engleski

ADVANCES OF ENZYMATIC MICROREACTORS – SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES OF INTEGRATED SYSTEMS FOR PROCESS INTENSIFICATION

Enzymes are widely recognized as desirable catalysts in applied catalysis. The main goal of many catalytic reactions is to develop an economical, efficient, and environmentally friendly process. One of the main limitations in the application of enzymes is usually the low reaction performance whether it is the duration or the low productivity of the process. In order to intensify the process, there is a constant search for new and efficient catalytic technologies. One of the possible solutions for intensification of enzymatic reactions is the use of microreactors1. In this presentation, two successful examples of process intensification by the use of microreactor will be presented. The first example is the development of an integrated microsystem for biodiesel production and purification. In the developed integrated system, a biodiesel yield of 94% and a glycerol content of less than 0.02% (w/w) were obtained with a residence time of only 20 min. In comparison, when the same reaction (without purification step) was carried out in a batch reactor with the same enzyme and substrate, a yield of 96% was obtained after 48 h2. The second example is the production of the “green note” component hexanal since conventional methods (fermentation, extraction from plants and enzyme- catalysed reactions in a batch reactor) cannot provide a sufficient amount of hexanal. Hexanal was produced in a microreactor by the oxidation of hexanol using NADH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) with integrated coenzyme regeneration. To find the optimal catalyst, different ADH sources were investigated (suspended and immobilized enzyme ADH and permeabilized baker's yeast cells). The best results were obtained with the suspended enzyme, where 100% conversion of coenzyme was achieved with a very short residence time (τ = 0.8 s). Regenerated coenzyme was reused by recirculation for three days without addition of fresh coenzyme3.

enzyme catalysis ; microreactor ; process intensification ; biodiesel ; hexanal

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