Introduction:

An attractive and novel proposal for the application of enzymatic inversion of sucrose on industrial scale is constituted by β-fructosidase from Thermotoga maritima (BfrA) expressed in Pichia pastoris and immobilized on calcium alginate (PpABfrA), because the high thermostability and thermoactivity of this biocatalyst.

Objective:

To determine the operational conditions for the industrial scale-up of enzymatic hydrolysis of sucrose in a glucose production facility, based on the optimal experimental variables and the requirements for auxiliary facilities.

Materials and Methods:

Design of experiments and optimization of the behavior of the experimental variables influencing the percentage of hydrolysis achieved with the thermostable biocatalyst PpABfrA were combined. The experimental reactive conditions were scaled and the technology for this inversion method insertion was selected, with its corresponding consumptions.

Results and Discussion:

The optimum reaction time was 12 h for a sucrose concentration of 1.75 M, where 85.6 % inversion is achieved. In turn, keeping the biocatalyst shear constant in the reactor was selected as the most successful scaling criterion. With the technological conception of this stage, a hydrolysis capacity of 201.6 t of sucrose in 11 days was estimated, where 16 inversion cycles are carried out with 2.10 t of biocatalyst, in an effective reaction volume of 24 m3.

Conclusions:

The operational parameters determined on industrial scale for the insertion of this technology, ensure an increase the yield and quality of obtained glucose.

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