Please join the Department of Chemical Engineering on Thursday, September 19, for a seminar on the mathematical modelling of enzymatic polymerization of glucans by Dr. Rosane Rech, from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul’s Food Science and Technology Institute.
Abstract
Mathematical modelling of polymerization processes is a valuable tool to understand molecular weight distribution, chemical composition and by-products formation as a function of process parameters. However, in contrast to chemical polymerization processes, there is a lack of studies regarding the modelling of enzymatic polymerization. This seminar will present the development of a mathematical model for the polymerization process of poly-α-1,3-glucan.
Glucans are glucose polymers synthetized from sucrose by enzymes called glucosyltransferases. The solubility of α-glucans is defined by the type of bonding and the number of branches. Specifically, the poly-α-1,3-glucan is a highly linear and insoluble polymer that is being developed by DuPont Biosciences under the name of Nuvolve™. The mechanisms proposed for glucan polymerization processes will be discussed and a new mathematical model based on Monte Carlo algorithm will be presented.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Rosane Rech is a professor in the Food Science and Technology Institute at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. She obtained her Bacharel and Master’s degrees in chemical engineering in 1996 and 1998, respectively, and a PhD degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology in 2004.
She has been working on several areas of bioprocess engineering, including kinetic modelling and simulation, immobilized cells and bioreactor design applied to the culture of yeasts, bacteria and microalgae. Her recent research focuses on the use of CO2 from wine and beer fermentation for microalgae growth and carotenoid production. Currently, she a visiting professor at the University of Waterloo developing a mathematical model to simulate enzymatic polymerization processes.