Carbon monoxide impurities in hydrogen detected with resonant photoacoustic cell using a mid-IR laser source

Chaofan Feng; Xiaowen Shen; Biao Li; Xiaoli Liu; Yujing Jing; Qi Huang; Pietro Patimisco; Vincenzo Spagnolo; Lei Dong; Hongpeng Wu

doi:10.1016/j.pacs.2024.100585

Carbon monoxide impurities in hydrogen detected with resonant photoacoustic cell using a mid-IR laser source

Photoacoustics. 2024 Jan 18:36:100585. doi: 10.1016/j.pacs.2024.100585. eCollection 2024 Apr.

Authors

Chaofan Feng^{1

2

3}, Xiaowen Shen^{1

2}, Biao Li⁴, Xiaoli Liu^{1

2}, Yujing Jing^{1

2}, Qi Huang^{1

2}, Pietro Patimisco^{1

3

5}, Vincenzo Spagnolo^{1

3

5}, Lei Dong^{1

2

3}, Hongpeng Wu^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
³ PolySense Lab-Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica, University and Politecnico of Bari, Bari, Italy.
⁴ Chongqing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information Sensing and Transmission Technology, School of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing 400065, China.
⁵ PolySense Innovations Srl, Bari, Italy.

Abstract

We report on a photoacoustic sensor system based on a differential photoacoustic cell to detect the concentration of CO impurities in hydrogen. A DFB-QCL laser with a central wavelength of 4.61 µm was employed as an exciting source with an optical power of 21 mW. Different concentrations of CO gas mixed with pure hydrogen were injected into the photoacoustic cell to test the linear response of the photoacoustic signal to the CO concentration. The stability of the long-term operation was verified by Allan-Werle deviation analysis. The minimum detection limit (MDL, SNR=1) results 8 ppb at 1 s and reaches a sub-ppb level at 100 s of integration time. Dynamic response of the system is linear and has been tested up to the concentration of 6 ppm. Saturation conditions are expected to be reached for CO concentration larger than 100 ppm.

Keywords: Carbon monoxide; Fuel cells; Hydrogen; Resonant photoacoustic cell.