The performance characteristics of moving-bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) have been analyzed both mathematically and experimentally. Both two phase operation (lactic acid synthesis from cheese-whey permeate) and three phase operation (Xanthan gum production) in both batch and continuous flow reactors have been studied. Mathematical simulation was performed considering the heterogeneous nature of the system with appropriately defined effectiveness factor being incorporated to account for resistance to substrate transfer into biofilm. The flow reactors were modeled based on the tanks-in-series approach. The mathematical models (software packages) developed were adequately verified by comparing with experimental data. The interesting performance features of these reactors have been highlighted and the dependence of reactor performance on key system/operating parameters such as batch time/space time, catalyst loading and catalyst size has been well-illustrated. The limitation that these bioreactors are best suited mainly for small capacity installations has also been indicated.

移动床生物膜反应器 (MBBR) 的性能特征已经从数学和实验上进行了分析。已经研究了在间歇式和连续流反应器中的两相操作（从干酪乳清渗透液合成乳酸）和三相操作（黄原胶生产）。考虑到系统的异质性，进行了数学模拟，并结合了适当定义的有效性因子，以解释对底物转移到生物膜中的阻力。流动反应器是基于串联罐方法建模的。所开发的数学模型（软件包）通过与实验数据的比较得到了充分验证。这些反应器有趣的性能特征已经得到强调，并且反应器性能对关键系统/操作参数的依赖性，例如批次时间/空间时间、催化剂负载和催化剂尺寸已经得到很好的说明。还指出了这些生物反应器主要适用于小容量装置的局限性。