Taylor-Couette Vortex Flow in Enzymatic Reactors

Taylor vortex flow reactors (VFRs) are especially useful when dealing with fragile biocatalysts, in view of the low-shear stress that is a characteristic of this flow pattern. Hence, they may be an interesting solution for reactions with immobilized enzymes. This chapter presents some basic features of this reactor. It is not intended to provide a review of the extensive literature on Taylor vortex flow reactors; rather it includes some of the available correlations that may be useful to design enzymatic VFRs for specific applications. Some clues concerning reactor operation that may help in everyday laboratory practice are highlighted, too.