title: Magnetic resonance microscopy analysis of advective transport in a biofilm reactor.
abstract: In this article we present magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) characterization of the advective transport in a biofilm capillary reactor. The biofilm generates non-axial flows that are up to 20% of the maximum axial velocity. The presence of secondary velocities of this magnitude alters the mass transport in the bioreactor relative to non-biofilm fouled reactors and questions the applicability of empirical mass transfer coefficient approaches. The data are discussed in the context of simulations and models of biofilm transport and conceptual aspects of transport modeling in complex flows are also discussed. The variation in the residence time distribution due to biofilm growth is calculated from the measured propagator of the motion. Dynamical systems methods applied to model fluid mixing in complex flows are indicated as a template for extending mass transport theory to quantitatively incorporate microscale data on the advection field into macroscale mass transfer models.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, 306 Cobleigh Hall, PO Box 173920, Bozeman, Montana 59717-3920, USA.
authors.forename: Erica L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Gjersing
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Codd
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Seymour
authors.forename: Philip S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D001692:Biological Transport; D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D018715:Microscopy, Video; D008954:Models, Biological