Himitsu Bako of NO2 Mixtures: Characterization of NO2 Reference Material Using FTIR Spectroscopy in Middle Infrared Region
摘要
In this work, we investigate how much information a conventional infrared spectroscopic technique (FTIR) can yield for NO2 reference materials in the range of concentrations between 100 to 2500 μmol/mol. The amount fraction of 100 μmol/mol corresponds to the actual maximum for NO2 emissions by modern Euro 6 vehicles and is suitable for Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS) calibration. A set of measurements of four reference mixtures was performed. For the analysis, we developed an efficient and simple algorithm, based on the integration of rovibrational bands, yielding the molar fractions of NO2 (including dimer) and several impurities, such as N2O and HNO3. It resembles a Japanese puzzle box, Himitsu Bako, since different mixture components should be addressed in a certain order to unravel a complete composition. The algorithm was successfully applied to the recorded spectra. For example, the uncertainties for low NO2 amount fractions were shown to be limited essentially by the quality of reference spectroscopic data for the monomer (HITRAN database in the current work), and not by the measurement procedure. Shortcomings, further development, and improvements of the experimental set-up as well as of the evaluation algorithm are addressed.