Patent ID: 8409853

Claim:
A system for continuous treatment of a lipid-containing composition, the system comprising a feedstock inlet, a product outlet, a plurality of continuous enzyme-containing fixed bed reactors disposed between said inlet and said outlet, means for pre-treating said lipid-containing composition with a process aid before the composition contacts an enzyme in at least one of said plurality of fixed bed reactors, wherein the process aid comprises a silica having an average pore size of greater than 150 Angstroms and less than 10% volatiles by weight, wherein the ratio of silica to enzyme is not greater than 50% by weight, and an adjustable fluid communication means for connecting said fixed bed reactors to one another in series, such that feed stock flows into said system through said inlet, then through the means for pre-treating said lipid-containing composition, then through said serially connected fixed bed reactors, and finally out of said system as a treated product through said outlet, said fluid communication means being adjustable so as to allow one of said fixed bed reactors to be taken off line while the other fixed bed reactor or reactors in said series remains in fluid communication with said system, while the flow of the lipid-containing composition through said system remains substantially constant and wherein the rate of reaction of enzyme and the lipid-containing composition does not decrease substantially as the lipid-containing composition proceeds through the reactors.