In order to achieve industrial production of L -citrulline by whole cell catalytic synthesis of arginine deaminase in Escherichia coli, the catalytic process was studied.Firstly, the treatment methods for bacterial cells were studied, and the suitable treatment methods for different storage times were determined as follows:<24 h, room temperature treatment; 24-36 h, frozen treatment; >36 h, refrigerated treatment.On the basis of the above processing methods, a single factor approach was adopted to investigate the conversion pH, temperature, substrate concentration, enzyme dosage, metal ions, and conversion cycle of whole cell catalytic production of L-citrulline.The proportion of intracellular and extracellular enzyme conversion and the secondary conversion effect of whole cell enzymes were also studied.The results showed that the optimal catalytic conditions were pH 5.5, temperature 40°C, substrate concentration 150 g/L, enzyme dosage 2 g/L, addition of 10 mmol/L Mg2+ and 0.1 mmol/L Co2+, with a cycle of 24 h.Under these process conditions, a 10 L reaction kettle was used for small-scale conversion, and the conversion rate reached 99.21%, an increase of 5.07% compared to the initial conditions.At the same time, the conversion cycle was shortened by 8 h.The determination of this process laid the foundation for the industrial application of arginine deaminase whole cell catalysis for L-citrulline production