A Novel Bandpass Filter for the Analysis of Carbon Monoxide Using a Non-Dispersive Infrared Technique

In this study, two novel narrow bandpass filters (BPF) obtained from the high-resolution transmission molecular absorption (HITRAN) data for a carbon monoxide (CO) non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) analyzer were investigated and compared with a commercial BPF (4.64 µm). The new BPF was made using a two-cavity filter method with different center wavelengths and bandwidths from the commercial BPF. The wavelengths of the two BPFs were 4.5 µm and 4.65 µm. The gas emission pattern of a coal-fired power plant was used as a case study. Various concentrations of target gases were used to theoretically estimate the interference, and to practically determine it. It was found that although the transmittances of the two new BPFs were lower than that of the commercial BPF, the signal-to-noise ratio caused by two novel BPFs was approximately 20. In terms of interference effect, carbon dioxide (CO2) was found as a strong interfering gas on the commercial BPF at 4.64 µm and the new BPF at 4.65 µm. In contrast, the new BPF at 4.5 µm cut off the interference effect of all target gases. The measurement error of the NDIR analyzer applying the BPF at 4.5 µm was similar to that of gas filter correlation (GFC) NDIR and was less than 1%. This indicates that the novel BPF at 4.5 µm can be used instead of a GFC for a CO NDIR analyzer, thus overcoming the limitations of using a GFC.