Pulsating wave propagation in reactive flows: flow-distributed oscillations
Stationary waves in a reactive flow with equal transport coefficients were recently generated by passing the oscillating Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction medium through a tubular packed bed reactor while keeping the concentrations constant at the inflow boundary [M. Kaern and M. Menzinger, Phys. Rev. E 60, 3471 (1999)]. Here we study the effects of oscillatory boundary conditions, and observe traveling wave fronts that propagate in either a pulsating or a steady manner. The present experiment is isothermal and conditions are such that all species have identical transport properties. This excludes rapid thermal or activator diffusion and the wave pulsation appears to be induced by an essentially kinematic mechanism. Our experimental findings are supported by numerical simulations of the full reaction-diffusion-advection system using a realistic kinetic model. Finally, the kinematic essence of the mechanism inducing wave pulsation is captured in an iterative one-variable map.
Kaern
M
Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.
Menzinger
M