On the application of statistical physics for the description of nonequilibrium effects in chemical systems

In this paper we show how the methods of statistical physics may be applied to describe the nonequilibrium effects in systems with thermally activated reactions. A special attention is given to systems with multiple reactions , in which such effects are more important then in systems with a single re action. Considering a model reaction scheme we demonstrate that a simple ph enomenology, which associates different temperatures to different reagents, gives an accurate description of the nonequilibrium effects. (C) 1999 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.