New solution method for equations of reaction and mass transfer in biocatalyst particles

Summary For numerical solution of the reaction-mass transfer equations for immobilised biocatalysts it may be better to start integration at the particle surface and proceed inwards: calculations are targetted on the region to which practically interesting changes are often confined (because concentrations are effectively zero in the interior); and during iterative solution wrong initial estimates may be rejected after detecting anomalies early in the integration.Symbols C_b substrate concentration in bulk (mol m^–3) - c dimensionless substrate concentration (C/C_b) (-) - D_e effective diffusion coefficient (m²s^–1) - Da Damkohler number (V.r_o ²/D_e.K_s) (-) - K_s substrate concentration kinetic coefficient (mol m^–3) - k_e external mass transfer coefficient (ms^–1) - r_o bead radius (m) - Sh Sherwood number (k_e.r_o/D_e) (-) - V maximum rate per unit volume in beads (mol m^–3s^–1) - x dimensionless distance from bead centre (r/r_o) (-) - dimensionless kinetic coefficient (K_s/C_b) (-) - _o effectiveness factor (-)