Mathematical Model and Mechanisms for Biofilm Wastewater Treatment Systems

Abstract

Fundamental theoretical depiction is still lacking on biofilm wastewater treatment systems up to today. A mathematical model of biofilm wastewater treatment systems, taking account of suspended microorganisms and some factors influencing biofilm formation and stabilization, is developed in this paper. By theoretical and numerical analyses, the factors influencing biofilm formation and stabilization, such as the dilution rate, influent organic concentration, detachment and initial inoculum concentration etc, are discussed. Qualitative investigations were carried out and suggestions on industrial applications are then proposed. This paper not only plays an important role in understanding the physical mechanisms of biofilm dynamics, but also has far-reaching implications for industrial practices.

Dynamical Analysis of a Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor with the Formation of Biofilms for Wastewater Treatment

“…"However, these often turned out to be unsatisfactory due to certain intrinsic deficiencies. For example, in [8] the model only took account of the accumulation of active biomass and inactive biomass of biofilms and in [9][10][11] the model was mostly used to study the morphology and structure of biofilms, so mechanisms and kinetics processes of biofilm formation have not yet been well understood" [12].…”

“…In [12] a model is proposed "which attempts to summarize the factors influencing biofilm formation and eliminating the deficiency of existing models and to study the kinetic mechanisms from a new perspective. " This model describes the formation of microbial populations in an aqueous medium inside a reactor and the mechanism under which bacteria can be suspended in the water or colonize the surface.…”

“…This model describes the formation of microbial populations in an aqueous medium inside a reactor and the mechanism under which bacteria can be suspended in the water or colonize the surface. The model in [12] considers extremely thin biofilms so it can be considered that all the microorganisms receive the substrate at the same time, therefore the model incorporates this condition by ignoring diffusion reactions. There are many applications where thin biofilms are desirable and detachment procedure is considered to keep such a condition [13][14][15].…”

“…In this paper, the model in [12] is also considered. However, our bifurcational and dynamical analysis included not only the Monod kinetics but also the Haldane kinetics.…”

“…In [16] the model proposed in [12] is reformulated to study the behavior of the suspended microorganisms.…”