Abstract
The oxidation of D-glucose on immobilized enzyme catalyst was carried out in a trickle-bed reactor operated in a single-pass or batch-recycle manner. The catalyst, with β-D-glucose oxidase and catalase both immobilized on activated carbon, was prepared by the carbodiimide method. The experiments were performed at atmospheric pressure, 25°C and pH=5.5 (in 0.1M acetate buffer). The rate equation for this enzymatic reaction and the mass balance equations in the reactor are proposed. The experimental results were well explained by these equations. The important factors which influence the global rate of reaction are the liquid-solid contacting efficiency, the mass transfer of oxygen in the liquid (gas-liquid, liquid-solid and intraparticle) and the mutarotation of D-glucose. The batch-recycle trickle-bed reactor with low conversions per pass was found to be preferable.
