there are no glucose and cellobiose in the reactor, the system does
not experience any product inhibition, and better mixing accelerates
the reaction by enhancing convective mass transport between
the enzyme and the substrate. However, as the reaction progresses,
the products – glucose and cellobiose – start to accumulate in the
reaction mixture, and after a certain time the product concentration
reaches a level at which it starts to inhibit the reaction, significantly
slowing down the rates of reaction and production. We
terminate the reactor mixing at this moment and continue the
reaction without any mixing so as to prevent the convection-mediated
mass transfer of glucose and cellobiose from the regions in
the reactor where the reaction has already occurred to those where
it is yet to occur. It may be noted that the convective mass transport
resistance in the reactor is in series with the diffusional mass
transport resistance at the solid–liquid interface, which in turn is
in series with the intra-particle diffusional resistance and the reactive
resistance in the solid substrate, the latter two resistances
working parallel to each other. Thus, the convective mass transport
resistance, being at the head of a series of resistances, when increased,
increases the effective resistance of the system. Preventing
the convective mixing of products with substrates and enzymes
increases the effective resistance that the inhibitors have to
encounter before they bind to the active sites of the enzymes to