#Question id: 14249

Aspartase enzyme is used industrially for manufacture of aspartic acid, a component of low-calorie sweetener. Fumaric acid and ammonia are converted to aspartic acid according to the equation:

 

                                        

Under investigation is a process using aspartase in intact Bacillus cadaveris cells. In the substrate range of interest, the conversion can be described using Michaelis-Menten kinetics with K m 4.0 gl^-1. The substrate solution contains 15% (w/v) ammonium fumarate; enzyme is added in the form of lyophilised cells and the reaction stopped when 85% of the substrate is converted. At 32⁰C vmax for the enzyme is 5.9 g l^-1h^-1 and its half-life is 10.5 d. At 37⁰C Vmax increases to 8.5 g l^{- 1} h^{- I} but the half-life is reduced to 2.3 d. The average downtime between batch reactions is 28 h. calculate the reactor volume required to produce 5000 tonnes of aspartic acid per year