Application of a recycle dialysis system in a reversed micellar reactor

A recycle dialysis stirred cell has been successfully used for integrating the reaction and product recovery of the lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of olive oil in bis(2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT)-iso-octane reversed micelles. The resistance of membrane to reversed micelles was monitored by the water content and found to be 95.9% rejection after 24 h and 93.4% rejection after 48 h. The resistance of the membrane to free surfactants, by monitoring the UV absorption, was found to be 98.5% rejection after 10 h and 97.3% rejection after 24 h. Mathematical formulations involving the enzymatic reaction coupled with mass transfer were developed for predicting the performance of a membrane reactor. Theoretical predictions in terms of time course of oleic acid concentrations were found to be in agreement with the experimental results.