Conceptual Study Of Enzymatic Wax Ester Synthesis In The Batch Reactor At Steady State And Isothermal Conditions
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Date
2021-06-01
Authors
Ngu, Hung Hui
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Wax ester is one of the most important ingredients with its many potential applications in
the food industry, cosmetic industry, and pharmaceutical industry. Enzymatic esterification is
preferable over chemical reaction due to its mild reaction and being more environmentally
friendly. A mathematical model based on the mol balance in the batch reactor and Ping Pong
Bi-Bi enzymatic rate equation was developed to study the kinetic parameter, thermodynamic
parameter and operational parameter of enzymatic esterification in batch reactor. POLYMATH
software (version 6) was used for the simulation of this mathematical model. The model was
validated with experimental data obtained from literature sources while the values of certain
parameters were estimated. From the validation, the experimental and theoretical data shows a
good agreement (0.88 ≤ R
2 ≤ 0.98) which proves that the model and the estimated kinetic and
thermodynamic parameters are accurate to represent the actual process as R2
greater than 0.8.
According to the findings and simulation results, a lower value of Km and ∆Gcat leadsto a higher
production yield as it indicates lower energy is required for substrate binding and to catalyze the
reaction. On the other hand, a higher value of Ki and ∆Ginac are recommended for an enzyme
because it indicates the enzyme is less affected by the inhibitor and resistance to deactivation at a
higher temperature. Based on POLYMATH, optimum esterification conditions were 50°C
temperature, 1.0×10-5 mol/L enzyme concentration and 1:2 fatty acid – fatty alcohol mole ratio.
Profiling of enzyme is performed to study the inhibitory pattern. It found that, fatty alcohol shows
more severe inhibition effect over fatty acid toward rate of reaction. Overall, my work on
simulation is sufficiently adequate and has improved my understanding on the implementation of
the production process on an industrial scale from laboratory scale.