From biofilm ecology to reactors: a focused review.
- Boltz JP Volkert, Inc., 3809 Moffett Road, Mobile, AL 36618, USA.
- Smets BF Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Miljøvej 113, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
- Rittmann BE Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, P.O. Box 875701, Tempe, AZ 85287-5701, USA.
- van Loosdrecht MCM Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, 2629 HZ Delft, The Netherlands.
- Morgenroth E ETH Zürich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland and Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
- Daigger GT University of Michigan, 1351 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA E-mail: gdaigger@umich.edu.
- 2017-04-29
Published in:
- Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research. - 2017
English
Biofilms are complex biostructures that appear on all surfaces that are regularly in contact with water. They are structurally complex, dynamic systems with attributes of primordial multicellular organisms and multifaceted ecosystems. The presence of biofilms may have a negative impact on the performance of various systems, but they can also be used beneficially for the treatment of water (defined herein as potable water, municipal and industrial wastewater, fresh/brackish/salt water bodies, groundwater) as well as in water stream-based biological resource recovery systems. This review addresses the following three topics: (1) biofilm ecology, (2) biofilm reactor technology and design, and (3) biofilm modeling. In so doing, it addresses the processes occurring in the biofilm, and how these affect and are affected by the broader biofilm system. The symphonic application of a suite of biological methods has led to significant advances in the understanding of biofilm ecology. New metabolic pathways, such as anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) or complete ammonium oxidation (comammox) were first observed in biofilm reactors. The functions, properties, and constituents of the biofilm extracellular polymeric substance matrix are somewhat known, but their exact composition and role in the microbial conversion kinetics and biochemical transformations are still to be resolved. Biofilm grown microorganisms may contribute to increased metabolism of micro-pollutants. Several types of biofilm reactors have been used for water treatment, with current focus on moving bed biofilm reactors, integrated fixed-film activated sludge, membrane-supported biofilm reactors, and granular sludge processes. The control and/or beneficial use of biofilms in membrane processes is advancing. Biofilm models have become essential tools for fundamental biofilm research and biofilm reactor engineering and design. At the same time, the divergence between biofilm modeling and biofilm reactor modeling approaches is recognized.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- green
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.2166/wst.2017.061
- PMID 28452767
- Persistent URL
- https://susi.usi.ch/global/documents/213278
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