Abstract

This paper concentrates on the practical implications of bifurcation and chaos on novel approaches for the production of the clean fuels: hydrogen and ethanol, and the simulation of the acetylcholine neurocycle in the brain. One problem from the field of chemical reaction engineering and two from the field of biological reaction engineering, the three problems have one thing in common: the practical implications of bifurcation and chaos. The novel approach for hydrogen production is based on a novel circulating fluidized bed catalytic membrane reformer configuration achieving, simultaneously, both autothermicity and breaking the thermodynamic barriers using different techniques (membranes and/or CO2 sequestration). The static bifurcation characteristics of the autothermic process and their implications on design and operation for maximum hydrogen yield and productivity are addressed. Experimental set-up for this novel process is being developed at University of British Columbia (UBC).

The novel approach for the ethanol production does not use a novel configuration, however it uses a classical configuration but with a novel mode of operation. A CSTR fermenter is used exploiting bifurcation and chaos theories to maximize ethanol yield and productivity. The sequence of research work consisted of: developing a reliable and relatively simple model to describe the fermentation process, verification of the model against experimental results, using the model in an extensive bifurcation and chaos analysis investigation to identify the regions of bifurcation and chaos and their characteristics. This is followed by using these results to guide an experimental investigation of bifurcation and chaos and their implications on improving ethanol yield and productivity.

This paper also introduces our preliminary efforts to investigate the bifurcation and chaotic behavior of acetylcholine neurocycle in the brain using diffusion-reaction models in order to gain some insight into their possible connection to Alzheimer and Parkinson Diseases (AD/PD).

Recommended Citation

Elnashaie, Said S.E.H.; Chen, Zhongxiang; Garhyan, Parag; Prasad, Pradeep; and Mahecha-Botero, Andres (2006) "Practical Implications of Bifurcation and Chaos in Chemical and Biological Reaction Engineering," International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering: Vol. 4: R1.
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/ijcre/vol4/R1