Abstracts of Paper's Published in 2005


  1. M.I. Nelson. Bifurcation phenomena for an oxidation reaction in a continuously stirred tank reactor. III The inhibiting effect of an inert species. The ANZIAM Journal, 46(3), 399-416, March 2005.

    The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) link for this article is http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1446181100008348.

  2. H.S. Sidhu and M.I. Nelson. Behaviour of an elementary oxidation reaction in a semi-batch reactor. Chemical Engineering Journal, 110(1-3), 31-39, 2005.
  3. The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) link for this article is http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2005.04.012.

  4. H.S. Sidhu and M.I. Nelson. Improving Bioreactor Performance: Are Two CSTBs Always Better Than One? In Proceedings of the 33rd Australasian Chemical Engineering Conference, CHEMECA 2005, 6 pages (on CDROM). Institute of Engineers, Australia, 2005. ISBN 1-86499-832-6.
  5. M.I. Nelson and H.S. Sidhu. Analysis of a chemostat model with variable yield coefficient. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry, 38(4): 605-615, 2005.
  6. M.I. Nelson, X.D. Chen and M.J. Sexton. Analysis of the Michaelis-Menten mechanisms in an immobilised enzyme reactor. The ANZIAM Journal, 47(2): 173-184, 2005.

    The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) link for this article is http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1446181100009974.


Bifurcation phenomena for an oxidation reaction in a continuously stirred tank reactor. III The inhibiting effect of an inert species

Abstract

We extend an investigation into the static and dynamic multiplicity exhibited by the reaction of a fuel/air mixture in a continuously stirred tank reactor by considering the effect of adding a chemically inert species to the reaction mixture. The primary bifurcation parameter is taken to be the fuel fraction as this is the most important case from the perspective of fire-retardancy. We show how the addition of the inert species progressively changes the steady-state diagrams and flammability limits. We also briefly outline how heat-sink additives can be incorporated into our scheme.

M.I. Nelson. Bifurcation phenomena for an oxidation reaction in a continuously stirred tank reactor. III The inhibiting effect of an inert species. The ANZIAM Journal, 46(3), 399-416, March 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1446181100008348.


Behaviour of an elementary oxidation reaction in a semi-batch reactor

Abstract

The dynamics of a non-isothermal bi-molecular gas-phase reaction in a semi-batch reactor is investigated. It is assumed that one of the reactants flows into a reactor containing the second. A reduced model is obtained by making a `pool-chemical' approximation on the concentration of the reactant initially in the reactor. The region in parameter space in which oscillations are observable in the full transient model is estimated by determining the Hopf bifurcation locus in the reduced system. The contribution of the current work is its comparative study of the behaviour of the full system to that of the pool-chemical model. Although the reaction scheme is symmetric with respect to the reactants the regions of oscillatory behaviour are not identical because the reactants have different heat capacities.

Keywords: Semi-batch reactor; Gas-phase oxidation reaction; Pool-chemical approximation; Oscillations; Hopf bifurcation.

H.S. Sidhu and M.I. Nelson. Behaviour of an elementary oxidation reaction in a semi-batch reactor. Chemical Engineering Journal, 110(1-3), 31-39, 2005.

The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) link for this article is http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2005.04.012.


Improving Bioreactor Performance: Are Two CSTBs Always Better Than One?

Abstract

We investigate a bioreactor cascade consisting of two reactors. For a given total residence time, we study how the performance of the reactor (measured either as the cell mass concentration or the reactor productivity) depends upon the feed substrate concentration and the residence time in the first reactor. The bioreactor model in this study uses a growth rate that is given by a Monod expression with a yield coefficient that is a linear function of the substrate concentration. Previous researchers have compared the performance of a two-reactor system against a single reactor with the same total residence time. The main focus of this paper is to show that the performance of a two-reactor cascade should not be gauged in this manner, as comparisons using this criterion can give grossly misleading results. Our analysis shows that before maximising the performance of a cascade, we must first consider the performance of a single reactor system as a benchmark.

H.S. Sidhu and M.I. Nelson. Improving Bioreactor Performance: Are Two CSTBs Always Better Than One? In Proceedings of the 33rd Australasian Chemical Engineering Conference, CHEMECA 2005, 6 pages (on CDROM). Institute of Engineers, Australia, 2005. ISBN 1-86499-832-6.


Analysis of a chemostat model with variable yield coefficient

Abstract

We investigate a chemostat model in which the growth rate is given by a Monod expression with a variable yield coefficient. This model has been investigated by previous researchers using numerical integration. We combine analytical results with path-following methods. The conditions for washout to occur are found. When washout does not occur we establish the conditions under which the reactor performance is maximised at either a finite or infinite residence time. We also determine the parameter region in which oscillations may be generated in the reactor, which was the primary feature of interest to earlier workers on this problem.

Keywords: bioreactors, Non-linear dynamics, reaction engineering .
AMS Subject classification: 34Cxx, 92C45, 92E20.

M.I. Nelson and H.S. Sidhu. Analysis of a chemostat model with variable yield coefficient. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry, 38(4): 605-615, 2005.


Analysis of the Michaelis-Menten mechanisms in an immobilised enzyme reactor

Abstract

We investigate the behaviour of a reaction described by Michaelis-Menten kinetics in an immobilised enzyme reactor (IER). The IER is treated as a well-stirred flow reactor, with the restriction that bounded and unbounded enzyme species are constrained to remain within the reaction vessel. Our aim is to identify the best operating conditions for the reactor.

The cases in which an IER is used to either reduce pollutant emissions or to synthesise a product are considered. For the former we deduce that the reactor should be operated using low flowrates whereas for the latter high flowrates are optimal. It is also shown that periodic behaviour is impossible.

M.I. Nelson, X.D. Chen and M.J. Sexton. Analysis of the Michaelis-Menten mechanisms in an immobilised enzyme reactor. The ANZIAM Journal, 47(2): 173-184, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1446181100009974.


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