Lewis cell studies to determine reactor design data for two-liquid-phase bacterial and enzymic reactions.

Substrate transfer rates from organic to aqueous phases were measured in the presence and absence of biocatalyst in the reaction medium, using modified Lewis cells. These measurements, in combination with intrinsic aqueous phase biocatalytic reaction kinetics, were used to confirm that benzyl acetate hydrolysis by pig liver esterase and toluene oxidation by a strain of Pseudomonas putida occur uniformly throughout the bulk of the aqueous phase. Such data may be used to provide a basis for two-liquid-phase biocatalytic reactor design.