Membrane reactor coupled with electrophoresis for enzymatic production of aspartic acid

Aspartic acid production by aspartase reaction on ammonium fumarate was carried out in a membrane reactor coupled with electrophoresis. A pressurized, stirred vessel attached with an ultrafiltration membrane was used as a membrane reactor. An electric field was applied across the membrane to preferentially remove the product aspartate from the reactor into the permeate stream. The charged molecule, aspartate, is much smaller than the molecular-weight cutoff of the membrane (10(4)) so that the ions would move freely through pores of the membrane. The concentration of aspartate in the permeate stream is determined by the electromigration velocity of the ions and the permeation rate of solvent (water) through the membrane. The permeation rate of solvent could be controlled by the applied pressure, and the migration velocity of the ions could be controlled by the electric field strength applied. The equilibrium conversion of ammonium fumarate to the aspartate was 70%. In the presence of electric field, the aspartase activity was not disturbed. Also, it is shown that the aspartate concentration in the permeate stream was 20% higher than that in the reaction solution with the permeate flow rate of 0.7 mL/min. The steady-state conversion was 60%. Instead of aspartate, aspartic acid can be recovered directly from the permeate stream by controlling the circulation of buffer electrolyte in the anode compartment.