Reduction of Fe(II)EDTA-NO by a newly isolated Pseudomonas sp. strain DN-2 in NOx scrubber solution.

Biological reduction of nitric oxide (NO) chelated by ferrous ethylenediaminetetraacetate (Fe(II)EDTA) to N2 is one of the core processes in a chemical absorption-biological reduction integrated technique for nitrogen oxide (NOx) removal from flue gases. A new isolate, identified as Pseudomonas sp. DN-2 by 16S rRNA sequence analysis, was able to reduce Fe(II)EDTA-NO. The specific reduction capacity as measured by NO was up to 4.17 mmol g DCW(-1) h(-1). Strain DN-2 can simultaneously use glucose and Fe(II)EDTA as electron donors for Fe(II)EDTA-NO reduction. Fe(III)EDTA, the oxidation of Fe(II)EDTA by oxygen, can also serve as electron acceptor by strain DN-2. The interdependency between various chemical species, e.g., Fe(II)EDTA-NO, Fe(II)EDTA, or Fe (III)EDTA, was investigated. Though each complex, e.g., Fe(II)EDTA-NO or Fe(III)EDTA, can be reduced by its own dedicated bacterial strain, strain DN-2 capable of reducing Fe(III)EDTA can enhance the regeneration of Fe(II)EDTA, hence can enlarge NO elimination capacity. Additionally, the inhibition of Fe(II)EDTA-NO on the Fe(III)EDTA reduction has been explored previously. Strain DN-2 is probably one of the major contributors for the continual removal of NOx due to the high Fe(II)EDTA-NO reduction rate and the ability of Fe(III)EDTA reduction.