We study a singular-limit problem arising in the modelling of chemical reactions. At finite ε > 0, the system is described by a Fokker-Planck convection-diffusion equation with a double-well convection potential. This potential is scaled by 1/ε, and in the limit ε → 0, the solution concentrates onto the two wells, resulting into a limiting system that is a pair of ordinary differential equations for the density at the two wells. This convergence has been proved in Peletier et al. (SIAM J Math Anal, 42(4):1805-1825, 2010, using the linear structure of the equation. In this study we re-prove the result by using solely the Wasserstein gradient-flow structure of the system. In particular we make no use of the linearity, nor of the fact that it is a second-order system. The first key step in this approach is a reformulation of the equation as the minimization of an action functional that captures the property of being a curve of maximal slope in an integrated form. The second important step is a rescaling of space. Using only the Wasserstein gradient-flow structure, we prove that the sequence of rescaled solutions is pre-compact in an appropriate topology. We then prove a Gamma-convergence result for the functional in this topology, and we identify the limiting functional and the differential equation that it represents. A consequence of these results is that solutions of the ε-problem converge to a solution of the limiting problem.

Adsorption energy distribution functions can be calculated from measured adsorption isotherms by solving the adsorption integral equation. In this context, it is common practice to use general regularization methods, which are independent of the kernel of the adsorption integral equation, but do not permit error estimation. In order to overcome this disadvantage, we present in this paper a solution theory which is tailor-made for the Langmuir kernel of the adsorption integral equation. The presented theory by means of differentiation and Fourier series is the basis for a regularization method with explicit terms for error amplification. By means of simple and complicated adsorption energy distribution functions we show for ideal gas adsorption isotherms without measurement error that reliable distribution functions can be obtained from the isotherms. Furthermore we show how the stability of the solution depends on temperature.

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The well-known adsorption integral equation (AIE) for calculating pore size and adsorption energy distributions from adsorption isotherms on porous solids is, from the mathematical point of view, a linear Fredholm integral equation of the first kind and therefore an ill-posed problem. What can we realistically expect from the solution of such an ill-posed problem by regularization? Does it make sense to restrict the number of possible solutions by the so-called ansatz method? In this paper, the two methods for solving ill-posed problems are from scratch explained and illuminated by concrete examples. Their relevance and fundamental limitations are discussed.

Adsorption energy distributions (AEDs) can be calculated from measured adsorption isotherms by numerical methods upon regularization of the adsorption integral equation. The regularization solves the 'ill-posed problem' of the adsorption integral equation. In this paper, the so-called U-and L-curve methods and the modified U-curve method for estimating the optimal regularization parameter are tested with synthetic nitrogen adsorption isotherms. The isotherms are calculated from AEDs with one (minimum) to five (maximum) peaks using a simple gas adsorption model. To verify the U-and Lcurve methods, the originally generated AED functions with different number of peaks are compared with those obtained back from the synthetic isotherms using the INTEG regularization method. The results show that the L-curve method is superior to the U-curve methods for finding the optimal regularization parameter.