M. Golubitsky and B.L. Keyfitz

A qualitative study of the steady-state solutions for a continuous flow stirred tank chemical reactor

SIAM J. Math. Anal. 11 (1980) 316-339.

• Abstract

An approach to the bifurcation of steady-state equilibria using singularity theory is applied to the problem of multiple equilibria in a continuous flow stirred tank chemical reactor where the flow rate is the bifurcation parameter. Under the assumption of a single first-order exothermic chemical reaction, all the qualitively different bifurcation diagrams which occur locally are found. They form the universal unfolding of the singular bifurcation problem x^3 + lambda^2 = 0.