Abstract The main objective of this paper is to study the growth and transport mechanisms of biofilms in Membrane Biofilm Reactors (MBfRs). A mathematical model incorporating biofilm characteristics is used to simulate the biofilm response and nitrification process to variations in the initial inoculation of biofilm and environmental conditions (in particular, to change in the concentration of substrates and temperature). The model is a highly nonlinear reaction-diffusion system with cross-diffusion that can describe the development of biofilm layers under the effects of counter-diffusion. The simulation results suggest the importance of multi-dimensional modeling to capture the heterogeneity in the biofilm structure. Furthermore, the results indicate that the initial composition and arrangement of biofilm colonies do not significantly affect membrane performance. In contrast, substrate concentrations do have a notable effect on the substrate transport fluxes and nitrification capacity of biofilms.

中文翻译：

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使用二维多物种反扩散模型模拟膜生物膜反应器的组成和传质行为

摘要 本文的主要目的是研究膜生物膜反应器（MBfRs）中生物膜的生长和运输机制。结合生物膜特性的数学模型用于模拟生物膜响应和硝化过程对初始接种生物膜和环境条件的变化（特别是底物浓度和温度的变化）。该模型是一个具有交叉扩散的高度非线性反应扩散系统，可以描述在反扩散作用下生物膜层的发展。模拟结果表明多维建模对捕捉生物膜结构异质性的重要性。此外，结果表明，生物膜菌落的初始组成和排列不会显着影响膜性能。相比之下，底物浓度确实对底物传输通量和生物膜的硝化能力有显着影响。