Development of a novel non-dispersive infrared multi sensor for measurement of gases in sediments

•A novel multi-sensor infrared non-dispersive was developed.•The new multi-sensor NDIR was probed to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from river sediments in situ.•A gas extraction chamber was designed and built based on the biogas yield under the extraction by ultrasound.•The specific methanogenic activity was measured to evaluate the biogas yield. A novel multi-sensor infrared non-dispersive was developed and used to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from river sediments. The infrared filters were developed considering the bandwidth (BW) and central wavelength (CWL) of the infrared spectra of gases. Experiments were performed using sediments from the Lerma River taken during the rainy and dry seasons in order to determine the dimensions of sensor and the gas concentration detection limits (SPAN). The sensor and the extraction chamber dimensions were determined based on the biogas yield under the extraction by ultrasound and specific methanogenic activity (SMA), while SPAN values were established from the results of gas concentration measured by gas chromatography. The volume of sensor was 2.23 mL and selected SPAN values were fixed to 20% for CH4 and CO2 from the calibration and the gas obtained from sediments.