TDLAS-based NH3 mole fraction measurement for exhaust diagnostics during selective catalytic reduction using a fiber-coupled 2.2-µm DFB diode laser

A new developed tunable diode laser spectrometer for the measurement of ammonia (NH3) mole fractions in exhaust gas matrices with strong CO2 and H2O background at temperatures up to 800 K is presented. In situ diagnostics in harsh exhaust environments during SCR after treatment are enabled by the use of ammonia transitions in the ν2 + ν3 near-infrared band around 2300 nm. Therefore, three lines have been selected, coinciding near 2200.5 nm (4544.5 cm−1) with rather weak temperature dependency and minimal interference with CO2 and H2O. A fiber-coupled 2.2-μm distributed feedback laser diode was used and attached to the hot gas flow utilizing adjustable gas tight high-temperature fiber ports. The spectrometer spans four coplanar optical channels across the measurement plane and simultaneously detects the direct absorption signal via a fiber-coupled detector unit. An exhaust simulation test rig was used to characterize the spectrometer’s performance in ammonia-doped hot gas environments. We achieved a temporal resolution of 13 Hz and temperature-dependent precisions of NH3 mole fraction ranging from 50 to 70 ppmV. There the spectrometer achieved normalized ammonia detection limits of 7–10 ppmV·m and 2–3 ppmV·m/√Hz .