Development of a multichannel monolith large-scale enzymatic membrane and application in an immobilized enzymatic membrane reactor

•A large scale enzymatic membrane (39 channel, 1.2 m length, 0.5 m2) was developed.•Its performance was similar to those of 1 and 7 channel ceramic membranes.•The enzymatic membrane reactor (1 and 7 channel membranes) was modeled.•The model matched well with the overall conversion in steady state conditions.•The model allowed to simulate the concentration profiles in 1 and 7 channel membranes.

The development of large scale enzymatic membranes was investigated. The immobilization protocol previously developed with small mono-channel ceramic membranes (length: 0.13 m, area: 2.86 10−3 m2) was adapted to prepare larger scale enzymatic membranes: 7 channel (length: 0.13 m, area: 6.5×10−3 m2) and 39 channel (length: 1.2 m, area: 0.5 m2) membranes. The performance of enzymatic membranes was experienced through the hydrolysis of butyl acetate as model reaction. The EMR, where the differently prepared enzymatic membranes were located, exhibited similar hydrolytic productivities (around 1.2×10−4 mol s−1 m−2) demonstrating a successful scale-up. A model was developed coupling hydrodynamics and transport equations with a reaction rate measured experimentally; the model matched well with the overall conversion in steady state conditions and allowed to simulate the concentration profiles in the mono-channel and 7 channel membranes.