Simultaneous detection of CH_(4)and CO_(2)through dual modulation off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy

This study established a novel method for the simultaneous detection of two-component gases.Radio frequency(RF)white noise disturbance laser current and wavelength modulation were simultaneously used to improve the off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy technique,and a high-precision dual modulation OA-ICOS(RF-WM-OA-ICOS)system was established.The two laser beams were coupled into one laser beam that was applied incident to the cavity of RF-WM-OA-ICOS system.The second harmonic signals of CH_(4)and CO_(2)gas simultaneously appeared in the rising or falling edge of a triangular wave.This method was used to measure CH_(4)and CO_(2)with different concentrations.The results indicated that the proposed system has high stability and can accurately and simultaneously measure the concentrations of CH_(4)and CO_(2),with an optimal integration time of 220 s.The minimum detection limit was 10 ppb for CH_(4)and 1.5 ppm for CO_(2).The corresponding noise equivalent absorption sensitivity values were calculated as 2.67×10^(-13)cm^(-1)·Hz^(-1/2)and 5.18×10^(-11)cm^(-1)·Hz^(-1/2),respectively.The proposed dual-component gas simultaneous detection method can also be used for high-precision simultaneous detection of other gases.Therefore,this study may serve as a reference for developing portable multicomponent gas analyzers.

Equilibrator-based measurements of dissolved methane in the surface ocean using an integrated cavity output laser absorption spectrometer

A new off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy （ICOS） is coupled to Weiss equilibrator for continuous high- resolution dissolved methane measurement in the surface ocean. The time constant for the equilibrator in freshwater at room temperature is determined via dis-equilibration and re-equilibration experiments. The constant for methane is about 40 min. The system is calibrated using a standard gas of 3.980×10-6, and the precision of the ICOS for methane is 0.07%. This system is equipped onboard to measure the spatial distribution in methane concentrations of South Yellow Sea （SYS） along the cruise track from Shanghai to Qingdao. Result shows that the methane concentration varies from 2.79 to 36.36 nmol/L, reveals a significant pattern of methane source in SYS, and a distinct decreasing trend from south to north. The peak value occurs at the coast area outside mouth of the Changjiang River, likely to be affected by the Changjiang diluted water mass dissolving a large amount of rich in methane. Moreover, all the surface waters are oversaturated, air-to-sea fluxes range from 98.59 to 5 485.35 μmol/（m2·d） （average value （1 169.74±1 398.46） μmol/（m2·d））, indicating a source region for methane to the atmosphere. Key words： methane, equilibrator, off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy （ICOS）, South Yellow Sea

Wide dynamic detection range of methane gas based on enhanced cavity absorption spectroscopy

Integrated cavity output spectroscopy(ICOS) is an effective technique in trace gase detection.The strong absorption due to the long optical path of this method makes it challenging in the application scenes that have large gas concentration fluctuation,especially when the gas concentration is high.In this paper,we demonstrate an extension of the dynamic range of ICOS by using a detuned laser combined with an off-axis integrating cavity.With this,we improve the upper limit of the dynamic detection range from 0.1%(1000 ppm) to 20% of the gas concentration.This method provides a way of using ICOS in the applications with unpredictable gas concentrations such as gas leak detection,ocean acidification,carbon sequestration,etc.