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Title: Mid-infrared dual-gas sensor for simultaneous detection of methane and ethane using a single continuous-wave interband cascade laser

Abstract

A continuous-wave (CW) interband cascade laser (ICL) based mid-infrared sensor system was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of atmospheric methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6). A 3.337 µm CW ICL with an emitting wavenumber range of 2996.0–3001.5 cm–1 was used to simultaneously target two absorption lines, C2H6 at 2996.88 cm–1 and CH4 at 2999.06 cm–1, respectively. The sensor performance was first evaluated for single-gas detection by only targeting the absorption line of one gas species. Allan deviations of 11.2 parts per billion in volume (ppbv) for CH4 and 1.86 ppbv for C2H6 with an averaging time of 3.4 s were achieved for the detection of these two gases. Dual-gas detection was realized by using a long-term scan signal to target both CH4 and C2H6 lines. The Allan deviations increased slightly to 17.4 ppbv for CH4 and 2.4 ppbv for C2H6 with an averaging time of 4.6 s due to laser temperature and power drift caused by long-term wavelength scanning. Measurements for both indoor and outdoor concentration changes of CH4 and C2H6 were conducted. As a result, the reported single ICL based dual-gas sensor system has the advantages of reduced size and cost compared to two separate sensor systems.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States); Shantou Univ., Shantou (China)
  2. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States); Jilin Univ., Changchun (China)
  3. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)
  4. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States); Shanxi Univ., Taiyuan (China)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
OSTI Identifier:
1435135
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1435134
Report Number(s):
DOE-MAXION-00538-11
Journal ID: ISSN 1094-4087; OPEXFF
Grant/Contract Number:  
AR0000538
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Optics Express
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 24; Journal Issue: 15; Journal ID: ISSN 1094-4087
Publisher:
Optical Society of America (OSA)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; Laser sensors; Spectroscopy, infrared; Semiconductor lasers, quantum cascade

Citation Formats

Ye, Weilin, Li, Chunguang, Zheng, Chuantao, Sanchez, Nancy P., Gluszek, Aleksander K., Hudzikowski, Arkadiusz J., Dong, Lei, Griffin, Robert J., and Tittel, Frank K. Mid-infrared dual-gas sensor for simultaneous detection of methane and ethane using a single continuous-wave interband cascade laser. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1364/OE.24.016973.
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Ye, Weilin, Li, Chunguang, Zheng, Chuantao, Sanchez, Nancy P., Gluszek, Aleksander K., Hudzikowski, Arkadiusz J., Dong, Lei, Griffin, Robert J., & Tittel, Frank K. Mid-infrared dual-gas sensor for simultaneous detection of methane and ethane using a single continuous-wave interband cascade laser. United States. doi:10.1364/OE.24.016973.
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Ye, Weilin, Li, Chunguang, Zheng, Chuantao, Sanchez, Nancy P., Gluszek, Aleksander K., Hudzikowski, Arkadiusz J., Dong, Lei, Griffin, Robert J., and Tittel, Frank K. Mon . "Mid-infrared dual-gas sensor for simultaneous detection of methane and ethane using a single continuous-wave interband cascade laser". United States. doi:10.1364/OE.24.016973. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1435135.
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@article{osti_1435135,
title = {Mid-infrared dual-gas sensor for simultaneous detection of methane and ethane using a single continuous-wave interband cascade laser},
author = {Ye, Weilin and Li, Chunguang and Zheng, Chuantao and Sanchez, Nancy P. and Gluszek, Aleksander K. and Hudzikowski, Arkadiusz J. and Dong, Lei and Griffin, Robert J. and Tittel, Frank K.},
abstractNote = {A continuous-wave (CW) interband cascade laser (ICL) based mid-infrared sensor system was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of atmospheric methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6). A 3.337 µm CW ICL with an emitting wavenumber range of 2996.0–3001.5 cm–1 was used to simultaneously target two absorption lines, C2H6 at 2996.88 cm–1 and CH4 at 2999.06 cm–1, respectively. The sensor performance was first evaluated for single-gas detection by only targeting the absorption line of one gas species. Allan deviations of 11.2 parts per billion in volume (ppbv) for CH4 and 1.86 ppbv for C2H6 with an averaging time of 3.4 s were achieved for the detection of these two gases. Dual-gas detection was realized by using a long-term scan signal to target both CH4 and C2H6 lines. The Allan deviations increased slightly to 17.4 ppbv for CH4 and 2.4 ppbv for C2H6 with an averaging time of 4.6 s due to laser temperature and power drift caused by long-term wavelength scanning. Measurements for both indoor and outdoor concentration changes of CH4 and C2H6 were conducted. As a result, the reported single ICL based dual-gas sensor system has the advantages of reduced size and cost compared to two separate sensor systems.},
doi = {10.1364/OE.24.016973},
journal = {Optics Express},
number = 15,
volume = 24,
place = {United States},
year = {2016},
month = {7}
}
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DOI:  10.1364/OE.24.016973
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