EFFECT OF THE CASCADE OPERATION OF ENZYMES IN PACKED BED IMMOBILIZED ENZYME REACTORS

Effect of the cascade operation of enzymes in packed bed immobilized enzyme reactors is studied. Theoretical calculations reveal that conversions for first-order reactions or for Michaelis-Menten type reactions increase extensively by applying the cascade operation to enzymes suffering from first-order deactivation. Also, considerable reduction of enzyme consumption can be expected; that is, mean residence time of enzymes in reactors can be increased by a factor of two by use of the cascade operation, maintaining the same conversion. Experimental studies of hydrogenation of pyruvate to lactate, which is catalyzed by lactate dehydrogenase, in connection with 4-stage and 2-stage cascade operations agreed with the above expectations.