Entropy production in diffusion-reaction systems: The reactive random Lorentz gas

Abstract

We report the study of a random Lorentz gas with a reaction of isomerization $A\rightleftharpoons B$ between the two colors of moving particles elastically bouncing on hard disks. The reaction occurs when the moving particles collide on catalytic disks which constitute a fraction of all the disks. Under the dilute-gas conditions, the reaction-diffusion process is ruled by two coupled Boltzmann-Lorentz equations for the distribution functions of the colors. The macroscopic reaction-diffusion equations with cross-diffusion terms induced by the chemical reaction are derived from the kinetic equations. We use a $H$-theorem of the kinetic theory in order to derive a macroscopic entropy depending on the gradients of color densities and which has a non-negative entropy production in agreement with the second law of thermodynamics.

14 pages, 3 eps-figures