ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Modelling of enzymatic reaction in an internal loop airlift reactor

I. Sikula, M. Juraščík, and J. Markoš

Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, SK-812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

E-mail: jozef.markos@stuba.sk

Received: 21 April 2006  Revised: 21 June 2006  Accepted: 26 July 2006

Abstract: Gas-liquid reaction carried out in an internal loop airlift reactor was modelled and subjected to the scale-up procedure. Homogeneous oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid catalyzed by Gluzyme 10000 BG, a commercial product containing the enzymes glucose oxidase and catalase as active components, was chosen as the model system. The kinetic parameters were obtained using a 12-L airlift reactor considered as a CSTR. The behaviour of a large-scale internal loop airlift reactor was modelled dividing the reactor sections into a series of tank reactors. The reliability of the model was verified by comparing experimental measurements with the simulation results obtained employing 40-L and 200-L airlift reactors. The designed model could be suitable to predict the behaviour of large-scale internal loop airlift reactors.

Keywords: airlift reactor - modelling - tanks-in-series model - gluconic acid - glucose oxidase - catalase

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-006-0081-1

Chemical Papers 60 (6) 446–453 (2006)