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Productive Biofilms pp 53–76Cite as

Modeling of Biofilm Systems: A Review

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Part of the book series: Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology ((ABE,volume 146))

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Abbreviations

AOB:

Ammonium oxidizing bacteria

BbM:

Biomass-based model

C:

Constant in Eq. (14)

c :

Concentration (g/m3)

CA:

Cellular automata

c Fi :

Concentration of dissolved substance i at the biofilm surface (g/m3)

c Bi :

Concentration of dissolved substance i in the completely mixed liquid phase (bulk phase) (g/m3)

CBL:

Concentration boundary layer

D :

Diffusion coefficient (m2/s)

d :

Diameter (m)

IbM:

Individual-based model

j :

Mass flux (g/m2 d)

k d :

Detachment coefficient (1/d)

k d,random :

Detachment coefficient for random detachment events (1/d)

k L :

Mass transfer coefficient (m/s)

K S :

Monod constant (g/m3)

L :

Number of grid cells in height/Length (m)

L C :

Thickness of the concentration boundary layer (m)

L F :

Biofilm thickness (m)

L F,base :

Base biofilm thickness (m)

m X :

Mass of biomass (g)

N :

Number grid cells in length

NOB:

Nitrite oxidizing bacteria

Pe :

Peclet number

p :

Pressure (N/m2)

Re :

Reynolds number

RS:

High rate strategist

r :

Conversion rate (g/m3d)

Sc :

Schmidt number

Sh :

Sherwood number

t :

Time (d)

u :

Flow velocity (m/s)

u F :

Relative velocity of a particulate component in the biofilm perpendicular to the substratum (m/d)

V :

Volume (m3)

X :

Biomass concentration (g/m3)

Y :

Yield coefficient (g/g)

YS:

High yield strategist

Z f :

Position of an occupied grid cell above the substratum within the grid (N,L)

Z fmax :

Highest occupied grid cell above the substratum within the grid (N,L)

z :

Space coordinate perpendicular to the substratum

α :

Biofilm surface enlargement

ε :

Porosity

ε S :

Fraction of the solid phase in the biofilm volume

ε Fl :

Fraction of the liquid phase in the biofilm volume

κ :

Parameter in Eq. (9)

δ :

Parameter in Eq. (9)

µ :

Growth rate (1/d)

µ max :

Maximum growth rate (1/d)

Ω :

Parameter in Eq. (12)

σ :

Biofilm surface roughness

ν :

Kinematic viscosity (m2/s)

ρ :

Biofilm density (gX/m3) or

.:

Density of fluid (kg/m3)

τ :

Shear stress (N/m2)

EPS:

Extracellular polymeric substances

F :

Biofilm

i :

Component i

O2 :

Oxygen

P :

Particle

S :

Substrate

X :

Biomass

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Acknowledgment

Many thanks to Roland Möhle and Danial Taherzadeh. Both did their PhDs on modeling of biofilm systems and thereby contributed significantly to the understanding of structure and function of mixed culture biofilm systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engler-Bunte-Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Harald Horn & Susanne Lackner

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  1. Harald Horn
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  2. Susanne Lackner
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Correspondence to Harald Horn .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences and Engineering, University of Applied Sciences Bingen, Bingen, Germany

    Kai Muffler

  2. University of Kaiserslautern Institute of Bioprocess Engineering, Kaiserslautern, Germany

    Roland Ulber

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Horn, H., Lackner, S. (2014). Modeling of Biofilm Systems: A Review. In: Muffler, K., Ulber, R. (eds) Productive Biofilms. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, vol 146. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2014_275

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