SIMULTANEOUS EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVE DIFFUSION-COEFFICIENTS OF THE SUBSTRATES IN A BIOFILM WITH A NOVEL EXPERIMENTAL-METHOD

In this study, a pure culture of Zoogloea ramigera was grown as a film on active carbon particles in a differential fluidized bed biofilm re actor (DFBBR) as a novel experimental system for the application of di ffusion-reaction models. The effective diffusion coefficients of the e ssential substrates; glucose, ammonium ion and oxygen in the active bi ofilm were simultaneously calculated. The values of effective diffusio n coefficients in the active biofilm to those in water varied between 13-34, 48-96 and 28-48% for glucose, ammonium ion and oxygen, respecti vely, al different biofilm densities, which is in fair agreement with the literature.