An Underwater Methane Sensor Based on Laser Spectroscopy in a Hollow Core Optical Fiber

Existing sensors for measuring dissolved methane in situ suffer from excessively slow response times or large size and complexity. The technology reported here realizes improvements by utilizing a hollow core optical fiber (HFC) as the detection cell in an underwater infrared laser spectrometer. The sensor operates by using a polymer membrane inlet to continuously extract dissolved gas from water. Once inside the sensor, the gas passes through an HCF, within which tunable diode laser spectroscopy is used to quantify methane. The use of an HCF for the optical cell enables advantages of sensitivity, selectivity, compactness, response time, and ease of integration. A submersible prototype has been developed, characterized in the laboratory, and tested in the ocean to a depth of 2000 m. Initial laboratory environmental testing showed a pCH₄ detection range up to 10,000 μatm, an uncertainty of 5.6 μatm or ±1.4% (whichever is greater) and a response time of 4.6 min over a range of controlled operating conditions. Operation at sea demonstrated its utility in generating dissolved methane maps, targeted point sampling, and water column profiling.