Application of a recycle dialysis system in a reversed micellar reactor

A recycle dialysis stirred cell has been successfully used for integrating the reaction and product recovery of the lipase‐catalyzed hydrolysis of olive oil in bis (2‐ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT)‐iso‐octane reversed micelles. The resistance of membrane to reversed micelles was monitored by the water content and found to be 95.9% rejection after 24 h and 93.4% rejection after 48 h. The resistance of the membrane to free surfactants, by monitoring the UV absorption, was found to be 98.5% rejection after 10 h and 97.3% rejection after 24 h. Mathematical formulations involving the enzymatic reaction coupled with mass transfer were developed for predicting the performance of a membrane reactor. Theoretical predictions in terms of time course of oleic acid concentrations were found to be in agreement with the experimental results.