Pervaporation aided enzymatic production of glycerol monostearate in organic solvents

In this paper the enzymatic manufacture of glycerol monostearate was studied in high polar organic solvents. Water produced during the reaction has a disadvantageous effect on the reaction rate and enzyme activity. This byproduct water was removed and the water content was kept constant using a pervaporation unit which could be integrated on-line with the reaction system. The best yield (90%) after 6 h reaction time was achieved at 40°C, at seven-fold glycerol excess using dioxane as solvent. The enzymatic esterification reaction could be described by the Random Bi–Bi mechanism. A mathematical model have been estimated and experimentally verified by a set of experiments with varying and constant water contents. The experiments both in batch and integrated system (esterification–pervaporation) could be described with good accuracy by the proposed model.