Equilibrium and nonequilibrium steady states in the reversible Oregonator model

Abstract

For the reversible Oregonator model a relationship between nonequilibrium steady states and the equilibrium state has been established using the thermodynamic formulation of chemical affinity, which is also a measure of the distance from equilibrium of the system. In this model the distance from equilibrium is found to be a function of the constant concentrations of reactant and product and a stoichiometric factor between them for an overall open system reaction in which there is no accumulation of the intermediates for each instant of time or over a complete cycle of the oscillations. Assuming that the system is initially in a far from equilibrium situation for certain values of the stoichiometric factor and the concentrations of reactant and product, the equilibrium state can be attained in many cases merely by changing the bifurcation parameters (the concentrations of reactant and product and the stoichiometric factor between them) suitably.