The Application of a Rotating Packed Bed Reactor for the Synthesis of High Viscosity Wax Ester

Abstract

Wax esters are high value-added products and widely used in a broad range of commercial fields. The enzymatic synthesis of wax ester from plant oil is more attractive than the traditional chemical method due to being environmental-friendly and limiting the use of hazardous chemicals. However, the high mass transfer resistance from the high viscous substrate leads to a low conversion and long reaction time in the continues stirred tank reactor (CSTR). The rotating packed bed reactor (RPBR) offers high mass transfer and can be used to enhance the enzymatic wax ester synthesis process. From the results, it could be concluded that the mass transfer was enhanced with the optimization of the centrifugal factor of the RPBR. Under the optimal process conditions, the wax ester yield of 96.4% was obtained after 4 hours reaction, and the half-life of the catalyst corresponded with 64 hours, while nine batches achieved of yields above 90%. The investigation proved that the RPBR is an attractive and effective reactor for heterogeneous bio-catalysis in high viscosity of 7.39~12.27 Cst at 40 °C.