Highly Sensitive Sphere-Tube Coupled Photoacoustic Cell Suitable for Detection of a Variety of Trace Gases: NO2 as an Example

The concentration of trace gases in the atmospheric environment is extremely low, but it has a great impact on the living environment of organisms. Photoacoustic spectroscopy has attracted extensive attention in the field of trace gas detection because of its high sensitivity, good selectivity, and fast response. As the core of a photoacoustic detection setup, the photoacoustic cell has a significant impact on detection performance. To improve detection sensitivity, a sphere-tube coupled photoacoustic cell (STPAC) was developed, which was mainly composed of a diffuse-reflective sphere and an acoustic resonance tube. Modulated light was reflected multiple times in the sphere to increase optical path, and photoacoustic (PA) signals were further amplified by the tube. Based on STPAC, a PA gas detection setup was built with a laser diode (LD) at 450 nm as the light source. The experimental results showed that the minimum detection limit (noise equivalent concentration, NEC) of NO2 was ~0.7 parts per billion (ppb). Compared with the T-type PA cell (TPAC) in which the modulated light passed through the sphere, the signal-to-noise ratio of STPAC was increased by an order of magnitude at the same concentration of the NO2 sample.

DESIGN OF EXTRA CAVITY PHOTOACOUSTIC SPECTROMETER BASED ON BLUE DIODE LASER IN NO2 (NITROGEN DIOXIDE) GAS DETECTION

Background: NO2 detection is necessary because NO2 is an air pollutant causing photochemical smog and acid rain. In addition, respiratory diseases are caused by high levels of NO2 in the inhaled air. Aim: The purpose of this study was to detect NO2 using PAS utilizing Arduino Uno, an easy, simple, and low-cost research. Methods: The detection of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) gas with a Photoacoustic Spectrometer (PAS) using an Arduino Uno microcontroller has been carried out. The PAS system uses a blue diode laser with a wavelength of 450 nm as the radiation source because this wavelength is suitable for NO2 gas. The intensity of the laser beam is modulated using a modulation system with an on-off scheme using the Arduino Uno. The modulation frequency has been varied to get the maximum detection frequency. The photoacoustic cell used was a single resonator photoacoustic cell with type H. Sound sensor and photodiode were used in this measurement. The amplification of the signal was done by utilizing the Lock-in amplifier, and the constant time of Lock-in amplifier was also determined to optimize the PAS. Nitrogen gas was used to detect background signal. Results and Discussion: From the photoacoustic spectrometer optimization, the results obtained were a laser diode frequency of 1,000 Hz with a duty cycle of 50% and a Lock-in amplifier amplification of 10,000 times with a constant time of 3.3 ms. The maximum concentration reached in this measurement was 6 ppm. The background signal achieved in this measurement was 0.00002 V/W. The lowest detection limit achieved in this measurement was 0.0064 ppm.Conclusion: The gas sample containers containing NO2 with larger sizes tend to have a greater concentration. Sometimes, the NO2 concentration of the large sample gas container was overtaken by the small sample container.

Trace CH4 Gas Detection Based on an Integrated Spherical Photoacoustic Cell

This paper presents an integrated spherical photoacoustic cell (SPAC) for trace methane (CH4) gas detection. Theoretical analysis and analogue simulations are carried out to analyze the acoustic field distribution of the SPAC at resonant and non-resonant modes. The finite element simulation results based on COMSOL show that the first-order radial resonant frequency and second-order angular resonant frequency are 24,540 Hz and 18,250 Hz, respectively, which show good agreements with the formula analysis results. The integrated SPAC, together with a high-speed spectrometer and a distributed feedback (DFB) laser source, makes up a photoacoustic (PA) spectroscopy (PAS) system, which is employed for CH4 detection. The minimum detection limit (MDL) is measured to be 126.9 parts per billion (ppb) at an average time of 1000 s. The proposed SPAC has an integrated, miniaturized and all-optical structure, which can be used for remote and long-distance trace gas detection.

Displacement fields of a Cuboid crystal in a Photoacoustic Cell: Mathematical aspects

Photo acoustic effect is popular due to a minimal sample preparation during execution, the ability to examine scattering and opaque sample along with the capability to access depth profile. These features enable Photoacoustic spectroscopy to be used in depth-resolved characterization of solids. Thermal interaction is a basic perspective in solid state physics research regarding industrial devices and components. It is a key factor of fabrication and performance of such devices and components. Today, crystalline solids are widely studied due to their wide scientific and industrial applications. Displacement field resulting in thermal stresses is one of the important aspects of premature failure of industrial components and devices. In this paper, displacement fields in photoacoustic effect with solid cuboid crystal are mathematically presented. According to our opinion, displacement fields in photoacoustic effect in three dimensional analysis are not reported earlier. Hence that will be a major contribution of this paper. For a simple cuboid homogeneous crystal kept in a photoacoustic cell, an airy stress function is determined based on laser interaction with surface of the crystal. By applying the finite Marchi-Fasulo integral transform method within the crystal size limitations, displacement field is exactly determined.