The Influence of Fatty Acid and Glycerol on the Kinetics of Fat Hydrolysis by Candida Rugosa Lipase in a Membrane Reactor

The kinetics of lipid-hydrolysis by Candida rugosa lipase was investigated in a membrane reactor and in an emulsion system. Two models were chosen to describe the kinetics of the enzyme:

(1) The hydrolysis of triglycerides to fatty acids was considered to be a chain reaction with the intermediary products di- and mono-glyceride; each step was assumed to be a reversible second-order reaction. The reaction rate constants were determined from batch experiments. The experimental results could be described with this model.

(2) For process optimization and control, a model based on the power law was developed. For this model, the rate of hydrolysis was measured as a function of fatty acid and glycerol concentrations. Relations for the initial rate and equilibrium ester fraction as a function of the glycerol concentration were determined. Further, the reaction rate could be described with the power-law model with a power of 1.75 in the hydrolyzable ester fraction for a wide range of glycerol concentrations. The model with power 1.75 gave much better results when compared to a similar first order model. Although simpler, the first order model can not be used. The power law model was applied in the simulation of a reactor composed of three modules. The fatty acid production rate was calculated for this reactor system as a function of the outgoing glycerol concentration at different conditions.