Biofilm dynamics in complex flows

Last updated on Oct 4, 2026 Simulation, Modeling

Biofilms grow, change shape, and alter the flow around them. We develop computational methods to study how these changes interact with substrate transport and microbial activity in natural and engineered systems.

In this work, fluid flow and reactive transport are coupled with a cellular automaton representation of multispecies biofilm growth. The method conserves biomass as biofilms spread and captures characteristic biofilm structures, including species stratification. This provides a way to connect biofilm development with the transport processes that influence reactor performance.

Biofilm processes under fluid flow and their representation in computational cells — Biofilm attachment, growth, decay and detachment under fluid flow, with a computational representation of partially occupied cells.

Successive stages of multispecies biofilm growth under two substrate utilization rates — Multispecies biofilm growth under two substrate utilization rates. Successive stages show changes in biofilm shape and species composition.

Related publication: Kim S, Yao YN (2026). A conservative micro-continuum-cellular automaton method for multispecies biofilm dynamics in complex flows. arXiv preprint.

Biofilms CFD

Biofilm dynamics in complex flows

Yinuo "Noah" Yao

Principal Investigator