SIMULTANEOUS BIOREACTION AND SEPARATION BY AN IMMOBILIZED YEAST MEMBRANE REACTOR

The need for immobilized whole cell reactor systems is widely recognized. Many reactor configurations have been tried using one or more semipermeable membranes to perform bioreaction and separation simultaneously. The major problems faced by such systems are high diffusional resistances, substrate depletion, and product inhibition. We have approached the problem with a twin objective 1) to overcome substrate and product diffusional resistances by forcing the nutrient solution through the cell mass and 2) to simultaneously separate product from the reaction mixture to reduce product inhibition. The results from the experiment to convert glucose to ethanol using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as biocatalyst demonstrate that the concept is workable.