Studying the Impact of Wall Shear Stress on the Development and Performance of Electrochemically Active Biofilms

A laminar flow reactor was designed that provides constant and reproducible growth conditions for the bioelectrochemical observation of electroactive bacteria (EAB). Experiments were performed using four reactors in parallel to enable the comparison of EAB growth behavior and bioelectrochemical performance under different hydrodynamic conditions while simultaneously keeping biological conditions identical. With regard to the moderate flow conditions found in wastewater treatment applications, the wall shear stress was adjusted to a range between 0.4 mPa to 2.9 mPa. Chronoamperometric data indicate that early stage current densities are improved by a moderate increase of the wall shear stress. In the same way, current onset times were increasing slightly towards higher values of the applied wall shear stress. Long-term observations of EAB performance showed a decrease in current density and a leveling of the trend observed for the early stages of biofilm growth.