Vibration Sensitivity Reduction of Photoacoustic Gas Analyzers

Optical gas analyzers are devices for measuring gas concentrations with high precision in industrial environments. Nevertheless, mechanical shocks and vibrations can impact the measurement accuracy if the analyzer is installed in very noisy environments, e.g., near rotating machines. In this paper, we propose two methods wherein the influence of vibrations is removed with the aid of a signal measured via an accelerometer. In the first method, referred to as offline, the mechanoelectrical transfer function between the vibration and its effects on the microphone is estimated before installation of the sensor. In the second method, referred to as online, the mechanoelectrical transfer function is updated continuously under normal sensing operations. The two methods have been implemented and lab tests confirm the effectiveness of both methods.