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 50-55degreesC. Flue gas containing COD oxygen, SO2 and NOx, is purged through a Fe(II)EDTA(2-) containing liquid. The Fe(II)EDTA(2-) complex effectively binds the NOx; the bound NOx is converted into 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.