Invited Research Seminar: Dr. Hermann Eberl, University of Guelph
- Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2024 - 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Building: ENW
Room: 106
Cellulosic bioethanol is a renewable energy source, produced from non-edible plant material (such as grasses, wood debris, etc). In consolidated bioprocessing cellulolythic bacteria are used to degrade the fibrous feedstock and convert it to ethanol. Unlike traditional biofilms, which consist of colonies growing on the surface and into the aqueous phase, cellulosic biofilm form crater like depressions that grow into the surface (a.k.a inverted colony formation). We will present a mathematical model for cellulosic biofilms on the colony scale. The model consists of quasilinear PDE that is coupled in each point of the domain to an ODE. The PDE comprises two non-linear diffusion effects: porous medium type degenerate diffusion, and super-diffusion. The interplay of both effects is required to describe biofilm formation. We explore the model first numerically and validate it qualitatively against experimental observations. This numerical exploration suggests the existence of stable traveling waves in accordance with some experimental observations, for which we give an existence result (under some conditions on parameters) and a nonexistence result (under other conditions). This has been collaborative work with many people over several years.
Speaker Information: Dr. Hermann Eberl is a Professor of Mathematics and the Director of the Biophysics Interdepartmental Graduate Program at the University of Guelph. His research is broadly focussed on Mathematical Biology and Engineering. His application-driven work focuses on modelling, analysis and computer simulation of biological and bio/environmental engineering systems.
CONTACT INFO:
Dr. Arun Moorthy: arunmoorthy@trentu.ca
Posted on October 24, 2024