Ppb-level detection of methane based on an optimized T-type photoacoustic cell and a NIR diode laser.

This paper presents an optimized T-type resonant photoacoustic (PA) cell for methane (CH4) gas detection. The noise transmission coefficients and PA field distributions of the T-type resonant PA cell have been evaluated using the finite element method and thermoviscous acoustic theory. The optimized T-type resonant PA cell, together with a near-infrared (NIR) distributed feedback (DFB) laser source, a high-speed spectrometer and a fiber-optic acoustic sensor constitutes a PAS system for CH4 detection. The sensitivity is measured to be 1.8 pm/ppm and a minimum detectable limit (MDL) of 9 parts per billion (ppb) can be achieved with an averaging time of 500 s. The optimized T-type longitudinal resonant PA cell features of high PA cell constant, fast response time and simple manufacturing process.