Glucose Purification and Cellulase Recycling Using Enzyme Membrane Reactor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11113/bioprocessing.v5n1.95Keywords:
Enzyme Membrane Reactor, Sodium carboxymethylcellulose, Hydrolysis, Glucose purification, Enzyme recycling, Ultrafiltration-DilutionAbstract
The finding of a sustainable energy source leads to cellulosic ethanol as a potential alternative. Membrane filtration holds promise for purifying glucose, an important raw material, while saving production cost through enzyme recycling. This research focuses on the use of a cross-flow enzyme membrane reactor (EMR) to purify glucose from hydrolysed sodium carboxymethylcellulose solution while reusing cellulase for the next cycle through an ultrafiltration-dilution approach. The 30kDa polyethersulfone (PES) membrane would be used to separate the medium, and the EMR’s efficiency was tested by the glucose yield, flux, enzyme rejection and glucose permeability. Although a high 26-fold initial dilution during retentate transfer caused an 84.60% ± 6.36% glucose yield decline in the second retentate cycle, the 6.93% ± 2.04% glucose yield in the second cycle indicates that EMR could recover and recycle cellulase without total denaturation if the volumetric dilution factor was optimised. The first cycle experienced stronger membrane fouling, with lower flux, higher enzyme rejection and lower glucose permeability, while the second retentate cycle had a lower separation stability due to membrane reuse. The result can provide useful insights for future commercialisation of EMR in upstream cellulosic ethanol production.
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