IDENTIFICATION OF LINEARITY IN THE BIOFILM PROCESS AND ITS OPERATIONAL UTILITY

Various reported field studies on the performance of biofilm reactors suggest that the linear control of the system is effective for maintai ning the consistent treatment efficiency under changing environmental conditions. However, no theoretical basis is available in the literatu re to substantiate such a claim. In this article, inherent linearity o f the biofilm process has been identified along with the conditions un der which this linearity exists. Exploiting the linear state of the sy stem, operational criteria for regulating the performance of the biofi lm reactors are obtained. The utility and applicability of the develop ed criteria are numerically demonstrated. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.