Kinetics of attached microbial growth in a continuous stirred tank reactor

Kinetics of attached heterotrophic microbial growth was investigated experimentally using a continuous stirred tank reactor (121) for stream self-purification studies. Glucose was fed as the only source of carbon to the reactor in low concentration (4.5 27. mg-glucose l⁻¹).Substrate consumption rate was dependent not on substrate concentration but on substrate loading. Oxygen consumption rate had a linear relationship with substrate consumption rate. The respiration rate of attached microbial population was 9 mgO₂g⁻¹ cell per hour.At steady state, attached growth rate was independent of substrate consumption rate because the attached growth was presumably suppressed by the limitation on attached surface area. Growth yield for substrate decreased with increasing substrate loading.