Although activated sludge (AS)-biofilm system has many advantages, it lacks in the mathematical concepts for its design. This paper deals with deducing a mathematical model for the simulation of ammonical nitrogen in such systems starting from the basic mass balance equations. Monod kinetic equation and Fickian diffusion principles are coupled to derive the model. The model thus developed is solved numerically and validated with the experimental results obtained on a laboratory scale AS-biofilm system. It is found that the model validated well with the experimental results which was supported by the R(2) value of 0.79, further the statistical analysis between the observed and predicted values for various experimental conditions showed that the model tends to under-predict at high removal efficiency, whilst a slight tendency towards over-prediction at low removal efficiency values. Fractional error plot for the NH(4)(+)-N data sets showed that the difference between observed and predicted values are insignificant at 5% level of probability for NH(4)(+)-N. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.