Irregular behaviour of kinetic equations in closed chemical systems. Oscillatory effects

Abstract

The use of irreversible reaction steps may lead to unacceptable dynamical behaviour when modelling closed chemical systems. In some cases the kinetic equations may generate sustained concentration oscillations instead of convergent behaviour. Since the existence of irregular oscillators represents some dangers in the modelling of kinetic results, it is of interest to estimate how many such reaction schemes exist. This problem is studied for three-component bimolecular reaction schemes. It is shown that there is only one reaction scheme which exhibits irregular oscillatory behaviour. For the sake of comparison the possibility of regular oscillations is also studied. The reactions considered cannot provide sustained oscillations under the conditions of an isothermal continuous-flow stirred-tank reactor.