Reversible A↔B reaction–diffusion process with initially mixed reactants: Boundary layer function approach

The reversible A↔B reaction–diffusion process, when species A and B are initially mixed and diffuse with different diffusion coefficients, is usually considered as a diffusion-limited process. In this work the reaction rate in such a process is investigated using the boundary layer function method. It was shown that the reaction–diffusion process can be considered as a quasi-equilibrium process. Despite this fact the contribution of the changes in the species concentration of the reaction is comparable to that of the diffusion. Moreover, the ratios of the reaction and diffusion contributions are independent of time and coordinate. The dependence of the reaction rate on the initial species distribution is analyzed. It was demonstrated, for the first time, that the number of the reaction zones is determined by the initial conditions and changes with time. Also the asymptotic long-time behavior of the reaction rate depends on the initial species distribution.