boiler burning bituminous coal, pellets from coniferous wood, cereal straw, miscanthus, and sunflower husks, coniferous tree bark, and oats and barley grain. The emission factors for dust and gaseous air pollutants were established as they are helpful to assess the contribution of such boilers in the atmospheric air pollution. When assessing the researched boiler, it was found out that despite the development in design and construction, flue gases contained fly ash with a significant EC content, which affected the air quality.