Development of a low-cost cavity ring-down spectrometer
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Charles Wise (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Al Fischer
Abstract: Airborne analytes are often hard to measure due to their small concentrations (ppm-ppb), espe-cially those in our atmosphere. Airborne analytes such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and black car-bon are commonly studied for their pollution contribution and climate modeling. Common com-mercial analytical instruments are usually not equipped to handle those detection limits, and ifthey are, they come at a higher cost and lack portability. Cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS)resolves many of these attributes common commercial instruments cannot produce and is com-monly employed in atmospheric research. Low-cost instruments are also becoming increasinglypopular in higher levels of research because of their price and ability to be highly specific to a re-search group’s needs. The goal of this project is to bridge both concepts by building two low-costCRDS with commercial (kinematic system) and 3D-printed (cage system) parts and comparingtheir performance against themselves and a high-cost CRDS. This was accomplished by testingthe drift of each design through Allan deviation calculations and validating the kinematic systemresults by measuring the absorption cross sections (s) of O3 and NO2. The sO3-445 measurementwas within 8% of literature values displayed with a ±14% uncertainty, while sNO2-445 was within7% of displayed literature values with a ±11% uncertainty. Both designs show promise, but thecage system has better stability and will be further developed in the future.
Development of a low-cost cavity ring-down spectrometer
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Created on 12/1/2023
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2023
- Keywords
- CES, CRDS, Low-cost
- Subjects
- Cavity-ringdown spectroscopy
- Analytical chemistry
- Spectrum analysis—Instruments