Spatio-temporal chaos in tubular chemical reactors with the recycle of mass

In this study the results are presented concerning the dynamics of homogeneous tubular chemical reactors with the recycle of mass. A detailed analysis shows that two types of dynamic bifurcation exist, namely, the flip bifurcation (FB) and the Hopf bifurcation (HB). It is demonstrated that each of these two types leads, for given values of the model parameters, to chaotic oscillations. Moreover, the Hopf bifurcation can also generate quasi-periodic solutions. The results are illustrated using temporal trajectories, bifurcation diagrams and Poincare sections. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.