Jrv. Flora et al., MODELING SUBSTRATE TRANSPORT INTO BIOFILMS - ROLE OF MULTIPLE IONS AND PH EFFECTS, Journal of environmental engineering, 119(5), 1993, pp. 908-930
Steady-state substrate utilization in biofilms has traditionally been
modeled by coupling Fickian diffusion with Monod reaction kinetics. An
inherent assumption in most of the previous models was that the pH re
mains constant within the biofilm. Experiments have shown differences
between the pH in the bulk solution and in the biofilm. Since the rate
of substrate utilization in biological systems can be affected severe
ly by changes in pH, recent models have tried to account for the pH va
riations within the biofilm. However, these models neglected ionic int
eractions during mass transport. A fundamental approach incorporating
the effects of pH in any chemical or biological system involving diffu
sion with reaction is presented. The approach is applied to a steady-s
tate model of substrate utilization in carbon-limited algal biofilms.