Modeling lipolysis in a reversed micellar system: part II-membrane reactor

Olive oil hydrolysis using Chromobacterium viscosum lipase B in a reversed micellar media was investigated in a membrane reactor. The dynamic evolution of the product concentration both in the concentrate and permeate stream was analyzed using a mechanistic model previously developed by us and further modified in this work. A kinetic law with a second-order dependence in the substrate concentration and nonlinear product inhibition was found to be the most adequate for the description of the hydrolysis data over an extensive range of time and substrate concentration. These findings are discussed in terms of the specific interactions occurring in the membrane reactor.