Applicability of a simple laboratory setup for the extractive hydrolysis using immobilized enzymes

The enzymatic hydrolysis of methyl octanoate performed in a simple laboratory packed-bed reactor arrangement using immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B as catalyst was studied. The reaction system comprised two liquid phases (aqueous and organic), which were formed only by the reacting species, and the solid catalyst phase. The experimental arrangement could be operated in two modes which enabled passing either only the organic phase through the packed bed (mixer-settler mode), or an emulsion. The analysis of the achieved conversion courses and the explanation of the reaction behavior were done based on a previously published model. The mathematical model was parameterized from experiments with two-phase flow through the packed bed and then applied to the singular phase flow mode. From the model calculations and experimental results it could be concluded that both operation modes are capable to exhibit the same reaction rates. With the model based analysis, measuring of the density courses is sufficient to retrieve the kinetic parameters when the thermodynamic parameters are known.