Some observations on tubular reactor stability

Abstract

Abstract Following van Heerden, it has been shown that the adiabatie empty tubular reactor in which an exothermic chemical reaction is carried out may exhibit multiple temperature and concentration profiles along its axis. The existence of these multiple steady states may be predicted from a steady state analysis alone. Whether these steady states are stable in the sense that a given state is restored when slightly perturbed cannot be determined by a rational analysis since the prerequisite mathematical apparatus is not available. A transient analysis of the full non‐linear equations shows that some states may be unstable.