The Hasegawa-Wakatani equations, coupling plasma density, and electrostatic potential through an approximation to the physics of parallel electron motions, are a simple model that describes resistive drift wave turbulence. Numerical analyses of bifurcation phenomena in the model are presented, that provide new insights into the interactions between turbulence and zonal flows in the tokamak plasma edge region. The simulation results show a regime where, after an initial transient, drift wave turbulence is suppressed through zonal flow generation. As a parameter controlling the strength of the turbulence is tuned, this zonal-flow-dominated state is rapidly destroyed and a turbulence-dominated state re-emerges. The transition is explained in terms of the Kelvin-Helmholtz stability of zonal flows. This is the first observation of an upshift of turbulence onset in the resistive drift wave system, which is analogous to the well-known Dimits shift in turbulence driven by ion temperature gradients.

A simple dynamical system that models the competitive thermokinetics and chemistry of cellulose decomposition is examined, with reference to evidence from experimental studies indicating that char formation is a low activation energy exothermal process and volatilization is a high activation energy endothermal process. The thermohydrolysis chemistry at the core of the primary competition is described. Essentially, the competition is between two nucleophiles, a molecule of water and an −OH group on C6 of an end glucosyl cation, to form either a reducing chain fragment with the propensity to undergo the bond-forming reactions that ultimately form char, or a levoglucosan end-fragment that depolymerizes to volatile products. The results of this analysis suggest that promotion of char formation under thermal stress can actually increase the production of flammable volatiles. Thus, we would like to convey an important safety message in this paper: in some situations where heat and mass transfer is restricted in...

A simple model for the thermal decomposition of amorphous cellulose is proposed that rationalizes the effect of water in promoting the charring process at the expense of volatilization. Simulations of mass-loss histories and product evolution are shown to be consistent with various experimental observations in the literature. Under char-promoting conditions where heat transfer is limited, anomalous thermal effects are predicted which indicate that char formation may not always be desirable in fire-inhibiting treatments of or strategies for cellulosic materials.