Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.38, No.10, 1817-1826, 2015
Process Design Aspects for Reaction-Integrated Adsorption in Multi-Enzymatic Catalysis
This work deals with aspects of process design for the in situ product removal via adsorption in a tri-enzymatic synthesis of laminaribiose. Regarding the reaction, mass transfer properties of the reactants in chitosan as a potential immobilization matrix are discussed. For all three enzymes, three significantly different Thiele moduli were calculated. Also, the laminaribiose-specific properties of mass transfer into two different adsorbents are presented. While the diffusion coefficient for adsorption in a powder zeolite is smaller than the apparent coefficient in an extrudate, the total adsorption time in extrudates is significantly longer. Experimental single-component adsorption equilibrium data for all reactants and products are presented. Simulation is used to discuss the influence and impact of co-adsorption and the amount of enzyme used on the yield for continuous in situ adsorption. No significant effects were observed at high residence times of adsorbent within the reaction. However, the yield can be increased significantly at short residence times of the adsorbent, depending on the adsorption properties.
Keywords:Adsorption;In situ product removal (ISPR);Laminaribiose;Multi-enzymatic catalysis;Process design