Group Assignment: Getting to know a Heterogeneous Catalytic Reaction Process

UEMK3153 Chemical Reaction Engineering II – Assignment 1 for May 2014

Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Team members Name Student ID

Member 1 YEW CHOON SENG 0903217

Member 2 THONG SENG CHOON 0904379

Member 3 LEOW KOK CHUNG 1101077

Member 4 CHONG HOOI CHUN 0904307

Please enter the info:

Process name Latex Leaching for Industrial Glove Production

Location

Kundang, Rawang, Selangor

Company

Qube medical Product Sdn Bhd

Design of reactor (e.g.

fluidized bed, trickle

bed, fixed bed, slurry)

Batch Stirrer

Catalyst (and promoter)

Cysteine Protease Enzyme

Catalyst form and size

Enzyme with water-soluble polymer as active site

Catalyst lifespan

Reactant(s)

Natural Rubber Latex

Product(s)

Low protein Content Latex

Byproduct(s)

Protein, Dry Rubber

Chemistry

-

Operating pressure

No certain Pressure

Operating temperature

Below 50 ℃ , 60 ℃ Is the maximum allowed operating

temperature

Flow (production) rate

Depends, but all the streams are slow, the feed rate are pump by

5psi pressure only.

Regeneration

mechanism (if any)

-

Rate-limiting step

Please provide a process schematic (process flow diagram) here:

Brief discussion of the catalytic process (e.g. history, significance, their operation problems):

Importance of the catalytic process:

The Significance for this catalytic process is to remove the protein contained in the Latex Glove

or product so that the consumer who is allergy such as dyspnea or urticarial that caused by

bringing a natural rubber product into contact with the skin and a protein are safe to used.

Besides that, the protein can cause variations in quality and vulcanization properties of the

natural rubber product because the kind and quantify of the protein vary depending on the

locality and production season on the latex. The protein can also cause deterioration of

mechanical characteristics such as aging resistance and insulating properties of the gloves.

The Catalytic mechanism:

Firstly, the cysteine protease will catalyze the hydrolysis of peptide bonds in deprotonation of

a thiol in the enzyme’s active site by an adjacent amino acid with a basic side chain.

Next, the deprotonated cysteine protease’s anionic sulfur will neucleophilic attack the

substrate carbonyl carbon. A fragment of the substrate is released with an amine terminus, the

histidine residue in the protease is restored to its deprotonated form, and a thioester will be

linking the new carboxy-terminus of the substrate to the cysteine thiol is formed.

hydrolization of thioester bond occur in order to generate a carboxylic acid moiety on the

remaining substrate fragment and also regenerating the free enzyme.

You can include picture(s) of the reactor here:

You can include picture(s) of the catalyst (say from literature) here: