Patent ID: 7198941

Claim:
A porous vessel bioreactor apparatus for use in reaction with immobilized enzymes and/or microbial cells, said apparatus comprising: a) a vertically elongated reaction vessel having at least one liquid reactant inlet and at least one product outlet on the vessel; b) said reaction vessel comprising a conical shaped bottom, a mechanism to maintain a constant level of reactant in the reaction vessel and a means for re-circulating the reactant; c) at least one porous vessel completely submerged in the reactant, said porous vessel having a pore size ranging from 5 mm to 0.2 microns and a vertical length less than the level of the reactants to be maintained in the vessel; and d) immobilized bio-catalyst particles comprising the enzymes and/or microbial cells placed inside the porous vessel such that the liquid reactant from the reactant inlet which terminates inside the porous vessel is in contact with the bio-catalyst in both radial and axial directions.