Modeling and simulation of a pressure-swing reactor for the conversion of poorly soluble substrate by immobilized enzyme: the case of D-hydantoinase reaction

摘要

An immobilized enzyme reactor system for converting poorly soluble substrate is proposed. In this stirred batch reactor, the solid substrate and immobilized enzyme suspensions are separated by a microporous filter. The advantage of separating the solid substrate from immobilized enzyme is that the fouling and breakage of the immobilized enzyme usually encountered in the stirred tank reactor can be prevented. Pressure swing can be applied to enhance the mass transfer between the two compartments. The hydrolytic reaction converting the poorly soluble substrate p-hydroxyphenylhydantoin (pHPH) into soluble N-carbamoyl-p-D-hydroxyphenylglycine (CpHPG) by immobilized D-hydantoinase is carried out in this reactor. The performance of this pressure-swing reactor is studied by simulation using a simple kinetic model. The pressure-swing operation increases the overall production rate significantly. The pressure swing also makes the reactor perform better for converting the solid substrate at higher concentration.