Front propagation in cellular flows for fast reaction and small diffusivity

Abstract

We investigate the influence of fluid flows on the propagation of chemical fronts arising in FKPP type models. We develop an asymptotic theory for the front speed in a cellular flow in the limit of small molecular diffusivity and fast reaction, i.e., large P\'eclet ($Pe$) and Damk\"ohler ($Da$) numbers. The front speed is expressed in terms of a periodic path -- an instanton -- that minimizes a certain functional. This leads to an efficient procedure to calculate the front speed, and to closed-form expressions for $(\log Pe)^{-1}\ll Da\ll Pe$ and for $Da\gg Pe$. Our theoretical predictions are compared with (i) numerical solutions of an eigenvalue problem and (ii) simulations of the advection--diffusion--reaction equation.