June 6th, 16:30 

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                         "CATALYTIC COMPLEXITY"
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                                  ABSTRACT

Complex physical behaviors, like chaos, spatial patterns and fractals have
been extensively used to characterize heterogeneous catalytic systems .
This talk will describe  several such applications and their significance
for  design and operation of catalysts and catalytic reactors.

Many catalytic (mainly oxidation) reactions exhibit spontaneous complex
dynamic behavior  and the  talk will discuss the source of this behavior,
transition to chaotic solutions and spatiotemporal patterns in catalytic
reactors of various geometries and flow regimes.

Fractal objects  can serve as good models for highly-porous materials and
several aggregation models leading to fractal objects resemble the
preparation methods of certain catalysts. Processes that occur on or within
porous fractal objects exhibit different scaling behavior than those
conducted  in random media and may be superior for certain engineering
purposes.