Properties of the chemostat model with aggregated biomass

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a chemostat model incorporating bacterial aggregation, providing conditions for coexistence, exploring fast attachment/detachment dynamics, and examining multi-species flocs and removal rates.

Contribution

It introduces a chemostat model with explicit free and attached bacterial compartments and analyzes their coexistence and dynamics under various conditions.

Findings

Conditions for coexistence of free and attached bacteria

Relationship between fast attachment/detachment and density-dependent growth

Insights into multi-specific flocs and differential removal rates

Abstract

We revisit the well-known chemostat model, considering that bacteria can be attached together in aggregates or flocs. We distinguish explicitly free and attached compartments in the model and give sufficient conditions for coexistence of these two forms. We then study the case of fast attachment and detachment and shows how it is related to density-dependent growth functions. Finally, we give some insights concerning the cases of multi-specific flocs and different removal rates.