Determination of output composition in reaction-advection-diffusion systems on network reactors

We consider reaction-transport processes in open reactors in which systems of first order reactions involving a number of gas species and solid catalysts can occur at localized active regions. Reaction products flow out of the reactor into vacuum conditions and are collected at an exit boundary. The output composition problem (OCP) is to determine the composition (molar fractions) of the collected gas after the reactor is fully emptied. We provide a solution to this problem in the form of a boundary-value problem for a system of time-independent partial differential equations. We then consider network-like reactors, which can be approximated by a network consisting of a collection of nodes and 1-dimensional branches, with reactions taking place at nodes. For these, the OCP can be solved in a simple and effective way, giving explicit formulas for the output composition as a function of the reaction coefficients and parameters associated with the geometric configuration of the system. The possibility of determining reaction coefficients from experimentally obtained output composition is shown in the case of one chemically active node. •Reaction-transport processes in open network-like reactors are studied.•The output composition problem (OCP) is investigated.•A solution is given via a system of elliptic equations.•In network reactors the problem reduces to a linear system of algebraic equations.•Several explicitly solved examples illustrate methods and observations.