Cellular automata as an effective tool for modelling of biofilm morphology

Mathematical model of the biofilm growth and morphology dynamics has been presented based on the cellular automata theory. All processes occurring in a biofilm have been modelled in a discrete manner. The two-dimensional distributions of microorganisms density and concentrations of substrates were obtained from the simulation. One-dimensional distributions of microorganisms density and biofilm porosity dependent on the growth time have been determined. It was shown that the biofilm morphology varies significantly over the process time. This phenomenon can be used for determining the age of a growing biofilm.