Surfactant-induced breakthrough effects during the operation of two-phase biocatalytic membrane reactors

Surface‐active components, both reactants and products, are frequently encountered in two‐phase, aqueous‐organic, biocatalytic reactions, When such reaction are carried out in a membrane reactor, employing a membrane selectively wetted by one of the two reactants, changes in the content of these surfactants– as a consequence of the progress of the reaction–can lead to wetting transitions at the two membrane‐liquid interfaces as a result of adsorption of the tenside. This can lead to a decrease in the pressure required to cause the, initially, nonwetting phase to break through the membrane. Such effects render difficult the operation of two‐phase membrane bioreactors. Hence, it is necessary to make a careful selection of the membrane material and type by considering factors such as UF versus MF and low MWCO versus high MWCO to enable the reactor to be operated without breakthrough, but without significantly compromising the reaction rates that can be maintained. The phenomena leading to breakthrough effects are discussed in this paper, and experimental results for the hydrolysis of ethyl laurate by lipase from Candida rugosa in a batch flat sheet membrane reactor are presented with the reactor operated with a variety of membranes. An experimental result showing the decrease in the pressure required to cause breakthrough of the organic phase (for the system ethyl laurate‐lauric acid–water) as the content of the highly surface‐active lauric acid in the organic phase is increased is also presented for an asymmetric, hydrophilic meta‐aramid ultrafiltration membrane. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.