Chemical Instabilities: Applications in Chemistry, Engineering, Geology, and Materials Science (Nato Science Series C:, 120)

On March 14-18, 1983 a workshop on "Chemical Instabilities: Applications in Chemistry, Engineering, Geology, and Materials Science" was held in Austin, Texas, U.S.A. It was organized jointly by the University of Texas at Austin and the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and sponsored qy NATO, NSF, the University of Texas at Austin, the International Solvay Institutes and the Ex­ xon Corporation. The present Volume includes most of the material of the in­ vited lectures delivered in the workshop as well as material from some posters, whose content was directly related to the themes of the invited lectures. In ,recent years, problems related to the stability and the nonlinear dynamics of nonequilibrium systems invaded a great num­ ber of fields ranging from abstract mathematics to biology. One of the most striking aspects of this development is that subjects reputed to be "classical" and "well-established" like chemistry, turned out to give rise to a rich variety of phenomena leading to multiple steady states and hysteresis, oscillatory behavior in time, spatial patterns, or propagating wave fronts. The primary objective of the workshop was to bring together researchers actively engaged in fields in which instabilities and nonlinear phenomena similar to those observed in chemistry are of current and primary concern : chemical engineering (especially surface catalysis), combustion (dynamics of ignition, flame sta­ bili t;y), interfaces (emulsification, dendritic growth), geology (regularly repeated patterns of mineralization 1n a variety of spabe scales), and materials science (dynamical solidification, behavior of matter under irradiation). Front Matter....Pages i-xxvi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Search for New Chemical Oscillators....Pages 3-18 Chemical Dissipative Systems and the Measure Of Chaos....Pages 19-32 Theoretical and Experimental Studies of Catalytic Reactions....Pages 33-57 Sensitivity Analysis: A Numerical Tool for the Study of Parameter Variations in Oscillating Reaction Models....Pages 59-66 Front Matter....Pages 67-67 Isothermal Autocatalysis in the CSTR: Exotic Stationary-State Patterns (Isolas and Mushrooms)and Sustained Oscillations....Pages 69-90 Thermokinetic Oscillations and Multistability in Gas-Phase Oxidations....Pages 91-107 Dynamics of Premixed Flames....Pages 109-115 Linear Stability of a Planar Reverse Combustion Front Propagating Through a Porous Medium: Gas-Solid Combustion Model....Pages 117-135 Propagating Flames and their Stability....Pages 137-145 Secondary Bifurcation in Flame Propagation....Pages 147-158 Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Thermal Explosion....Pages 159-170 Fluctuations in Combustion....Pages 171-188 Studies of Thermal Fluctuations in Nonequilibrium Systems by Monte Carlo Computer Simulations....Pages 189-195 Front Matter....Pages 197-197 Mechanical Instability and Dissipative Structures at Liquid Interfaces....Pages 199-221 Interfacial Instability in Binary Mixtures: The Role of the Interface and its Deformation....Pages 223-232 Chemically Driven Interfacial Instabilities....Pages 233-245 Shape Instabilities of Moving Reaction Interfaces....Pages 247-262 Morphological Stability During Unidirectional Solidification : Influence of Melt Rheology and Marangoni Convection....Pages 263-270 Mode Selection on Interfaces....Pages 271-285 Front Matter....Pages 287-287 The Self Organization of Liesegang Bands and Other Precipitate Patterns....Pages 289-297 Front Matter....Pages 287-287 Examples of Patterns in Igneous Rocks....Pages 299-304 Survey of Geochemical Self-Patterning Phenomena....Pages 305-328 Modeling Nonlinear Wave Propagation and Pattern Formation at Geochemical First Order Phase Transitions....Pages 329-340 Chemical Instabilities and “Shocks” in a Non-Linear Convection Problem Issued from Geology....Pages 341-348 Front Matter....Pages 349-349 Dynamical Processes During Solidification....Pages 351-366 Instabilities in the Pulsed Laser Irradiation Induced Melting and Solidification....Pages 367-384 Spatial Structures in Nonequilibrium Systems....Pages 385-400 Formation of Chemical and Mechanical Structures During the Oxidation of Metals and Alloys....Pages 401-413 Back Matter....Pages 415-420 Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Austin, Texas, U.S.A., March 14-18, 1983