Soluble microbial products (SMP) formation kinetics by biofilms

Soluble microbial products (SMP) formation kinetics were investigated by employing a laboratory-scale biofilm reactor and naturally-grown oligotrophs. The experimental results indicated that the majority of effluent soluble organic carbon(SOC) was SMP, while only a small fraction of the effluent SOC was the residual original substrate. Utilization-associated products (UAP), which were produced directly from substrate metabolism, were more important than biomass-associated products (BAP), which were produced by basic metabolism. The SMP contained mainly high-molecular-weight organic compounds, although the organic carbon source to a biofilm reactor was a low-molecular-weight compound. The steady-state concentrations of the effluent SMP and SOC were directly proportional to the influent substrate concentrations in this study. An extended steady-state biofilm model was developed by incorporating into the steady-state biofilm model an SMP formation model based on two types of SMP (i.e. UAP and BAP). The model described successfully the experimental substrate utilization, SMP formation, and the removal of total soluble organic matter (SOC).