Process modeling of in situ‐adsorption of a bacterial lipase

In situ adsorption, known as an in situ‐roduct removal (ISPR) technique for low molecular mass bioproducts, was in this study applied to a bacterial exoenzyme proving that this method is also suitable for the separation of macromolecules like proteins. For this, adsorbent particles were added to growing cultures of Staphylococcus carnosus rec., therefore both production and adsorption occurred simultaneously in shaking flasks, stirred tank, or airlift bioreactor as the chosen types of fermenters. The exoenzyme lipase adsorbed rapidly and, after separating cells and adsorbents, desorbed in a packed bed column. Up to 85% of the produced lipase were recovered, fractions of these had been concentrated up to the factor 20 and purified up to a factor of 40 by the procedure. By using the airlift bioreactor an enhancement of biomass production was observed, but the necessity of the addition of an anti‐foam reagent resulted in higher product losses in adsorption as well as in desorption. Production and adsorption kinetics have been modeled and applied to in situ‐adsorption. The model was used to perform a parameter study in which the influence of biological and physical parameters as well as process parameters on discontinuous and continuous in situ‐adsorption was investigated.