Showing papers on "Photoacoustic spectroscopy published in 2022"

H-shaped acoustic micro-resonator-based quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy.

Abstract: An H-shaped acoustic micro-resonator (AmR)-based quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor is demonstrated for the first time. The H-shaped AmR has the advantages of easy optical alignment, high utilization of laser energy, and reduction in optical noise. The parameter of the H-shaped AmR is designed based on the standing wave enhancement characteristic. The performance of the H-shaped AmR-based QEPAS sensor system and bare quartz tuning fork (QTF)-based sensor system are measured under the same conditions by choosing water vapor (H2O) as the target gas. Compared with the QEAPS sensor based on a bare QTF, the detection sensitivity of the optimal H-shaped AmR-based QEPAS sensor exhibits a 17.2 times enhancement.

Acoustic microresonator based in-plane quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy sensor with a line interaction mode.

Abstract: An acoustic microresonator (AmR) based in-plane quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (IP-QEPAS) sensor with a line interaction mode is proposed for what is believed to be the first time. The interaction area for the acoustic wave of the proposed AmR, with a slotted sidewall, is not limited to a point of the quartz tuning fork (QTF) prongs, but extends along the whole plane of the QTF prongs. Sixteen types of AmRs are designed to identify the best parameters. Water vapor (H2O) is chosen as the analyte to verify the reported method. The results indicate that this AmR for IP-QEPAS with a line interaction mode not only provides a high signal level, but also reduces the thermal noise caused by the laser directly illuminating the QTF. Compared with standard IP-QEPAS without an AmR, the minimum detection limit (MDL) is improved by 4.11 times with the use of the technique proposed in this study.

Highly sensitive methane detection based on light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy with a 2.33 µm diode laser and adaptive Savitzky-Golay filtering

Abstract: In this manuscript, a highly sensitive methane (CH4) sensor based on light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy (LITES) using a 2.33 µm diode laser with high power is demonstrated for the first time. A quartz tuning fork (QTF) with an intrinsic resonance frequency of 32.768 kHz was used to detect the light-induced thermoelastic signal. A Herriot multi-pass cell with an effective optical path of 10 m was adopted to increase the laser absorption. The laser wavelength modulation depth and concentration response of this CH4-LITES sensor were investigated. The sensor showed excellent long term stability when Allan deviation analysis was performed. An adaptive Savitzky-Golay (S-G) filtering algorithm with χ2 statistical criterion was firstly introduced to the LITES technique. The SNR of this CH4-LITES sensor was improved by a factor of 2.35 and the minimum detection limit (MDL) with an integration time of 0.1 s was optimized to 0.5 ppm. This reported CH4-LITES sensor with sub ppm-level detection ability is of great value in applications such as environmental monitoring and industrial safety.

High-Sensitivity Silicon Cantilever-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Analyzer with Low Gas Consumption.

Abstract: A silicon cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS)-based trace gas analyzer with low gas consumption is presented. A silicon cantilever-based fiber-optic Fabry-Perot (F-P) interferometric acoustic sensor with a compact structure and high sensitivity is designed for photoacoustic signal detection. The non-resonant photoacoustic cell (PAC) is a cylindrical copper tube with a volume of 0.56 mL. A near-infrared laser with a center wavelength of 1532.83 nm amplified using an erbium-doped fiber application amplifier is used as the excitation light. The wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) technique is employed in the present work for second-harmonic photoacoustic signal detection. The experimental results show that the minimum detection limit of C2H2 is 199.8 parts per trillion (ppt) with an average time of 60 s. The normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient is calculated as 1.72 × 10-9 cm-1 W/Hz1/2. Furthermore, the proposed silicon cantilever-enhanced non-resonant PAS-based gas analyzer can not only analyze the gas concentration in a closed small-capacity PAC with low gas consumption but also detect target gas leakage in real time at a long distance.

Design and structural optimization of T-resonators for highly sensitive photoacoustic trace gas detection

Abstract: Thanks to the available ultra-wide wavelength range compared with broadband laser sources, the use of blackbody radiators in photoacoustic spectroscopy features the simultaneous detection of multiple gas species in the presence of cross-interfering absorption lines. The major problem associated with broadband incoherent sources is less power and less stable intensity per wavenumber than lasers and leads to limited gas detection sensitivity. In this paper, the detectivity of a broadband double optical path differential photoacoustic system was enhanced with the development of dimension-optimized high-responsivity T-resonators for simultaneous multiple trace gas detection. Enhanced Q-factor and external noise suppression level constitute dual criteria for the optimization of T-resonators. Three digital signal processing algorithms were separately investigated which further improved gas dectectability. The capability of the multiple–trace-gas detection framework was verified by measuring CO2, C2H2 and H2O simultaneously. The spectral results processed by a wavelet denoising algorithm present the best performance in terms of background noise suppression and spectral feature fidelity. [Q2.2] With the absorption enhancement of the optimized T-cells and background suppression of the wavelet denoising algorithm, a broadband differential photoacoustic system was achieved with only a 30 mW globar source and normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient value of 4.1 × 10−10 W·cm−1·Hz−1/2 which is two orders of magnitude improvement over the original T-cell-based photoacoustic configuration. The noise equivalent detection limits were found to be 223 ppbv for CO2, 625 ppbv for C2H2 and 865 ppbv for H2O, respectively.

Compact and Versatile QEPAS-Based Sensor Box for Simultaneous Detection of Methane and Infrared Absorber Gas Molecules in Ambient Air

Abstract: In this work we report on an innovative sensor box employing two acoustic detection modules connected in series for quartz-enhanced photoacoustic multi-gas detection. One detection module is coupled with an internal distributed-feedback quantum cascade laser (DFB-QCL) emitting at ∼7.719 µm for methane (CH4) sensing, while the second module has been designed to be coupled with an external laser source targeting the absorption features of a specific gas molecule Mx in the infrared spectral range. The sensor box can thus be employed for any application, depending on the CH4/Mx gas combination to be detected. The ∼7.719 µm DFB-QCL also allowed water vapor monitoring. To demonstrate the sensor versatility, we report on the QEPAS-box environmental monitoring application by simultaneously detecting in air methane, which is a greenhouse gas, nitric oxide (NO), an ozone depleting substance, and water vapor. Sensitivity levels of 4.30 mV ppm−1 and 17.51 mV ppm−1 and minimum detection limits of 48 ppb and 11 ppb for methane and nitric oxide detection were achieved, respectively. The sensor box operation was tested by analysing ambient air. Average concentrations of ∼1.73 ppm of CH4, ∼0.134 ppm of NO and 1.8% of H2O were measured.

A comprehensive dual-spectroscopy detection technique based on TDLAS and QEPAS using a quartz tuning fork

Abstract: A comprehensive dual-spectroscopy detection technique based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) and quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) is demonstrated using a single quartz tuning fork (QTF) for signal detection. The QTF was utilized as an acoustic wave transducer for QEPAS signal detection. The QTF also served as a photoelectric detector for TDLAS signal detection based on the thermoelastic effect. The dual-spectroscopy detection structure was designed for TDLAS and QEPAS detection. The on-beam acoustic micro resonator (AMR) structure was placed on the upper end of the QTF for QEPAS signal enhancement, and the laser beam transmitted through the AMR was aligned to the QTF prong by an optical collimator for TDLAS signal detection. An absorption gas cell with an optical path length of 3 m was utilized in the TDLAS setup. The gas cell enhanced the absorption signal of the gas by virtue of its relatively long optical path. We tested the feasibility of the proposed dual-spectroscopy detection technique by detecting acetylene (C2H2) at 1532.83 nm. The experimental show that the signal of the dual-spectroscopy detection technique is approximately 1.13 times that of the QEPAS signal. The proposed dual-spectroscopy detection technique also showed superior gas sensing capability for trace gas detection and could achieve a minimum detection limit of 1.05 ppm. The signal strength of the proposed dual-spectroscopy detection technique can be further enhanced by using an absorption gas cell with a longer optical path.

Simultaneous detection of multiple gases using multi-resonance photoacoustic spectroscopy

Abstract: In this paper, a gas sensing technique based on multi-resonance photoacoustic spectroscopy (M-PAS) is firstly proposed for simultaneous detection of multi-component gas molecules. To explore the capabilities of this technique, a spherical resonator with multiple resonant modes and high quality factors are detailedly developed by theoretical simulation and experimental analysis. The proposed M-PAS technique combing with wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) is investigated for simultaneous detection of H2O, CO2 and CH4, respectively. Based on Allan-Werle deviation analysis, the detection limits of 1.17 ppm for H2O, 83 ppm for CO2 and 1.76 ppm for CH4, respectively, at the integration time of 136 s, 181 s and 195 s were achieved, corresponding to the normalized noise equivalent absorption (NNEA) coefficient of 6.03 × 10−10 cm−1W/√Hz, 5.46 × 10−10 cm−1W/√Hz, 2.36 × 10−9 cm−1W/√Hz. The reported sensing technique has potential applications in atmospheric environment monitoring, industrial process control and breath gas analysis by appropriate improvements, and can easily be modified for other multi-component gas analysis.

Clamp-type quartz tuning fork enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy.

Abstract: In this Letter, clamp-type quartz tuning fork enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (Clamp-type QEPAS) is proposed and realized through the design, realization, and testing of clamp-type quartz tuning forks (QTFs) for photoacoustic gas sensing. The clamp-type QTF provides a wavefront-shaped aperture with a diameter up to 1 mm, while keeping Q factors > 104. This novel, to the best of our knowledge, design results in a more than ten times increase in the area available for laser beam focusing for the QEPAS technique with respect to a standard QTF. The wavefront-shaped clamp-type prongs effectively improve the acoustic wave coupling efficiency. The possibility to implement a micro-resonator system for clamp-type QTF is also investigated. A signal-to-noise enhancement of ∼30 times has been obtained with a single-tube acoustic micro resonator length of 8 mm, ∼20% shorter than the dual-tube micro-resonator employed in a conventional QEPAS system.

A comprehensive dual-spectroscopy detection technique based on TDLAS and QEPAS using a quartz tuning fork

Abstract: A comprehensive dual-spectroscopy detection technique based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) and quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) is demonstrated using a single quartz tuning fork (QTF) for signal detection. The QTF was utilized as an acoustic wave transducer for QEPAS signal detection. The QTF also served as a photoelectric detector for TDLAS signal detection based on the thermoelastic effect. The dual-spectroscopy detection structure was designed for TDLAS and QEPAS detection. The on-beam acoustic micro resonator (AMR) structure was placed on the upper end of the QTF for QEPAS signal enhancement, and the laser beam transmitted through the AMR was aligned to the QTF prong by an optical collimator for TDLAS signal detection. An absorption gas cell with an optical path length of 3 m was utilized in the TDLAS setup. The gas cell enhanced the absorption signal of the gas by virtue of its relatively long optical path. We tested the feasibility of the proposed dual-spectroscopy detection technique by detecting acetylene (C2H2) at 1532.83 nm. The experimental show that the signal of the dual-spectroscopy detection technique is approximately 1.13 times that of the QEPAS signal. The proposed dual-spectroscopy detection technique also showed superior gas sensing capability for trace gas detection and could achieve a minimum detection limit of 1.05 ppm. The signal strength of the proposed dual-spectroscopy detection technique can be further enhanced by using an absorption gas cell with a longer optical path.

Direct Absorption and Photoacoustic Spectroscopy for Gas Sensing and Analysis: A Critical Review

Abstract: Optical spectroscopy has a broad scientific basis in chemistry, physics, and material science, with diverse applications in medicine, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and environmental monitoring. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers and tunable laser spectrometers (TLS) are key devices for measuring optical spectra. Superior performance in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy, and resolution is required for applications in gas sensing. This review deals with gas measurement based on either direct optical absorption spectroscopy or photoacoustic spectroscopy. Both approaches are applicable to FTIR spectroscopy or TLS. In photoacoustic spectroscopy, cantilever‐based photoacoustic spectroscopy is focused due its high performance. A literature survey is conducted revealing the recent technological advances. Theoretical fundamental detection limits are derived for TLS and FTIR, considering both direct absorption and photoacoustic spectroscopies. A theoretical comparison reveals which technology performs better. The minimum normalized absorption coefficient and normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient appear as key parameters for this comparison. For TLS‐based systems, direct absorption spectroscopy is found to be the best for lower laser power and longer path length. For FTIR‐based systems, direct absorption is found to be the best for low temperature sources, higher spectrometer throughput, faster mirror velocity, and longer gas cells.

Research progress on photoacoustic SF6 decomposition gas sensor in gas-insulated switchgear

Abstract: In the power industry, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as an insulating gas is widely used in gas-insulated switchgears (GISs). Owing to the latent inner insulation defects of GIS, various SF6 gas decompositions are generated in the process of partial superheating and partial discharge (PD). The decomposition components and concentrations are different under different PD types. A number of gas sensors were reported for the detection of these decompositions. Photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) gas sensors have been developed for many applications owing to their high sensitivity and selectivity, such as gas pollutant detection, industrial process control, and non-invasive medical diagnosis. Due to the SF6 physical constants being different from that of nitrogen (N2) or air, the sensor structure should be redesigned. A detailed review of four different types of PAS-based gas sensors is discussed and compared.

Elliptical-tube off-beam quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy

Abstract: We propose an elliptical-tube off-beam quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (EO-QEPAS) method in which an elliptical tube is employed as an acoustic resonator, instead of a circular resonator in QEPAS, to match the stripe-like beam emitted from a high-power multimode laser diode (MLD). A lower noise level than that of conventional QEPAS is achieved due to the optimal matching between the elliptical resonator and the beam profile, hence resulting in a ∼3 times higher signal-to-noise ratio gain factor compared with the circular resonator. The parameters of the elliptical resonator are optimized, and a 1 σ normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient of 3.4 × 10 −8 cm −1 W/Hz 1/2 is obtained for dry NO 2 detection at normal atmospheric pressure. EO-QEPAS paves the way for developing compact, cost-effective, and highly sensitive gas sensors based on the combination of MLDs and QEPAS.

High-Sensitivity Multitrace Gas Simultaneous Detection Based on an All-Optical Miniaturized Photoacoustic Sensor.

Abstract: We propose an all-optical miniaturized multigas simultaneous detection photoacoustic (PA) sensor, which is primarily composed of a copper tube, a silica cantilever, and four single-mode fibers. Three single-mode fibers are used as excitation fibers to transmit lasers of different wavelengths, and the remaining one is used as a probe fiber. The volumes of the PA cell (PAC) and the sensor are 36 μL and 71 cubic millimeters, respectively. A laser photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) system, using the all-optical miniaturized PA sensor as a detector, 1532.8, 1576.3, and 1653.7 nm distributed feedback (DFB) lasers as the excitation sources for acetylene (C2H2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and methane (CH4) gases, and a high-speed spectrometer as a demodulator, has been developed for multigas simultaneous measurements. The minimum detection limits of 4.8, 162, and 16.6 parts per billion (ppb) have been achieved for C2H2, H2S, and CH4, respectively, with an integration time of 100 s. The reported sensor shows a potential for high-sensitivity multigas simultaneous measurements in cubic millimeter-scale space.