Modeling and simulation of a pressure-swing reactor for the conversion of poorly soluble substrate by immobilized enzyme: the case of D-hydantoinase reaction

An immobilized enzyme reactor system for converting poorly soluble substrat e is proposed. In this stirred batch reactor, the solid substrate and immob ilized enzyme suspensions are separated by a microporous filter. The advant age of separating the solid substrate from immobilized enzyme is that the f ouling and breakage of the immobilized enzyme usually encountered in the st irred tank reactor can be prevented. Pressure swing can be applied to enhan ce the mass transfer between the two compartments. The hydrolytic reaction converting the poorly soluble substrate p-hydroxyphenylhydantoin (pHPH) int o soluble N-carbamoyl-p-D-hydroxyphenylglycine (CgHPG) by immobilized D-hyd antoinase is carried out in this reactor. The performance of this pressure- swing reactor is studied by simulation using a simple kinetic model. The pr essure-swing operation increases the overall production rate significantly. The pressure swing also makes the reactor perform better for converting th e solid substrate at higher concentration. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.