Kinetics of solka floc cellulose hydrolysis by <i>trichoderma viride</i> cellulase

Abstract

Abstract A product inhibition model is developed to describe the hydrolysis of cellulose by the Trichoderma viride enzyme system. It is assumed that noncompetitive inhibition by cellobiose dominates the reaction kinetics. Experiments show that this is indeed a reasonable assumption for initial cellulose concentrations of up to 15 g/liter and at hydrolysis extents up to 65′. Kinetic parameters were determined for the noncompetitive inhibitionmodel in batch experiments with durations of up to 1.5 hr. These parameterswere then used in predicting reaction progress for up to 10 hr. Cellobiose was added to the reaction mixture at the onset of some runs and againreliable predictions were obtained for up to 8 hr of hydrolysis. Finally reaction was carried out in a membrane reactor whereby the product cellobiose was being continuously removed and again reasonable predictability was obtained with a higher net reaction rate.