On the steady state solutions of chemically reacting systems-I. Applications to single species surface reactions

Abstract

The application of singularity theory to the static bifurcation analysis of single species gas-solid catalytic reaction systems is shown to determine completely their steady state behaviour. The reactor residence time, inlet pressure of the reactant and catalyst surface area are used bifurcation parameters. Adsorbate-adsorbate interactions are quantified by a linear increase of the activation energy for desorption with coverage. The surface reaction is assumed to require either a single site or an additional empty site. In the former case, up to three steady states are possible, whereas in the latter, five steady states can appear for certain values of the parameters. The singularity theory analysis of these single species surface reactions shows new cases of qualitative behaviour, when the system is confined on the boundaries of the physical domain. Finally, the results are discussed within the context of realistic values of model parameters.