Environmental Application of High Sensitive Gas Sensors with Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

Due to the fact of global warming, air quality deterioration and health concern over the past few decades, great demands and tremendous efforts for new technology to detect hazard gases such as CH4, CO2, CO, H2S, and HONO have been performed. Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) is a kind of technology with advantages of high sensitivity, high selectivity, and fast responsivity. It has been widely used in the applications of greenhouse gas measurements, industrial process control, combustion gas measurements, medicine, and so on. In this chapter, we will briefly summarize the most recent progress on TDLAS technology and present several kinds of gas sensors developed mainly by our group for various field applications. These could expand from energy, environment, and public safety to medical science

Plants changed the response of bacterial community to the nitrogen and phosphorus addition ratio

IntroductionHuman activities have increased the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supply ratio of the natural ecosystem, which affects the growth of plants and the circulation of soil nutrients. However, the effect of the N and P supply ratio and the effect of plant on the soil microbial community are still unclear.MethodsIn this study, 16s rRNA sequencing was used to characterize the response of bacterial communities in Phragmites communis (P.communis) rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil to N and P addition ratio.ResultsThe results showed that the a-diversity of the P.communis rhizosphere soil bacterial community increased with increasing N and P addition ratio, which was caused by the increased salt and microbially available C content by the N and P ratio. N and P addition ratio decreased the pH of non-rhizosphere soil, which consequently decreased the a-diversity of the bacterial community. With increasing N and P addition ratio, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes increased, while that of Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria decreased, which reflected the trophic strategy of the bacterial community. The bacterial community composition of the non-rhizosphere soil was significantly affected by salt, pH and total carbon (TC) content. Salt limited the relative abundance of Actinobacteria, and increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes. The symbiotic network of the rhizosphere soil bacterial community had lower robustness. This is attributed to the greater selective effect of plants on the bacterial community influenced by nutrient addition.DiscussionPlants played a regulatory role in the process of N and P addition affecting the bacterial community, and nutrient uptake by the root system reduced the negative impact of N and P addition on the bacterial community. The variations in the rhizosphere soil bacterial community were mainly caused by the response of the plant to the N and P addition ratio

A Study of Two Dimensional Tomography Reconstruction of Temperature and Gas Concentration in a Combustion Field Using TDLAS

Based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), two-dimensional (2D) distribution reconstructions of gas concentration and temperature are realized using an algebraic reconstruction technique (ART). The influence of the beam distribution and grid size on combustion field reconstruction is investigated to attain optimal reconstruction results with a limited number of beams. Under limited optical-path numbers, it shows that a better spatial resolution is attainable only when the laser beam paths are vertical and parallel to the symmetry axis of the combustion field. Furthermore, experiments with 16 beam paths using one and two flat flame combustion fields are carried out in different fuel-air equivalence ratios under room temperature. The results are in agreement with the simulation results, and the time resolution is less than 1 s

Development of a Rapid Measurement Method for Analysis of the NOx Conversion Process Based on Quantum Cascade Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

In this study, a method for double-beam quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy (DB-QCLAS) was developed. Two mid-infrared distributed feedback quantum cascade laser beams were coupled in an optical cavity for the monitoring of NO and NO2 (NO at 5.26 μm; NO2 at 6.13 μm). Appropriate lines in the absorption spectra were selected, and the influence of common gases in the atmosphere, such as H2O and CO2, was avoided. By analyzing the spectral lines under different pressure conditions, the appropriate measurement pressure of 111 mbar was selected. Under this pressure, the interference between adjacent spectral lines could be effectively distinguished. The experimental results show that the standard deviations for NO and NO2 were 1.57 ppm and 2.67 ppm, respectively. Moreover, in order to improve the feasibility of this technology for detecting chemical reactions between NO and O2, the standard gases of NO and O2 were used to fill the cavity. A chemical reaction instantaneously began, and the concentrations of the two gases were immediately changed. Through this experiment, we hope to develop new ideas for the accurate and rapid analysis of the process of NOx conversion and to lay a foundation for a deeper understanding of the chemical changes in atmospheric environments

Simultaneous detection of multiple gas concentrations with multi-frequency wavelength modulation spectroscopy

A multi-frequency wavelength modulation spectroscopy (MF-WMS) method for simultaneous monitoring multiple gas concentrations is reported. Two wavelength lasers are selected and scanned at the same sawtooth waveform and different sinusoidal modulation frequencies. Also, a 2-in-1 coupler is used to collect laser beams into a single-mode fiber to deliver the combined beams to a same optical path. The outputs from the same InGaAs detector are demodulated by a set of homemade digital lock-in-amplifiers to obtain the harmonic signals, accordingly. The new multi-pass cell was designed and filled with five different concentrations of H2S and HCl gas mixtures for further analysis. In addition, an $\alpha\text{-}\beta\text{-}\gamma$ digital filter and a data running means method were used to further improve the stability. The results show that the signal-to-noise ratio and the anti-interference ability had been improved and the MF-WMS system gives a good performance in terms of reproducibility and feasibility