Enzymes waste treatment applications

HRP and SBP are quite stable and active at or near room temperature. However, they can be susceptible to inactivation at elevated temperatures, which may be important in certain waste-treatment applications. The stability of enzymes is often first order with time and can be expressed as follows ... 

Aitken MD. Waste treatment applications of enzymes opportunities and obstacles. Chem Eng J 1993 52 B49 B58. 

Industrial applications inclnde the production of petrochemicals, fine chemicals and pharmacenticals (particnlarly throngh asymmetric catalysis), hydrometallurgy, and waste-treatment processes. Many life processes are based on metallo-enzyme systems that catalyse redox and acid-base reactions. 

Karam J, Nicell JA (1997) Potential applications of enzymes in waste treatment. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 69 141-153... 

Several years ago the enzyme industry looked at the cheese industry and saw lactase as a big opportunity. Besides the lactose crystallization problem in frozen and concentrated milk products, the enzyme industry saw another potentially big profit application. Over half of the cheese whey produced in making cheese is diverted to waste treatment or waste disposal systems rather than being processed for food and feed use. Upgrading cheese whey became the hot development item for the enzyme industry. 

Over the last few decades, intense research in the area of enzyme technology enabled it to facilitate its practical applications. Among them, the novel technological developments in the field of immobilized enzymes offer the possibility of a wider and more economical exploitation of enzymes for industrial appHcations, waste treatment, medicine, and in the development of devices hke biosensor for bioprocess monitoring. ... 

Generally, a distinction can be made between membrane bioreactors based on cells performing a desired conversion and processes based on enzymes. In ceU-based processes, bacteria, plant and mammalian cells are used for the production of (fine) chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food additives or for the treatment of waste streams. Enzyme-based membrane bioreactors are typically used for the degradation of natural polymeric materials Hke starch, cellulose or proteins or for the resolution of optically active components in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, food and chemical industry [50, 51]. In general, only ultrafiltration (UF) or microfiltration (MF)-based processes have been reported and little is known on the application of reverse osmosis (RO) or nanofiltration (NF) in membrane bioreactors. Additionally, membrane contactor systems have been developed, based on micro-porous polyolefin or teflon membranes [52-55]. 

Environmental applications of HRP include immunoassays for pesticide detection and the development of methods for waste water treatment and detoxification. Examples of the latter include removal of aromatic amines and phenols from waste water (280-282), and phenols from coal-conversion waters (283). A method for the removal of chlorinated phenols from waste water using immobilised HRP has been reported (284). Additives such as polyethylene glycol can increase the efficiency of peroxidase-catalyzed polymerization and precipitation of substituted phenols and amines in waste or drinking water (285). The enzyme can also be used in biobleaching reactions, for example, in the decolorization of bleach plant effluent (286). 

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