CO/CO₂ Analyzer

LGR's CO/CO2 Analyzer simultaneously measures ambient levels of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water vapor with extraordinary precision in real time.  Of course, higher precision may be achieved with modest averaging.  (For simultaneous measurements of N2O and CO, please refer to LGR's N2O/CO Analyzer.) The instrument may be set up in minutes and does not require any cryogens or consumables. In addition, the Analyzer simultaneously measures water vapor mixing ratios with very high precision and accuracy. As a result, the instrument also reports the measured gases on a dry mole fraction basis accurately in real time without the need for sample drying, empirical corrections, or any post processing.

The CO/CO2 Analyzer is designed for demanding applications including trace-gas (air quality and air purity) monitoring, eddy-correlation flux measurements, chamber flux measurements, engine exhaust, flight studies and combustion diagnostics. The Analyzer is particularly well suited for measurements in the field, or in the lab, and is unaffected by other atmospheric gases or changes in atmospheric pressure.

The CO/CO2 Analyzer uses LGR’s patented Off-axis ICOS technology, the fourth-generation cavity enhanced absorption technique, which employs a high-finesse optical cavity as the measurement cell. LGR’s technology has many proven advantages over conventional first-generation cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) techniques. In brief, since the laser beam does not have to be resonantly coupled to the measurement cell (i.e. precise beam alignment is not critical), LGR Analyzers are relatively inexpensive, simple to build, and inherently robust thermally and mechanically.  In addition, since LGR’s technology can record reliable absorption spectra over a far wider range of optical depths (absorbance values) compared with CRDS, LGR Analyzers provide measurements over a much wider range of mixing ratios (gas concentrations). Finally, due to the ease and simplicity of recording and quantifying the measured spectra using LGR’s Off-Axis ICOS, LGR Analyzers display the entire absorption spectra to the user in real time allowing for immediate system diagnostics and performance validation.

The CO/CO2 Analyzer includes an internal computer (Linux OS) that can store data practically indefinitely on its internal hard drive (for applications requiring unattended longer term operation), and send real-time data to a data logger through its analog and digital (RS232) outputs.  In addition, the availability of many value-added options extends the abilities of the unit to include measurements of discrete samples (collected in bags or vials, for example) and to automatically handle multiple inlet sources (e.g., from flux towers or distributed sites) for uninterrupted measurements over periods of weeks.

As with all LGR analyzers, the CO/CO2 Analyzer may be fully controlled remotely via the Internet. This capability allows the user to operate the analyzer using a web browser practically anywhere Internet access is available. Furthermore, remote access allows bios-level control of the instrument and provides the opportunity to obtain and share data and to diagnose the instrument operation without being on site.