STUDIES ON A CONTINUOUS RECYCLE REACTOR FOR A LIPASE-CATALYZED PROCESSING OF RICEBRAN OIL

The authors have developed a continuous recycle reactor which efficien tly performs emulsion type enzymatic reactions. The reactor column is filled with immobilised lipase and the reactions are effected by pumpi ng the pre-prepared oil-water emulsion through the bottom of the react or. A part of the product was recycled back and this type of recycling greatly improves the productivity of fatty acid compared to continuou s once-through reactor without recycling. The recycle reactor could be continuously run for 35 days without decrease in conversions. The per formance of the reactor was interpreted by a model and the theoretical conversion was compared with the experimental data.