Performance of a zigzag fluidized bed as an immobilized enzyme reactor.

Glucose isomerization, catalyzed by an immobilized enzyme, was analyzed with a first-order rate equation. The overall reaction rate was measured in a batch reaction, and the rate constant and the effectiveness factor could be separated by use of the effective diffusion coefficient determined. After the enzymatic properties were elucidated, the immobilized glucose isomerase was used in a reactor consisting of zigzag inclined channels. The particles of the immobilized enzyme were fluidized stably at flow velocities of up to one-tenth of the particle terminal velocity. The performance of the fluidized bed reactor was well described by the model of axial dispersion at an intermediate flow velocity, and the attainable degree of isomerization was more than 50%. The conversion, however, became worse at a liquid velocity lower than 0.5 cm/min.