ABSTRACT
This chapter describes enzyme catalytic mechanisms and discusses the kinetic models developed from these mechanisms. It examines the kinetics of immobilized enzymes and their related mass transfer effects. Diffusion restrictions are described with a particular focus on packed bed reactors. The chapter deals with a brief discussion of immobilized enzyme reactor design and scale-up. The enzyme activity is used as an index to estimate the enzyme’s potential to produce the desired product. Enzymatic reactions are usually initiated at a bond between the enzyme and the substrate. The active sites of the enzyme have similar dimensions to that of the substrate, which allows easy access and binding. Kinetic modeling is a quantitative analysis of every factor that determines the enzyme catalytic prospective and activity. The most direct approach to analyze enzyme kinetics is by using rapid equilibrium assumption. Immobilization of the enzyme, which is usually carried by entrapment within a porous solid matrix, has advantages over soluble enzymes.
