Nature-Inspired Bioreactor for Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Non-Newtonian Biomass Slurry: A Numerical Study

Lignocellulosic biomass slurries show high viscosities with non-Newtonian fluid behavior, which are not advantageous for the mixing of enzymes and substrates in enzymatic hydrolysis in traditional reactors. In this study, a multistep hydrolysis reaction is incorporated in the Michaelis–Menten equation for the first time in the numerical investigation of enzymatic hydrolysis of variable viscosity biomass slurry in nature-inspired flexible peristaltic bioreactor (FPB). The secondary flow generated during peristalsis is the main contribution to the mixing. The viscosity of the substrate varies periodically with peristalsis; the minimum local viscosity in the reactor is 20.7% lower than that in the static reactor, which is conducive to enzymatic hydrolysis. At a substrate concentration of 25 g/L, the maximum increase in substrate conversion and glucose yield is increased by 20.9 and 84.0% in the FPB. The reaction rate in the multistep reaction process is increased by 96.6–196.0% during peristalsis for enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass slurry.