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Effects of plant downtime on the microbial community composition in the highly saline brine of a geothermal plant in the North German Basin

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

The microbial biocenosis in highly saline fluids produced from the cold well of a deep geothermal heat store located in the North German Basin was characterized during regular plant operation and immediately after plant downtime phases. Genetic fingerprinting revealed the dominance of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and fermentative Halanaerobiaceae during regular plant operation, whereas after shutdown phases, sequences of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) were also detected. The detection of SOB indicated oxygen ingress into the well during the downtime phase. High 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and dsrA gene copy numbers at the beginning of the restart process showed an enrichment of bacteria, SRB, and SOB during stagnant conditions consistent with higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), sulfate, and hydrogen sulfide in the produced fluids. The interaction of SRB and SOB during plant downtimes might have enhanced the corrosion processes occurring in the well. It was shown that scale content of fluids was significantly increased after stagnant phases. Moreover, the sulfur isotopic signature of the mineral scales indicated microbial influence on scale formation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the public utilities of the city of Neubrandenburg for providing access to the topside facility of the geothermal heat store. In addition, the authors would also like to thank AMODIA Bioservice GmbH (Braunschweig, Germany) for SSCP analyses and to Dr. Alexandra Vetter and Dr. Andrea Vieth-Hillebrand for the DOC measurements and Dr. Birgit Plessen, from GFZ German Research Centre for Geoscience, for the determination of the carbon isotopic composition. Moreover, the authors would like to thank Dr. Heinrich Taubald from the Department of Geosciences of Tübingen University for the sulfur isotopic composition measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Section 4.5 Geomicrobiology, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Anke Westphal, Stephanie Lerm, Rona Miethling-Graff & Hilke Würdemann

  2. BWG Geochemische Beratung GmbH, 17041, Neubrandenburg, Germany

    Andrea Seibt

  3. Geothermie Neubrandenburg (GTN), 17041, Neubrandenburg, Germany

    Markus Wolfgramm

  4. Environmental Technology, Water and Recycling Technology, Department of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Merseburg, 06217, Merseburg, Germany

    Hilke Würdemann

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  1. Anke Westphal
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Correspondence to Hilke Würdemann.

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This work was supported by Federal Ministry of the Environment, Natural Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU, grant no. 0327634). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Westphal, A., Lerm, S., Miethling-Graff, R. et al. Effects of plant downtime on the microbial community composition in the highly saline brine of a geothermal plant in the North German Basin. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 3277–3290 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-7181-1

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