Chemical patterns in translating vortices: Inter- and intra-cellular mixing effects

Stationary chemical patterns-flow distributed oscillations (FDOs)-are obtained when the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction is coupled with translating vortex flow in a Vortex Flow Reactor. For certain conditions, the FDOs are unstable with the observation of disappearing bands or complex patterns. The transitions between modes of pattern formation are reproduced in a modified Oregonator model consisting of two-zone cells connected in series. We show that increasing inter-cellular mixing of the outer zones results in a transition from FDO to absolute instabilities (AI) and increasing intra-cellular mixing between the core and outer zones can drive the reverse transition between modes (AI to FDO).