MODELING LIPOLYSIS IN A REVERSED MICELLAR SYSTEM .2. MEMBRANE REACTOR

Olive oil hydrolysis using Chromobacterium viscosum lipase B in a reve rsed micellar media was investigated in a membrane reactor. The dynami c evolution of the product concentration both in the concentrate and p ermeate stream was analyzed using a mechanistic model previously devel oped by us and further modified in this work. A kinetic law with a sec ond-order dependence in the substrate concentration and nonlinear prod uct inhibition was found to be the most adequate for the description o f the hydrolysis data over an extensive range of time and substrate co ncentration. These findings are discussed in terms of the specific int eractions occurring in the membrane reactor. (C) 1993 John Wiley & Son s, Inc.