title: Stationary fronts due to weak thermal effects in models of catalytic oxidation.
abstract: We analyze the possible existence of an infinite number of stationary front solutions in a microkinetic model of a catalytic reaction coupled with weak enthalpy effects in the domain of kinetics bistability. The kinetic model incorporates three steps: dissociative oxygen adsorption, reactant adsorption and desorption, and surface reaction. The infinitude of stationary front solutions emerges due to the lack of intercrystallites communication of surface species in supported catalysts; thermal conductions and gas-phase diffusion are the only means of interaction. Incorporation of surface species diffusion leads to a very slow front motion. We complement this analysis with simulations of stationary states on one- (wire and ring) and two-dimensional (disk) systems which may be subject to control or to fluid flow. These results account for certain experimental results and may have implications for various technological problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sheintuch
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nekhamkina