FGD MBfR
The microbial ecology of an MBfR  removing nitrate and selenate from flue-gas desulfurization brine
In the treatment of flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) brines using the membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR), a high degree of nitrate reduction may have allowed nearly 100% selenate reduction.  Two different brines were tested (15- and 33-g/L TDS) which reflect actual FGD brine.  The MBfR inoculum was obtained from a previous MBfR study that treated ion-exchange brine.  In the IX brine study, Marinobacter was a dominant genus in the MBfR biofilm communities.  In the present study, the community was dominated by members of the family Idiomarinaceae of Proteobacteria in the 15-g/L brine and unclassified bacteria, and Alpha- and Beta-proteobacteria in the 33-g/L TDS brine.  Hence, the different salt composition of the FGD brine (low NaCl and high calcium and magnesium) compared to the IX brine (high NaCl) seemed to select for a different microbial community.  What can we about Idiomarinaceae?  Maybe we should end the abstract with the reason why this group were selected.