Measuring and controlling nitrous oxide (N2O) gas is crucial for understanding climate change. N2O in the atmosphere has an extremely large global warming potential. Although still present at trace gas quantities in the atmosphere, NO2 is about 300 times more potent than CO2 in terms of warming effect [1]. Its concentration continues to increase mainly due to traffic emissions, agricultural activities, industrial processes and biomass combustion [2]. Reducing N2O emissions is essential to mitigate the effects of climate change and achieve the greenhouse gas reduction targets set by international agreements [3].
Responding to this measurement task, DFM and PTB aim at new N2O optical gas standards (OGS) operated according to the TILSAM method [4]. Following the same method as PTB’s HCl OGS for which a CMC has been published in 2023 [5], this work aims to improve the accuracy and metrological traceability of N2O concentration measurements, and by that, supports efforts to reduce the emissions of this greenhouse gas.
Based on the TILSAM method, we utilize two TDLAS-based systems to set up the new N2O OGS. One setup utilizing a DFB diode laser in the 1.52 µm wavelength range at DFM (for emission control), and another setup in the 4.5 µm spectral range at PTB (for atmospheric quantifications).
In this contribution, detail insights into our work in progress is provided by exploring the experimental application of the TILSAM method to set up robust N2O measurement standards with a corresponding CMC in preparation. An outline is given how to compare the N2O OGS to established refence material-based gas standards, ensuring conformity with international metrological principles to provide supporting evidence for CMC claims, thereby guaranteeing metrological traceability to international standards.