Reaction Engineering for the Industrial Implementation of Biocatalysis

Biocatalytic processes (using one or more enzymes) for the production of chemicals is an important potential route to more sustainable manufacturing and today have found application in several industries, but most notably in the pharmaceutical sector. For high-priced pharmaceuticals, the development of new processes is primarily dependent upon enzyme development. However, the wider application of biocatalytic processes towards lower-priced chemicals will demand reaction engineering to be considered, alongside biocatalyst development. Bioreaction engineering should include an evaluation of the thermodynamics and reaction kinetics, as well as the stability of the biocatalyst. In this brief article, tools to assist in the collection and evaluation of reaction engineering data will be discussed, and illustrated using biological oxidation as an example.