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Cellular growth in biofilms
Author(s) -
Wood Brian D.,
Whitaker Stephen
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0290(19990920)64:6<656::aid-bit4>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - mass transport , statistical physics , biological system , representation (politics) , volume (thermodynamics) , biochemical engineering , mechanics , chemistry , physics , thermodynamics , biology , politics , political science , law , engineering
In this paper we develop a macroscopic evolutionary equation for the growth of the cellular phase starting from a microscopic description of mass transport and a simple structured model for product formation. The methods of continuum mechanics and volume averaging are used to develop the macroscopic representation by carefully considering the fluxes of chemical species that pertain to cell growth. The concept of structured models is extended to include the transport of reacting chemical species at the microscopic scale. The resulting macroscopic growth model is similar in form to previously published models for the transport of a single substrate and electron donor and for the production of cellular mass and exopolymer. The method of volume averaging indicates under what conditions the developed growth model is valid and provides an explicit connection between the relevant microscopic model parameters and their corresponding macroscopic counterparts. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 64: 656–670, 1999.