Film diffusional influences on the kinetic parameters in packed-bed immobilized enzyme reactors

A number of studies on packed-bed immobilized enzyme reactors have shown the significant influence of the external film mass transfer resistance on the apparent kinetic parameters. Some of the earlier mathematical models using approximation techniques have attempted to explain the linearity of the S(0)x vs ln (1 - x) plots observed experimentally for systems obeying Michaelis-Menten kinetics. However, there has been no critical examination of the bounds of validity of the approximations used. Further, the situations where the above linearity is not valid have been examined neither conceptually nor quantitatively. The work presented here overcomes these drawbacks of the earlier analyses by approaching the problem from a different angle. Methods of evaluation of the intrinsic kinetic parameters under different experimental situations have been outlined and illustrated with several examples.