Experimental and Modeling study of catalytic reaction of glucose isomerization: Kinetics and packed-bed dynamic modeling

The kinetics and equilibrium of isomerization reaction Of D-glucose to D-fructose have been investigated using a commercial immobilized glucose isomerase (IGI), Sweetzyme type IT(R), in a batch stirred-tank reactor. The batch experimental data were used to model the reaction kinetics using the well-known Michaelis-Menten rate expression. The kinetic model was utilized in a dynamic-mathematical model for a packed-bed reactor to predict the concentration profiles Of D-glucose and D-fructose within the reactor. The experimental results for the fractional conversion Of D-glucose in the packed-bed reactor of IGI catalyst indicated that the model prediction of the transient and steady-state performance of the packed-bed reactor was satisfactory and as such could be used in the design of a fixed-bed IGI catalytic reactor. Moreover, the influences of axial mixing term, particle Re number, and axial peclet number (Pe(a)) on the performance capability of the packed-bed reactor of IGI catalyst were investigated.