COMPUTER-BASED SIMULATION OF THE RECOVERY OF INTRACELLULAR ENZYMES AND ITS PILOT-SCALE VERIFICATION

Accurate and reliable models are required for a range of unit operatio ns if simulations are to be used for accelerating the design and optim isation of bioprocesses. This paper presents results of pilot-plant st udies that have been used to verify process simulations for a sequence of operations comprising of cell disruption, fractional protein preci pitation and centrifugal separation. These have been tested using the purification of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) from Saccharomy ces cerevisiae as being representative of the recovery of a labile int racellular enzyme. Comparison of pilot-plant against simulated data hi ghlights where improvements to the models are required and has resulte d in increased confidence in the simulations for a wide range of condi tions including the operational scale and the nature of the starting m aterial. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the verification app roach for the development of reliable predictive models to assess the feasibility of process designs and performance of a train of bioproces s operations.