Modelling of methane dry reforming over Ni/Al2O3 catalyst in a fixed-bed catalytic reactor

The dry reforming of CH4 in a fixed-bed catalytic reactor for the production of hydrogen at different temperatures over supported Ni catalyst has been studied. In the simulation of the reactor, a one-dimensional heterogeneous model is applied. Temperature and concentration gradients are accounted for in the axial direction only. The reactor model for the dry reforming of methane used the Richardson and Paripatyadar kinetics and the Snoeck et al. kinetics for the coke-deposition and gasification reactions. The effect of using different temperatures on the performance of the reactor was analyzed. The amounts of each species consumed or/and produced were calculated and compared with the experimental determined ones. It was shown that the Richardson and Paripatyadar-Snoeck et al. kinetics gave a good fit and accurately predicted the experimental observed profiles from the fixed bed reactor, and thus the degree of conversion of CH4 and CO2.