Analysis of a two-stage competitive endothermic-exothermic reaction scheme

In this paper we consider a reactant which can follow either of two competing chemical reaction pathways: one exothermic and one endothermic. Properties of the reaction wave fronts arising in a general two-stage competitive endothermic-exothermic reaction scheme are derived numerically over a range of different parameter values, such as those describing the relative enthalpies, rate constants and activation energies of the endothermic and exothermic reactions. We focus on an adiabatic reaction scheme with a more dominant endothermic reaction pathway as compared to previous studies, and show the existence and behaviour of stable and pulsating front propagation in specific parametric regions. In particular, we demonstrate the transition in reaction front behaviour from the steady speed regime to different pulsating regimes.