Batch or Steady-State Plug-Flow Reactor

1 Batch or Steady-State Plug-Flow Reactor 

The simplest reactor configuration for any enzyme reaction is the batch mode. A batch enzyme reactor is normally equipped with an agitator to mix the reactant, and the pH of the reactant is maintained by employing either a buffer solution or a pH controller. An ideal batch reactor is assumed to be well mixed so that the contents are uniform in composition at all times. 

Assume that an enzyme reaction is initiated at t = 0 by adding enzyme and the reaction mechanism can be represented by the Michaelis-Menten equation 

An equation expressing the change of the substrate concentration with respect to time can be obtained by integrating Eq. (2.35), as 

This equation shows how Cs is changing with respect to time. With known values of rmax and KM, the change of Cs with time in a batch reactor can be predicted from this equation. 

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