Evaluation of Fe(III)EDTA and Fe(II)EDTA-NO reduction in a NO x scrubber solution by magnetic Fe3O4-chitosan microspheres immobilized microorganisms

A two-stage bioreduction system containing magnetic-microsphere-immobilized denitrifying bacteria and iron-reducing bacteria was developed for the regeneration of scrubbing solutions for NO (x) removal. In this process, a higher bioreduction rate and a better tolerance of inhibition of bacteria were achieved with immobilized bacteria than with free bacteria. This work focused on evaluation of the effects of the main components in the scrubbing solution on Fe(III)EDTA (EDTA: ethylenediaminetetraacetate) and Fe(II)EDTA-NO reduction, with an emphasis on mass transfer and the kinetic model of Fe(III)EDTA and Fe(II)EDTA-NO reduction by immobilized bacteria. It was found that Fe(II)EDTA-NO had a strong inhibiting effect, but Fe(II)EDTA had no effect, on Fe(III)EDTA reduction. Fe(II)EDTA accelerated Fe(II)EDTA-NO reduction, whereas Fe(III)EDTA had no effect. This showed that the use of the two stages of regeneration was necessary. Moreover, the effect of internal diffusion on Fe(III)EDTA and Fe(II)EDTANO reduction could be neglected, and the rate-limiting step was the bioreduction process. The reduction of Fe(III)EDTA and Fe(II)EDTA-NO using immobilized bacteria was described by a first-order kinetic model. Bioreduction can therefore be enhanced by increasing the cell density in the magnetic chitosan microspheres.