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Influence of flow rate variation on the development of Escherichia coli biofilms

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Abstract

This work investigates the effect of flow rate variation on mass transfer and on the development of Escherichia coli biofilms on a flow cell reactor under turbulent flow conditions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to assess the applicability of this reactor for the simulation of industrial and biomedical biofilms and the numerical results were validated by streak photography. Two flow rates of 374 and 242 L h−1 (corresponding to Reynolds numbers of 6,720 and 4,350) were tested and wall shear stresses between 0.183 and 0.511 Pa were predicted in the flow cell reactor. External mass transfer coefficients of 1.38 × 10−5 and 9.64 × 10−6 m s−1 were obtained for the higher and lower flow rates, respectively. Biofilm formation was favored at the lowest flow rate because shear stress effects were more important than mass transfer limitations. This flow cell reactor generates wall shear stresses that are similar to those found in some industrial and biomedical settings, thus it is likely that the results obtained on this work can be used in the development of biofilm control strategies in both scenarios.

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Abbreviations

1/b :

Parameter related to the mechanical strength of the biofilm (T)

C :

Nutrient concentration in the biofilm (M L−3)

C b :

Bulk liquid nutrient concentration (M L−3)

C s :

Nutrient concentration at the biofilm surface (M L−3)

d :

Hydraulic diameter (L)

D :

Molecular diffusivity of growth-limiting nutrient in water (7.0 × 10−10 m2 s−1 at 30 °C for glucose) (L2 T−1)

D f :

Effective diffusivity of growth-limiting nutrient in the biofilm (L2 T−1)

J p :

Biofilm production flux (Mbiofilm L−2 T−1)

K m :

External (liquid) mass transfer coefficient (L T−1)

L f :

Average biofilm thickness (L)

m f :

Mass of biofilm per unit surface area (Mbiofilm L −2biofilm )

N :

Nutrient flux to the biofilm surface (M L2 T−1)

Q :

Flow rate used in each experiment (L3 T−1)

Re :

Reynolds number (ρ v d μ −1)

Sc :

Schmidt number (μ ρ −1 D −1)

Sh :

Sherwood number (K m d D −1)

t :

Time (T)

v :

Flow velocity (L T−1)

V :

Total system volume (L3)

μ b :

Biofilm specific production rate (T−1)

μ :

Viscosity (M L−1 T−1)

ρ :

Density (M L−3)

σ :

Residence time in whole system (V Q −1) (T)

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors—COMPETE, European Fund for Regional Development—FEDER and by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology—FCT through Projects MIT-Pt/BS-BB/0082/2008 and PTDC/EBB-BIO/104940/2008. Manuel Moreira Alves (CEFT, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto) is acknowledged for the numerical simulations and revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LEPAE, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    J. M. R. Moreira, J. S. Teodósio, M. Simões, L. F. Melo & F. J. Mergulhão

  2. CEFT, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    F. C. Silva

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  1. J. M. R. Moreira
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  2. J. S. Teodósio
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  3. F. C. Silva
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  4. M. Simões
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  5. L. F. Melo
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  6. F. J. Mergulhão
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Correspondence to F. J. Mergulhão.

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Moreira, J.M.R., Teodósio, J.S., Silva, F.C. et al. Influence of flow rate variation on the development of Escherichia coli biofilms. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 36, 1787–1796 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-013-0954-y

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