Amplitude-shape method for solving partial differential equations of chemical kinetics (Q2573624)

Parallel diffusion and intensive chemical reactions are considered. The phenomenon is described by a set of parabolic PDE with nonlinear sources. Spatial discretization of such sets leads to stiff ODEs. The solution vector \(u\) is expressed as a product of two functions: \(u(t)=\phi(t)v(t)\). The first component \(\phi\), referred to as the amplidude, satisfies the ODE with neglected diffusive term. The second component \(v\) termed the shape vector, satisfies the diffusive portion of the problem. The amplitudes describe the essential change of the solution in time, while the shape vector accounts mostly for the spatial distribution of the solution. The substitution produces two sets of ODEs fully equivalent to the original problem. The first set for determining the amplitudes is still stiff, but uncoupled. The second set is no longe stiff and is used to evaluate the shape vector. The first set is solved using the Rosenbrock generalization of the Runge-Kutta solver. The second set is treated using a trapezoidal rule. Numerical examples show a significant execution time economy and less memory requirement when compared with standard techniques.