A spatial light dispersion-based spectrometer is experimentally demonstrated for broadband gas absorption spectroscopy with time resolving capability. A diffraction grating combining with a plane-array camera serves as the spatial dispersion system operated in the near-infrared (NIR) waveband. Spectrum with a bandwidth of 40 nm can be acquired via a single exposure of the camera running in the line mode with 640 ×4 pixels. With the data stream transmitted to the computer and stored in real time, the time resolution for continuous spectrum measurement reaches 200 μs, which is validated by monitoring the spectral evolution of a broadband amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) under impulsive intensity modulation. Adopting the ASE light source and a multi-pass gas cell, carbon monoxide (CO) absorption is spectrally characterized with a 16-nm bandwidth, and the gas concentration retrieval based on the entire obtained absorption spectrum is performed, in which an averaged mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 5.6% is achieved.
Here, we present an innovative integrated near-infrared Kerr comb sensor chip designed for the simultaneous detection of multi-gas. This sensor is comprised of a microcavity featuring a feedback arm for backward coupling and a compact air-slotted sensing element. The microcavity used to form the optical comb has a symmetric dual-spiral structure with an ultra-high resolution of the absorbance spectrum and a roundtrip length of roughly 1.46 μm, which corresponds to a low repetition frequency of about 9.82 GHz. Through the application of horizontal single-slotted structured silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguides, optimized dispersion engineering of the microcavity can be achieved, resulting in spectra with an octave-spanning bandwidth. The sensing element employs a large-length waveguide, instead of a conventional discrete gas absorption cell, which brings high compactness. By optimizing the degree of thermally tuned interference and pumping parameters of the microcavity structure, a coupling-free light source in the form of a multi-soliton comb with a pump-comb conversion efficiency of over 50% can be achieved. The sensor performance is accurately evaluated through theoretical simulations of noise-containing absorption spectra of multiple gases, confirming its applicability.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Methane, Gases, Mid-IR, Atmospheric sensing, Atmospheric monitoring, Signal detection, Data acquisition, Signal generators, Sensing systems
For realize the atmospheric alkane gases detection in wide area and long distance, a dual-gas simultaneous methane and ethane detection sensor was demonstrated and conducted in Greater Houston area (GHA). A continuous-wave (CW) interband cascade laser (ICL) was used as the light source, a high-speed data acquisition card (DAQ) was used to sampling the detection signal, a LabVIEW based laptop platform incorporated signal generation, signal acquisition, harmonic extraction, concentration calculation and display. Response time considering sampling period, local wind and vehicle speeds are calculated, noise levels for mobile and laboratory operation on the CH4 and C2H6 sensor system are all evaluated. Concentration measurement of methane and ethane in one road was shown, as well as a 2-D concentration mapping result in one block, the varied relationship between these two kinds of gases was analyzed. This work provide the technology for detecting the leakage of alkane gases and monitoring the atmospheric gases.
A compact optical alignment structure and a novel beam-tracing method were proposed for tunable laser absorption spectroscopy (TLAS) based gas measurements, in order to minimize sensor size and ease beam alignment procedure. A near-infrared carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor system was developed based on the alignment structure. A distributed feedback (DFB) laser centered at 6361.3 cm-1 and a multi-pass gas cell (MPGC) with an effective optical path length of 29.8 m were employed. The sensor system was integrated as standalone equipment by customizing an aluminum baseplate for a stable field operation. A series of experiments were carried out to assess the performance of the sensor system. A limit of detection (LoD) of ~ 7.1 parts-per-million in volume (ppmv) at a 0.4 s averaging time was obtained, and the LoD was reduced to ~ 277 parts-per-billion in volume (ppbv) at an optimum averaging time of 153.6 s. Considering gas mixing times, the rise and fall time were measured to be ~ 290 s and ~ 200 s, respectively.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx), including nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) play important roles in determining the photochemistry of the ambient atmosphere, controlling the production of tropospheric ozone, affecting the concentration levels of the hydroxyl radical, and forming acid precipitation. A sensor system capable of simultaneous measurements of NO and NO2 by using a commercial 76 m astigmatic multi-pass gas cell (MPGC) was developed in order to enable fastresponse NOx detection. A continuous wave (CW), distributed-feedback (DFB) quantum cascade laser (QCL) and a CW external-cavity (EC) QCL were employed for targeting a NO absorption doublet at 1900.075 cm-1 and a NO2 absorption line at 1630.33 cm-1, respectively. Both laser beams were combined and transmitted through the MPGC in an identical optical path and subsequently detected by a single mid-infrared detector. A frequency modulation multiplexing scheme was implemented by modulating the DFB-QCL and EC-QCL at different frequencies and demodulating the detector signal with two Labview software based lock-in amplifiers to extract the corresponding second-harmonic (2f) components. Continuous monitoring of NO and NO2 concentration levels was achieved by locking the laser frequencies to the selected absorption lines utilizing a reference cell filled with high concentrations of NO and NO2. The experimental results indicate minor performance degradation associated with frequency modulation multiplexing and no cross talk between the two multiplexed detection channels. The performance of the reported sensor system was evaluated for real time, sensitive and precise detection of NO and NO2 simultaneously.
A compact mid-infrared (MIR) dual-gas sensor system was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) using a single continuous-wave (CW) interband cascade laser (ICL) based on tunable laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS). Ultracompact custom electronics were developed, including a laser current driver, a temperature controller and a lock-in amplifier. These custom electronics reduce the size and weight of the sensor system as compared with a previous version based on commercial electronics. A multipass gas cell with an effective optical length of 54.6 m was employed to enhance the absorption signal. A 3337 nm ICL was capable of targeting a C2H6 absorption line at 2996.88 cm-1 and a CH4 line at 2999.06 cm-1. Dual-gas detection was realized by scanning both the CH4 and C2H6 absorption lines. Based on an Allan deviation analysis, the 1 σ minimum detection limit (MDL) was 17.4 ppbv for CH4 and 2.4 ppbv for C2H6 with an integration time of 4.3 s. TDLAS based sensor measurements for both indoor and outdoor mixing ratios of CH4 and C2H6 were conducted. The reported single ICL based dual-gas sensor system has the advantages of reduced size and cost without influencing the midinfrared sensor detection sensitivity, selectivity and reliability.
A near-infrared (NIR) dual-channel differential gas sensor system was experimentally demonstrated based on tunable laser absorption spectroscopy (TLAS) and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS). The sensor consists of four modules, including distributed feedback (DFB) lasers for the detection of targeted gases, a custom portable DFB driver compatible for butterfly-packaged DFB lasers, a 20cm-long open-reflective gas-sensing probe and a custom costeffective lock-in amplifier for harmonic signal extraction. The optical and electrical modules were integrated into a standalone sensor system, which possesses advantages of user-friendly operation, good stability, small volume and low cost. With different DFB lasers, the sensor system can be used to detect different gases. Two DFB diode lasers with emission wavelengths of 1.65 μm and 1.53 μm were used to detect CH4 and C2H2, respectively. Standard CH4 and C2H2 samples were prepared and experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of the two-gas TLAS sensor system. The relation between the second harmonic amplitudes (2f) and gas concentrations was obtained for the two gases by means of calibration. Both the detection error and the limit of detection (LoD) were determined experimentally. The sensor system will be useful in industrial trace gas monitoring due to its use of a low-loss optical fiber and an openreflective gas-sensing probe.
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