Methane Dry Reforming over Ni-Co/Al2O3: Kinetic Modelling in a Catalytic Fixed-bed Reactor

The dry reforming of CH4 was investigated in a catalytic fixed-bed reactor to produce hydrogen at different temperatures over supported bimetallic Ni-Co catalyst. The reactor model for the dry reforming of methane used a set of kinetic models: The Zhang et al model for the dry reforming of methane (DRM); the Richardson-Paripatyadar model for the reverse water gas shift (RWGS); and the Snoeck et al kinetics for the coke-deposition and gasification reactions. The effect of temperatures on the performance of the reactor was studied. The amount of each species consumed or/and produced were calculated and compared with the experimental determined ones. It was showed that the set of kinetic model used in this work gave a good fit and accurately predict the experimental observed profiles from the fixed bed reactor. It was found that reaction-4 and reaction-5 could be neglected which could explain the fact that this catalyst coked rapidly comparatively with other catalyst. The use of large amount of Ni-Co will lead to carbon deposition and so to the catalyst deactivation.