Immobilized enzyme reactors are also known as what?

Immobilized enzyme reactors are also known as what?

• A. Packed bed reactor
• B. Fluidized bed reactor
• C. CSTR
• D. Plug flow reactor

Answer: (A)

Immobilized enzymes are fixed onto a solid support and arranged as a bed through which the liquid flows. This configuration is known as a packed bed reactor. The packed bed provides a large contact surface between the substrate and the enzyme, enables continuous operation, and makes it easy to separate the product from the solid enzyme. While a plug flow reactor is an idealization of a tubular system with minimal back-mixing and can resemble the behavior of a packed bed under certain conditions, the standard name for an immobilized-enzyme setup is a packed bed reactor. A fluidized bed would suspend the particles in the flow, which is not typical for fixed immobilized enzymes, and a CSTR implies complete mixing, not the fixed-bed, high-surface-area contact of immobilized enzymes.

Immobilized enzymes are fixed onto a solid support and arranged as a bed through which the liquid flows. This configuration is known as a packed bed reactor. The packed bed provides a large contact surface between the substrate and the enzyme, enables continuous operation, and makes it easy to separate the product from the solid enzyme. While a plug flow reactor is an idealization of a tubular system with minimal back-mixing and can resemble the behavior of a packed bed under certain conditions, the standard name for an immobilized-enzyme setup is a packed bed reactor. A fluidized bed would suspend the particles in the flow, which is not typical for fixed immobilized enzymes, and a CSTR implies complete mixing, not the fixed-bed, high-surface-area contact of immobilized enzymes.