Scale-up of Microporous Hydrophobic Membrane Bioreactor with respect to Continuous Glycerolysis of Fat by Lipase

Abstract

An attempt was made to scale up the microporous hydrophobic membrane bioreactor with special regard to the lipase-catalyzed glycerolysis of fat. The continuous glycerolysis of olive oil was carried out using Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase with single and multiple piled-up units of the flat micron porous polypropylene membrane Bioreactor developed by the authors. Membrane area ranged from 0.0726 m2 to 1.16 m2 (16-fold scale-up). Two operational modes of the multiple piled-up units, i.e., parallel flow and series flow, were compared. Despite different membrane areas and regardless of these different operational modes, the relationship between conversion and oil flow rate per sheet of membrane was the same and that between the relative content of monoglyceride, diglyceride and triglyceride in the product and the oil flow rate per sheet was also the same. The development of the bioreactor might be attained using the criterion based on (oil flow rate)/(total membrane area) as long as the same membrane and configuration are used.

Review on the Current State of Diacylglycerol Production Using Enzymatic Approach

“…Results obtained clearly showed that the oil flow rate per sheet was the determining factor affecting the concentration of partial acylglycerols regardless of the total surface area of the membrane and the operation protocols namely parallel flow and series flow modes. A DAG yield of∼51 % was reported at an operating temperature of 40°C and a low oil flow rate (0.17-0.27 g h −1 ) per one membrane sheet in both parallel and series flow modes (Koizumi et al 1987). Theoretically, MR system is an acceptable setup.…”

“…Approximately equimolar concentrations of MAG and DAG were synthesized with an insignificant amount of TAG formed (Mozammel Hoo et al 1984). In another work, Koizumi et al (1987) presented and scaled up the microporous hydrophobic MR for lipase-catalyzed glycerolysis reaction. The membrane employed is of polypropylene type with a total surface area ranging from 0.0726 to 1.16 m 2 .…”