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An immobilized enzyme being used in a continuous plug flow reactor exhibits an effectiveness factor (η) of 1.2. The value of η being greater than one could be apparently due to one of the following reasons. Identify the correct reason.
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- The enzyme follows substrate inhibited kinetics with internal pore diffusion limitation
- The enzyme experiences external film diffusion limitation
- The enzyme follows sigmoidal kinetics
- The immobilized enzyme is operationally unstable
Correct Option: A
The effect of intraparticle diffusion in artificial membranes on the kinetic behavior of immobilized enzymes has been considered theoretically in terms of an effectiveness factor. When the immobilized enxymes obey a Michaelis-Menten relationship, an approximate equation is proposed for the effectiveness factor. For a substrate inhibited enzymatic reaction, the effectiveness factor may exceed unity and display multiple steady-state behavior. Thus, the over-all rate of reaction in the artificial membrane is faster in this case than that when the substrate concentration in the interior is at the same as that at the exterior surface. In the case of a product inhibited enzymatic reaction, the effectiveness factor is always less than that which corresponds to a Michaelis-Menten relationship.
