DYNAMICS OF THE HETEROGENEOUS CATALYTIC-OXIDATION OF ETHANOL .2. QUALITATIVE MODELING OF DYNAMIC FEATURES

In recent years heterogeneous catalytic reaction systems have been shown to produce a complex dynamic behavior. For example the heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of ethanol on palladium was found to exhibit multistability as well as relaxation oscillations (Jaeger., 1986, Ber. Bunsenges. phys. Chem. 90, 1075-1079; 1990, Chem. Engng Sci. 45, 947-953). The reaction provides the clear experimental identification of a global Hopf bifurcation and so-called overlapping states near the transition point. In this paper a dynamic model will be developed which is based on these experimental facts. The model describes all instabilities observed and predicts the corresponding transitions in agreement with the observations. © 1990.