Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Direct measurement of the adhesive strength of biofilms in pipes by micromanipulation

  • Published:
Biotechnology Techniques

Abstract

A novel micromanipulation technique has been developed to measure directly the adhesive strength of biofilms formed in pipe flows. A T-shaped probe was specially designed to pull Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilms away from the inner surface of a pipe to which they were attached. The adhesive strength between biofilms and the substratum was defined as the work required to remove the biofilms per unit area from the substratum. Results showed that the adhesive strength increased with the fluid velocity in which the biofilms were grown, with a typical value of 0.05∼0.2 J/m2. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
€32.70 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Finland)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bott, TR (1990). Fouling notebook. Rugby: IChemE

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, RF (1988). General Microbiology. Times Mirror/Mosby College Pub., St. Louis

    Google Scholar 

  • Cammarota, MC and Sant'Anna Jr, GL (1998). Biotechnol. Lett. 20: 1-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, DG, Parsek, MR, Pearson, JP, Iglewski, BH and Costerton, JW (1998). Science280: 295-298

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lappin-Scott, HM, Jass, J and Costerton, JW (1993). Microbial biofilm formation and characterization. In: Microbial Biofilms: Formation and Control, SP Denyer, SP Gorman and M Sussman, eds pp1-12, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, DE, Adams, WJ and Heitkamp, MA (1994). Water Environment Research66: 70-83

    Google Scholar 

  • Gjaltema, A, vanderMarel, N, vanLoosdrecht, MCM and Heijnen, JJ (1997). Biotechnol. Bioeng.55: 880-889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaur, K (1989). PhD Thesis, University of Birmingham

  • Ohashi, A and Harada. H (1996). Wat. Sci. Technol. 34: 201-211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel, TD (1985). PhD Thesis, University of Birminghama

  • Rutter, PR, Dazzo, FB, Freter, R, Gingell, D, Jones, GW, Kjelleberg, S, Marshall, KC, Mrozek, H, Rades-Rohkohl, E, Robb, ID, Silverman, M and Tylewska, S (1984). Mechanisms of adhesion. In: Microbial Adhesion and Aggregation, KC Marshall, ed pp 5-19, New York: Springer-Verlag

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos, R, Callow, ME and Bott, TR (1991). Biofouling4: 319-336

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlichting, H (1979). Boundary Layer Theory. 7th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill

    Google Scholar 

  • Vieira, MJ, Melo, LF and Pinheiro, MM (1993). Biofouling7: 67-80

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiencek, KM and Fletcher, M (1998). Biofouling11: 293-311

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Z, Ferenczi, MA and Thomas, CR (1992). Chem. Eng. Sci. 47: 1347-1354

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Bioprocess Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston Birmingham, UK

    M.J. Chen, Z. Zhang & T.R. Bott

Authors
  1. M.J. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Z. Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T.R. Bott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chen, M., Zhang, Z. & Bott, T. Direct measurement of the adhesive strength of biofilms in pipes by micromanipulation. Biotechnology Techniques 12, 875–880 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008805326385

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008805326385

Search

Navigation