Continuous lipolysis in a reversed micellar membrane bioreactor

The enzymatic hydrolysis of olive oil using Chromobacterium viscosum lipase B encapsulated in reversed micelles of AOT in isooctane was carried out in a continous reversed micellar membrane bioreactor. A tubular ceramic membrane installed in an ultrafiltration module was used to retain the lipase and separate the products from the reaction media. Water filled micelles were supplemented to the reactor together with the substrate/solvent solution to compensate for the permeation of reversed micelles. The influence of substrate concentration, residence time and water content in the productivity and conversion of the system were investigated. A linear relationship between productivity and conversion degree was found for each substrate concentration tested. Operational stability of the bioreactor was tested in a long term operation confirming the high stability of this catalytic system.List of Symbols a(S ₀ ), b(S ₀ ) parameters of Eq. (3) - AOT] mM AOT concentration - C _c mM concentration in the concentrate - C _p mM concentration in the permeate - E _t mg total amount of lipase - lipase] mg/cm³ overall lipase concentration - OIL] mM olive oil concentration - OLEIC] mM oleic acid concentration in the permeate - P mol/(min · mg) oleic acid productivity - Q _in cm³/min inlet flow rate - Q _out cm³/min outlet flow rate (equal to permeate flow rate) - Q _r cm³/min recirculation flow rate - W _o ratio of water to AOT molar concentrations - X steady state conversion degree in the permeate stream - T °C temperature - rejection coefficient