Results on Gas Detection and Concentration Estimation Via Mid-IR-Based Gas Detection System Analysis Model

In recent decades, laser-based spectroscopy has been used in a wide range of research and application fields due to developments in laser technology and infrared spectroscopy. A particular application of interest is mid-infrared (IR) laser-based gas detection systems for health and environment assessment. In this paper, we use our statistical analysis model for a generic mid-IR pulsed-laser gas detection system to predict trace gas detection and concentration estimation performance, and their sensitivity to system parameters. Based on the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory data and the Beer-Lambert law, we use the three main spectral peaks of a trace gas, as the basis for gas detection, and use the relationship between gas transmittance β, molar absorptivity ε, concentration c, and the sample-mean measurement, x_N, from the photo-detector, as the basis for concentration estimation using a standard confidence interval method. We also demonstrate the analysis model´s adaptability and system performance sensitivity to system parameter values.