A biodecolorization model that considers the simultaneous mechanism of biosorption and biodegradation of a synthetic dye by immobilized white-rot fungus Trametes subectypus B32 in a fixed bed bioreactor was developed. The model parameters (biokinetic, biosorption and macroscopic transport) were determined by independent experiments. The biodecolorization model was used to determine the effect of variables such as immobilized biomass content, volumetric flow of wastewater, dye feeding concentration and initial dye concentration. By means of the model was possible to predict in the steady state, the limits of immobilized T. subectypus to biodecolorize polluted influent, being the model predictions similar in extent to previous reports. A dimensionless module of biosorption-bioreaction (phi = q(max) upsilon(z)/r(max) L) was proposed to be used like criterion whenever one of the two mechanisms controls the biodecolorization. The model could be used for the designing and scaling up of fixed bed bioreactors with immobilized white-rot fungi for the biodecolorization process. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.