Effects of the fluid flows on the stability of enzymatic chemical oscillations

Chemical oscillations are ubiquitous in nature and have a variety of promising applications. Chemical oscillations are usually analyzed within the context of a reaction-diffusion model framework. In real systems, the fluid flux modifies the chemical diffusion transport. To examine this effect, we consider a flow of chemical solution confined between two parallel walls forming a channel. The solution contains two reactants, A and B, which undergo transformations catalyzed by enzymes immobilized on the channel walls. Mutual transformations of the reactants provide a positive-negative feedback loop, which enables oscillations. We study the effect of the flow velocity on the stability boundary separating oscillating regimes from stationary distributions of chemicals in the channel. We show that the flow promotes the chemical transport in the system and, thereby, increases the amplitude and frequency of the oscillations. We support the predictions of the stability theory by the relevant numerical simulations. The findings can improve functionalities of micro-scale chemical reactors.