Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems

Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Martin, Gregory Dean
Language:English
Published: University of Akron / OhioLINK 2017
Subjects:
Biology
environmental microbiology
microbial ecology
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1493919370366314
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-akron14939193703663142021-08-03T07:02:19Z Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems Martin, Gregory Dean Biology environmental microbiology microbial ecology This project was conducted to characterize microbial communities and slurry in wet flue gas desulfurization (wFGD) units at coal burning power plants. An additional objective of this research was to ascertain microbial activity and the potential for microbial mercury metabolism. Coal fired power plants in the U.S. alone are responsible for emitting over 50 tons per year of Hg0 into the atmosphere. A consequence of this microbially produced MeHg is increased toxicity with distance in food webs, eventually reaching humans where it can damage nervous systems and impair fetal development. Therefore, Hg bioaccumulation as a direct result of increased anthropogenic Hg0 emissions is a global concern. To address the chemistry and microbial activities of wFGD slurry, I determined the physiochemisty of three wFGD systems. I then quantified the activity of microorganisms in the wFGD slurry using live/dead cell counts, respirometry experiments monitoring O2 consumption over time, a Hg reduction experiment monitoring total Hg loss over time, and total RNA sequencing reads. Microbial community composition was established by evaluation of 16S rRNA gene sequences recovered from the systems. I found live cells and increased aerobic respiration in live slurry incubations when compared to deactivated slurry samples. When comparing the 16S rRNA gene sequencing data, the wFGD communities all possessed lower relative abundances than the more physiochemically moderate river ecosystems, which provide the source water. However, they differed between sites in physiochemisty and predominant genera recovered through DNA analysis, as well as RNA sequencing and culturability. Two of the sites contained high percentages of the thermophilic taxa, Hydrogenophilaceae Hydrogenophilus and Hydrogenophilaceae Thiobacillus. This research strongly indicates microbial activity in the physiochemically extreme wFGD environment and suggests that microorganisms introduced from the moderate source water can adapt to the more extreme wFGD environment. Research goals of this thesisa.Determine the general physiochemisty and microbial communities of wFGD slurry.b.Establish the presence of active microbial communities in wFGD and elucidate the potential for these active communities to contribute to mercury reduction in wFGD slurry. 2017-07-13 English text University of Akron / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1493919370366314 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1493919370366314 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Biology
environmental microbiology
microbial ecology
spellingShingle Biology
environmental microbiology
microbial ecology
Martin, Gregory Dean
Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems
author Martin, Gregory Dean
author_facet Martin, Gregory Dean
author_sort Martin, Gregory Dean
title Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems
title_short Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems
title_full Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems
title_fullStr Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems
title_full_unstemmed Microbial Community Composition and Activities in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems
title_sort microbial community composition and activities in wet flue gas desulfurization systems
publisher University of Akron / OhioLINK
publishDate 2017
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1493919370366314
work_keys_str_mv AT martingregorydean microbialcommunitycompositionandactivitiesinwetfluegasdesulfurizationsystems
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