Calibration of a Windowless Photoacoustic Cell for Detection of Trace Gases

The instrumental figure of performance, F, of a windowless, gas-phase photoacoustic cell, defined as the ratio of the normalized photoacoustic signal to the absorbance, is shown to be dependant on the sample, in contrast to previous assumptions. A method of calibration of such a cell is outlined in the absorbance range from 2.10 -6 to 5.10 -3 .The estimated detection limits were 7,4 ppm, 0,43 ppb and 1,3 ppb for carbon dioxyde, ammonia, and ethylene respectively.