Characterization of microbial communities removing NOx from flue gas in BioDeNOx reactors

BioDeNOx is a novel integrated physico-chemical and biological process for the removal of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from flue gas. Due to the high temperature of flue gas the process is performed at a temperature between https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> 50 - 55 ∘ C . Flue gas containing https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> C O 2 , oxygen, https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> S O 2 and NOx , is purged through a Fe (II)EDTA https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> 2 - containing liquid. The Fe (II)EDTA https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> 2 - complex effectively binds the NOx ; the bound NOx is converted into https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> N 2 in a complex reaction sequence. It is evident that though the process looks simple, due to the large number of parallel potential reactions and serial microbial conversions, it is much more complex. There is a need for a detailed investigation in order to properly understand and optimise the process.