Approach index, steady-state concentration

The parametric approach, which is not strictly needed for a single Gray-Scott reaction, works very well for an arbitrary number of parallel reactions and for continuous mixtures. Figure 16 shows a case of two parallel reactions for which an isola and a mushroom coexist. Because the notions of continuous mixtures and reactions will be treated in Chapter 8, G H and in the group of papers listed in the Index of Subjects in Publications under the heading Continuous mixtures, we can be very brief and start with the nondimensional equations. Let x be the index of the mixture whose species are /4(x). The steady-state concentration of the material with index in (x, x + dx) is V(x)dx, the feed concentration a(x)dx and the conversion U(x) = 1 - V/(x)/a(x), the last being defined only for values of x for which a(x) is not zero. B, the autocatalytic agent, forms itself as an undifferentiated product whose concentration is W. The rate of the first reaction, and hence p,(x), depends on the... 

It has been noted (Odian, 1991) that the steady-state approximation cannot be applied in many cationic polymerizations because of the extreme rate of reaction preventing the attainment of a steady-state concentration of the reactive intermediates. This places limitations on the usefulness of the rate expressions but those for the degree of polymerization rely on ratios of reaction rates and should be generally applicable. The molar-mass distribution would be expected to be very narrow and approach that for a living polymerization (with a poly-dispersity index of unity), but this is rarely achieved, due to the chain-transfer and termination reactions discussed above. Values closer to 2 are more likely. 

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