Song AR  Jeong NK  Bae SW  Hwang JH  Lee CY  Kim DH

10.7464/ksct.2020.26.4.293

TDLAS WMS Sulfur dioxide (SO2) Multi-absorption lines Mid-IR

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is a typical health hazard, resulting in about 7 million premature deaths each year. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of the major air pollutants, and the combustion process with sulfur-containing fuels generates it. Measuring SO2 generation in large combustion environments in real time and optimizing reduction facilities based on measured values are necessary to reduce the compound’s presence. This paper describes the concentration measurement for SO2, a particulate matter precursor, using a wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) of tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS). This study employed a quantum cascade laser operating at 7.6 μm as a light source. It demonstrated concentration measurement possibility using 64 multi-absorption lines between 7623.7 and 7626.0 nm. The experiments were conducted in a multi-pass cell with a total path length of 28 and 76 m at 1 atm, 296 K. The SO2 concentration was tested in two types: high concentration (1000 to 5000 ppm) and low concentration (10 ppm or less). Additionally, the effect of H2O interference in the atmosphere on the measurement of SO2 was confirmed by N2 purging the laser’s path. The detection limit for SO2 was 3 ppm, and results were compared with the electronic chemical sensor and nondispersive infrared (NDIR) sensor.