Enzyme Reactors and Process Control

The economic application of enzymes requires selection of the most appropriate reactor that might even lessen the impact of any inhibition or deactivation of the enzyme. When considering the basic reactor types in batch or continuous operation, general rules can already be derived making use of idealized, mathematical descriptions. This will be the first step in enabling production on an industrial scale. An insight into the calculation of different reactor types is given on the basis of ideal conditions, in order to be able to determine the most important parameters for evaluating an enzyme-catalyzed process and to distinguish between the basic reactors. In addition, selection of the most appropriate reactor in the case of inhibition phenomena and the different process control strategies are discussed. Examples are presented at the end of the chapter to show the industrial relevance of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, whereby the entirety of thermodynamic and kinetic parameters must always be taken into account for the economic viability of an industrial process.