Abstract
Scale-up experiments for hydrolysis of beef tallow, fat, and palm kernel with lipase derived from Candida cylindracea were carried out in 1-1, 100-1, and 10,000-1 reactors. The optimum agitation speed for the hydrolysis of the 1-1 reactor was investigated and found to be 350rpm, and this was a basis for the scale-up of agitation speed. The hydrolysis system in this work was the oil-water system in which the hydrolysis seems to process a heterogeneous reaction. An emulsion condition was the most important factor for determining the reaction rate of hydrolysis. Therefore, the scale-up of agitation speed was performed by using the power n = 1/3 in an equation of the rules of thumb method. The geometrical similarity for scaling-up turned out to be unsatisfactory in this study. Thus, the working volume per one agitator was used for the scale-up. In the case of scale-up from a 1-1 reactor to a 100-1 reactor, the hydrolysis of palm kernel was very much scaled-up by initiating the rules of thumb method. However, the hydrolysis of fat and beef tallow in a 100-1 reactor was a little higher than that of the 1-1 reactor because of the difference of geometrical similarity. The scale-up of hydrolysis from the 100-1 reactor to the 10,000-1 reactor was improved compared to that of the 1-1 to 100-1 reactor. The present results indicated that the scale-up of hydrolysis in the oil-water system by the rules of thumb method was more satisfactory under the condition of geometrical similarity. Even in the case where geometrical similarity was not satisfactory, the working volume per one agitator could be used for the scale-up of a heterogeneous enzyme reaction.
