Modeling of biocide action against biofilm

Abstract

We consider the mathematical model of dynamic antimicrobial action against bacterial biofilms. A mixture model is used in which the biofilm consisting of live and dead bacteria is modeled as one fluid component, while the solvent containing biocide is modeled as the other, and each component is represented by its volume fraction. The whole system is assumed to be an incompressible fluid and the velocity is governed by the Navier–Stokes equation. Biocide kills the live bacteria and its transport is governed by an advection–reaction–diffusion equation. Certain biocide also weakens the mechanical cohesiveness of the biofilm and results in biofilm removal under the shear stress of the external flow. Spatial and temporal patterns of antimicrobial action of three different biocides are considered and numerical simulation results by finite difference method are presented.