Complex reactions in oscillating reactors

Abstract

Abstract Previous work has shown that perturbation methods are useful for estimating the difference between the time average conversion obtained from an oscillating reactor and the optimum steady state value. The present study extends this approach to complex kinetic mechanisms. Both forced and self‐generated oscillations are studied, and in the latter case both positive and negative feedback control systems are used to alter the shape of the oscillations. The results indicate that large improvements in yields sometimes can be observed for parallel reactions but that only small improvements are possible for consecutive reactions, in the range of system parameters considered.