Stability of distributed chemical reaction systems

The stability of distributed chemical reaction systems is studied. For a system described by a single parabolic partial differential equation the unique steady state is shown to be globally stable. If multiple steady states exist, a region of stability can be obtained directly from the knowledge of the steady state profiles and the maximum principle. The technique is demonstrated using a first order irreversible exothermic reaction occurring inside a porous catalyst as an example. When the system is described by two coupled parabolic equations, several interesting phenomena may occur. [...]