Journal article
Hydrodynamic dispersion within porous biofilms
Y Davit, H Byrne, J Osborne, J Pitt-Francis, D Gavaghan, M Quintard
Physical Review E Statistical Nonlinear and Soft Matter Physics | AMER PHYSICAL SOC | Published : 2013
Abstract
Many microorganisms live within surface-associated consortia, termed biofilms, that can form intricate porous structures interspersed with a network of fluid channels. In such systems, transport phenomena, including flow and advection, regulate various aspects of cell behavior by controlling nutrient supply, evacuation of waste products, and permeation of antimicrobial agents. This study presents multiscale analysis of solute transport in these porous biofilms. We start our analysis with a channel-scale description of mass transport and use the method of volume averaging to derive a set of homogenized equations at the biofilm-scale in the case where the width of the channels is significantly..
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Awarded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This publication was based on work supported in part by Award No. KUK-C1-013-04, made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). We are also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.