A novel multiple species ringdown spectrometer for in situ measurements of methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon isotope

Abstract

We have developed a standalone, user-friendly, multi-species ringdown spectrometer for in situ measurements of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and a carbon dioxide isotope (13CO 2). The instrument is based on near-infrared continuous-wave cavity ringdown spectroscopy (NIR cw-CRDS) and engineered to be of approximately 16 kg with dimensions of 50 cm∈×∈40 cm∈×∈15 cm. The instrument design, optical configuration, electronic control, and performance are described. CH4, CO2, and 13CO2 are measured at different wavelengths that are obtained through multiplexing two distributed feedback laser diodes with central wavelengths at 1597 and 1650 nm. The spectrometer has low power consumption and runs for 4-6 h when powered by a standard car battery. The instrument is operated either locally by interacting with a 7-inch touch screen or remotely via an Internet connection. The 1-σ detection limits for CH4 and CO2 are 0.2 and 120 ppmv, respectively. The measurement uncertainty is better than ±4% of full-scale reading for CH4 and CO2 and ±1.5‰ for δ13C (part per thousand relative to the Pee Dee Belemnite scale). Measurement of each species is near real-time; switching from measuring one species to another takes less than one minute. This work demonstrates a novel multiple-species CRDS-instrumentation platform, which can be adopted for development of an array of ringdown spectrometers for portable, user-friendly, field analysis of a variety of gases in environmental and industrial applications. Discussion of a future version of the spectrometer with better detection sensitivity, higher accuracy, and a smaller geometry is also presented. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.