A sensitive carbon monoxide sensor for industrial process control based on laser absorption spectroscopy with a 2.3 μm distributed feedback laser

•A near-infrared of 2.3 μm based in-situ, real-time and continuous carbon monoxide (CO) sensor.•The laser absorption spectroscopy-based equipment is proposed for the exhaust pipeline of furnace.•The CO content measured by this equipment can next be used to achieve high-efficiency combustion control with close to theoretical ratios.•The near-infrared based sensor for CO showed great applicability and potential for exhaust pipeline and combustion control systems.