Instability behavior

These findings validate the approach of Krier et al. (53) when they adopted the collapsed A/PA—GDF model to predict low frequency instability behavior of composite solid propellants at normal rocket pressure. Since m = 1.5 X 10 5 sec. at these pressures, their quasi-steady treatment of the O/F flame reaction time is valid for low freqeuncies above about 5000 c.p.s., the dynamic lag of the O/F flame must be taken into account—the dynamic lag of the A/PA flame need be considered only when frequencies approach 100 k.c.p.s. 

The inherent oscillations that have been addressed here in fact correspond to a limiting case of the diffusive-thermal intrinsic instabilities of flames, which will be introduced in Section 9.5. At large values of the Lewis number the character of the diffusive-thermal instability is that which has been described here. It will be found in Section 9.5 that additional types of instability behavior may occur if diffusion of chemical species is not negligible. 

For the given type, solely imaginary or solely real eigenvalues are expected, portending to either critically stable or monotonously instable behavior. The usual exponential set-up is applied, leading to the eigenvalue problem to be solved ... 

Statistical process control (SPC) aligns data of measured samples with historical trends and control limits which are based on observed statistical data. Notifications to process engineers or immediate corrective actions are triggered automatically if an instable behavior of the controlled process is recognized (Dietrich and Schulze 2003). 

The chaotic nature of individual MD trajectories has been well appreciated. A small change in initial conditions (e.g., a fraction of an Angstrom difference in Cartesian coordinates) can lead to exponentially-diverging trajectories in a relatively short time. The larger the initial difference and/or the timestep, the more rapid this Lyapunov instability. Fig. 1 reports observed behavior for the dynamics of a butane molecule. The governing Newtonian model is the following set of two first-order differential equations ... 

Phenomena of multiple steady states and instabilities occur particularly with nonisothermal CSTRs. Some isothermal processes with hyperbohc rate equations and processes with porous catalysts also can have such behavior. 

D. C. Morse. Topological instabilities and phase behavior of fluid membranes. Phys Rev E 50 R2419-R2422, 1994. 

Because any such behavior causes the motor to fail in its mission objective, these peculiar operational effects have received considerable research attention. The results of these research studies have shown that these various forms of instability result from a coupling between the transient combustion characteristics of the propellant and the transient ballistics of the combustion chamber. These instabilities are termed pressure-coupled, velocity-coupled, and bulk-coupled, and will be described below. 

In an effort to determine the processes responsible for this type of behavior, Akiba and Tanno (A3), Sehgal and Strand (S2), and Beckstead (B6) have studied the coupling between the dynamics of the combustion process and the dynamic ballistics of the combustion chamber as described by Eq. (7). Each of these investigators has postulated admittedly simplified but slightly different combustion models to couple with the transient ballistic equations. Each has examined the combined equations for regions of instability. The results of these studies suggest a correlation between the L of the motor (the ratio of combustion-chamber volume to nozzle throat area) and the frequency of the oscillations. 

A mechanical system, typified by a pendulum, can oscillate around a position of final equilibrium. Chemical systems cannot do so, because of the fundamental law of thermodynamics that at all times AG > 0 when the system is not at equilibrium. There is nonetheless the occasional chemical system in which intermediates oscillate in concentration during the course of the reaction. Products, too, are formed at oscillating rates. This striking phenomenon of oscillatory behavior can be shown to occur when there are dual sets of solutions to the steady-state equations. The full mathematical treatment of this phenomenon and of instability will not be given, but a simplified version will be presented. With two sets of steady-state concentrations for the intermediates, no sooner is one set established than the consequent other changes cause the system to pass quickly to the other set, and vice versa. In effect, this establishes a chemical feedback loop. 

The linear instability theory of the behavior of a system near the bifurcation point can be successfully applied to many self-organization problems, such as thermal convection in hydrodynamics4 and crystal growth in solution.5 In these theories, various initial fluctuations play important roles. Occasionally the fluctuations arise from the thermal motion of atoms or molecules. If a system reaches an unstable mode over... 

The onset of flow instability in a heated capillary with vaporizing meniscus is considered in Chap 11. The behavior of a vapor/liquid system undergoing small perturbations is analyzed by linear approximation, in the frame work of a onedimensional model of capillary flow with a distinct interface. The effect of the physical properties of both phases, the wall heat flux and the capillary sizes on the flow stability is studied. A scenario of a possible process at small and moderate Peclet number is considered. The boundaries of stability separating the domains of stable and unstable flow are outlined and the values of the geometrical and operating parameters corresponding to the transition are estimated. 

The experimental investigations of boiling instability in parallel micro-channels have been carried out by simultaneous measurements of temporal variations of pressure drop, fluid and heater temperatures. The channel-to-channel interactions may affect pressure drop between the inlet and the outlet manifold as well as associated temperature of the fluid in the outlet manifold and heater temperature. Figure 6.37 illustrates this phenomenon for pressure drop in the heat sink that contains 13 micro-channels of d = 220 pm at mass flux G = 93.3kg/m s and heat flux q = 200kW/m. The temporal behavior of the pressure drop in the whole boiling system is shown in Fig. 6.37a. The considerable oscillations were caused by the flow pattern alternation, that is, by the liquid/two-phase alternating flow in the micro-channels. The pressure drop FFT is presented in Fig. 6.37b. Under... 

Achieving steady-state operation in a continuous tank reactor system can be difficult. Particle nucleation phenomena and the decrease in termination rate caused by high viscosity within the particles (gel effect) can contribute to significant reactor instabilities. Variation in the level of inhibitors in the feed streams can also cause reactor control problems. Conversion oscillations have been observed with many different monomers. These oscillations often result from a limit cycle behavior of the particle nucleation mechanism. Such oscillations are difficult to tolerate in commercial systems. They can cause uneven heat loads and significant transients in free emulsifier concentration thus potentially causing flocculation and the formation of wall polymer. This problem may be one of the most difficult to handle in the development of commercial continuous processes. 

The objectives of this presentation are to discuss the general behavior of non isothermal chain-addition polymerizations and copolymerizations and to propose dimensionless criteria for estimating non isothermal reactor performance, in particular thermal runaway and instability, and its effect upon polymer properties. Most of the results presented are based upon work (i"8), both theoretical and experimental, conducted in the author s laboratories at Stevens Institute of Technology. Analytical methods include a Semenov-type theoretical approach (1,2,9) as well as computer simulations similar to those used by Barkelew LS) ... 

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