Continuous production of acrylamide using immobilizedBrevibacterium sp. CH2 in a two-stage packed bed reactor

Abstract

Acrylamide was enzymatically produced from acrylonitrile (AN) in a two-stage packed bed reactor with immobilizedBrevibacterium sp. CH2 cells. Continuous production became possible because of higher tolerance of CH2 nitrile hydratase with respect to 6% AN than either the CH1 enzyme or theCorynebacterium enzyme of Nitto Chemical Industry which rapidly deactivated in a solution of 3% AN. The maximum volumetric productivity of 93.2 g/(L.h) was obtained when the reactor was fed with 6% AN at 4 °C, which compares that of 8.3 g/(L.h) with CH1 cells.