TY - JOUR A1 - Pangerl, Jonas A1 - Müller, Max A1 - Rück, Thomas A1 - Weigl, Stefan A1 - Bierl, Rudolf T1 - Characterizing a sensitive compact mid-infrared photoacoustic sensor for methane, ethane and acetylene detection considering changing ambient parameters and bulk composition (N2, O2 and H2O) JF - Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical N2 - We present a sensitive and compact interband cascade laser (ICL) based photoacoustic setup for the detection of gaseous hydrocarbons and discuss its applicability towards trace gas analysis. We investigated the performance of the sensor for trace concentrations of methane, ethane and acetylene diluted in nitrogen. The excitation of methane and ethane was accomplished using one tunable diode laser, covering a range from 3360 to 3372 nm, which was replaced by a separate ICL at 3025 nm for acetylene detection. The influence of ambient parameters such as temperature, flow rate and pressure as well as potential cross-sensitivities towards O2 and H2O have been examined in terms of methane and acetylene detection. A series of simulations proved several of these influences to be attributed to relaxation effects. With a 3σ limit of detection (LoD) of 6.8 parts per billion (ppbV) in case of methane, 2.3 ppbV regarding ethane and 3.6 ppbV in terms of acetylene, the sensor demonstrates a great potential for applications in the field of trace gas analysis. KW - Acetylene KW - Cross-sensitivities KW - Ethane KW - Interband cascade laser KW - Methane KW - Photoacoustic spectroscopy KW - Relaxation effects Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:898-opus4-25868 N1 - Corresponding author: Jonas Pangerl VL - 352,1 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier ER -